Callum Harvey Mrs. Frantzen 11 Honors Block 3A 25 March 2024. Callum Harvey Marxist Lens Paper The Great Gatsby, composed by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a tale of excess. Whether it be Gatsby's undying love, Tom's mansion, or Daisy's self-absorption, there is no shortage of excess. Throughout the book, characters are seen with exorbitant amounts of money, influence, and power. More effective, perhaps, is when Fitzgerald shows those living in poverty. Though a small portion of the characters in the novel, in reality, the vast majority of US citizens were living lives more akin to the Wilsons than to the Buchanans. Through a Marxist lens, it is seen that The Great Gatsby embodies the disparages between social classes caused by societal hierarchies, …show more content…
Gatsby, the namesake character, lives a life of excess. Seen through his extravagant parties, towering mansions, and lavish lifestyle. Throughout the first section of the novel, the reader is left to fill in blanks about Gatsby, using only his enormous wealth as a guide. Such wealth could be seen when dozens of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree in Gatsby’s enormous garden. On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d’oeuvres, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold" (Fitzgerald, 40). The extravagance with which Gatsby is able to live his life, best shown through simply hiring other people to do the bare necessities, is an example of the privileges that the wealthy enjoy over the average citizen. The surplus of food and the over-the-top decorations are another form of excess, which could so easily be given to the vast majority of the population living in poverty. When looking at Gatsby's almost grotesque parades of wealth, a comparison is to be drawn comparing Gatsby and the average citizen at the time. The gap between the two parties is huge, and the benefits that the wealthy enjoy …show more content…
The desolate land of poverty and hunger is a living embodiment of the disparities the lower class had to shoulder at the time. The Valley of Ashes, as Fitzgerald writes, is, "Where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and are already crumbling through the powdery air" (Fitzgerald, 23). The most notable thing about his description is the way that the smoke seems to be the landscape and the people. The significance, and perhaps purpose of this, is to show how the citizens' lives and way of life are controlled by work and money, money from work and back-breaking labor. The Valley of Ashes, and its people all fulfill the author's goal of illustrating the horrible conditions faced by lower-class citizens during that period. The conditions imposed upon them by people who controlled society, who rose to the top through money and power. The conditions created to make the rich richer, and the poor poorer, were created by individuals at the peak of the social hierarchy. Later in the novel, as Nick is passing through the Valley, he, "crossed deliberately to the other side of the car. [He] supposed there'd be a curious crowd around there all day with little boys reaching for dark spots in the dust, and some garrulous man telling over and over what had happened" (Fitzgerald 156). Nick's actions reveal a
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby provides the reader with a unique outlook on the life of the newly rich. Gatsby is an enigma and a subject of great curiosity, furthermore, he is content with a lot in life until he strives too hard. His obsession with wealth, his lonely life and his delusion allow the reader to sympathize with him.
“This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys”(Fitzgerald 2). Tom and Nick a driving through a place between West Egg and New York, which is an industrial zone where the lower class lives. Here alone we can see how the poor class lives their daily lives in filth, but the rich live in shiny clean houses.
Throughout the tale of The Great Gatsby the reader is treated to a vivid description of Gatsby's parties and his prolific residence. It would appear that Gatsby had everything a person could want. Loads of money and friends and surrounded by the finer things of life. However, the book takes a turn towards its e...
Curnutt, Kirk. “Upper-and Middle-Class Waste and Destruction.” Class Conflict in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby. ED. Claudia Johnson. Michigan: Farmington Hills, 2008. 53-59.
The Great Gatsby displays how the time of the 1920s brought people to believe that wealth and material goods were the most important things in life, and that separation of the social classes was a necessary need. Fitzgerald’s choice to expose the 1920s for the corrupt time that it really was is what makes him one of the greatest authors of his time, and has people still reading one of his greatest novels, The Great Gatsby, decades
In The Great Gatsby one of the main characters, Jay Gatsby, has lead a highly successful and luxurious life. Of those luxuries, he lived in a massive mansion located in West Egg, owned beautiful shirts, and hosted elaborate parties. However, Mr. Gatsby has not always lived this way, he was once a poor man who had nothing to
Throughout “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald characterizes the citizens of East Egg as careless in some form. This relates to the prominent class issue seen all through “Gatsby.” It seems as though Daisy and Tom almost look down upon others. At one point in the book, Nick says “in a moment she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged.” It is because of their belief of superiority that they deem themselves better than other and allows them to live so carelessly.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald reflects the American society in the 1920’s and the different social groups that coexisted. The Great Gatsby portrays the failure of the American Dream, where corruption, illegal trading, superficial relationships, and social classes take the main roles. The author demonstrates how the American dream has become a pursuit of wealth and materialism through the exploration of the upper class. In addition, the author uses characterization to reflect the upper class in the 1920’s as two separate groups: the “old” money, and the “new money”. These are shown through the main characters in the novel, such as Gatsby and Tom Buchanan.
In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald offers up commentary on a variety of themes justice, power, greed, and betrayal, the American dream and so on. Each one of these themes is demonstrated through the relationships, which the characters have. Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into distinct social groups, in which each character fits. By creating distinct social classes – old money, new money, and no money, Fitzgerald shows the differing in the way relationships turn out. This book offers a vivid peek of what life was like during the 1920’s.
Fitzgerald's Critique of Capitalism in The Great Gatsby." Critical Essays on Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: G.K. Hall and Co., 1984.
The materialism of the upper-class is particularly shown through Daisy and Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses the...
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald took place in the 1920’s when the nation was undergoing rapid economic, political, and social change. Looking through different literary lenses the reader is able to see the effects of these rapid changes. The marxist lens reflects the gap between rich and poor while the feminist lens showcases the patriarchal society.
In the book the Great Gatsby, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald gives the reader a good look into life during the roaring 20s. For some people, it was full of lavish parties and a lively social atmosphere. Nobody had a care in the world and the people spent their days partying and celebrating away. For the other people, it was dreary, sad, and full of hard working days. This time period was the best of times and the worst of times.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, can be read as a critique of capitalism. Fitzgerald created a world where class and money are the essence of everyone’s desire. The plot and the settings of unfolding events in The Great Gatsby are perfect examples of structures of capitalism, along class lines, which allows for a Marxist capitalist critique. Even though Fitzgerald wasn’t a socialist or Marxist himself, he shows in his book how capitalism creates and alienates different social classes. Class levels in the US of the 1920s are very prominent – the rich class is drastically separated from the poor class, and the rich class wishes to keep it that way. This is an essential problem of capitalist theory and Fitzgerald criticizes capitalism throughout his book.
1) What are the main characteristics of the utopia? In The novel, “Island” by Aldous Huxley a man named Will Farnaby purposely ruins his boat on a forbidden island known as south sea of Pala; meaning he was shipwrecked on Pala. He was a journalist and a wheeler-dealer. In my opinion, it was not a smart idea for Farnaby to destroy is boat on an unknown island because it will be difficult for him to leave.