Social Mobility in The Great Gatsby

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This essay discusses the role of social mobility in The Great Gatsby. It argues that not all people can reach the highest social class, this is a class you must belong to from the beginning of life or marry in to. However, the characters are living the American dream which makes social mobility to the other social classes available. The essay addresses the American Dream, the difference in social class between the main characters and how some social mobility is unreachable. There are two frames of values for social mobility in The Great Gatsby. One is the old values where origin is the most important feature for social mobility, this will be discussed with the theorys of Pierre Bourdieu. The other is the new values that the American dream where whoever can work its way up the social ladder, this will be discussed with help of Gwendolyn Foster. The origin of wealth is a key factor for deciding which social class each character in The Great Gatsby belong to. Jay Gatsby is the character who made the greatest social mobility. The other characters use him for his parties and hospitality but they do not consider him as an equal. This is something that is evident particularly on page 66 in the novel when Gatsby tells his story to Nick Carraway, the novel's narrator, and Nick describes Gatsby's phrases as so threadbare they lack credibility. No matter how much money Gatsby makes he is never going to be good enough for either Daisy or the other characters. Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan these are the three main male characters. These men hang out a lot in the novel, even though they are not from the same social class. Tom Buchanan comes from a socially solid old family and he is very wealthy. Nick Carraway'... ... middle of paper ... ... at the world, something that comes so naturally that you do not even think about it. In conclusion, in The Great Gatsby social mobility can to some degree be achieved by everyone. The highest social class cannot be reached by outsiders. This a class that you must belong to or marry in to, you cannot work your way up to it. Works Cited Bourdieu, Pierre. Distinction- A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984) Fitzgerald, F.Scott. The Great Gatsby (London: Alma Classics, 2012) The Great Gatsby first published in 1925 Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey. Class-passing : social mobility in film and popular culture (Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, 2005). Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/lessons/american-dream/students/thedream.html accessed on 12 December, 2013. (n.a)

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