Socioeconomic Status In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Rags and Riches, Socioeconomic Status in The Great Gatsby. The infidelity and death of the multimillionaire’s mistress and the events following the suicide murder are connected to the character's socioeconomic status and social separation in The Great Gatsby. The story is set in New York and follows Nick Carroway as the narrator after he moves to pursue the bond business where he meets the mysterious millionaire Gatsby, who is known for his lavish lifestyle and large parties. Gatsby attempts to reunite with his past love and integrate himself into an old-money lifestyle during the 1920s Jazz era, these events later result in him dying alone and being buried with few friends and family, symbolizing the disillusionment of the American Dream. The role of socioeconomic status and the resulting characters' fate in The Great …show more content…

The height of the stock market and the bond business in New York led to the production of new money millionaires such as Jay Gatsby, and the old money of Tom Buchanan which shows the American Dream in The Great Gatsby. The American Dream focuses on the prosperity of millionaires and fails to see the lower/middle-class reality for many. After a reporter with a hunch about Jay Gatsby's notoriety appears at his door attempting to interview him, the narrator flashes back to Gatsby's poor upbringing. “His parents were shiftless unsuccessful farm people--his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The Truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, sprang from his Platonic Conception of himself.” (Fitzgerald pg.98). During this flashback, Fitzgerald emphasizes Gatsby's drive and wish to have more and achieve his version of the American dream. Gale In Context Literature provides a paper on the themes and agendas of The Great Gatsby, including the role of the American Dream and what it means to the characters. The paper explains the relationship between the past and future of the

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