Class In The Great Gatsby

The story mainly revolved around the class differential between gatsby and daisy before gatsby got rich. Daisy and tom fell in love but daisy wouldn’t marry him because he was poor and daisy wasn’t. Since daisy had been raised in a richer and more classy environment she was a totally different person than gatsby after he became rich through illegal activity.

Gatsby is in love with the symbol of Daisy. If obtains the privilege to obtain her, it would mean that he is truly old money. This completes the idea that he has turned himself into old money. It is so important to obtain her because that is the girl he’s gone after for years. This is all he knows.Gatsby has spent his whole life trying to prove to Daisy and everyone around him that he is worthy of her. The only way to be on the same social level as her is to turn himself into new money. Since this is not possible, he has to try to convince to others that he truly is old money. To do this, he becomes rich, and lies about his past, but the only way for him to complete this idea is if he is with Daisy. She is the final piece in his American dream. Gatsby could go for any girl that is considered old money, but he only has eyes for Daisy because that’s the only girl he has ever gone for. While he was in the war, Daisy was the only girl he had ever loved, therefore, she was the only girl that he has ever tried to be with. Due to this, he has consumed his life around her and does not want to change his ways. “‘ Her voice is full of money,’ he said suddenly.” (The Great Gatsby page 120). This quote shows that Gatsby himself knows that Daisy is a symbol of money. He sees her as a woman of money. He is biased toward her personality due to knowing that she can fulfill his American dream. “‘I told you what’s been going on,’ said Gatsby. ‘Going on for five years - and you didn’t know.’”

In the Great Gatsby, privilege comes into play. Privilege in this context means being born with advantages that you did not earn or work for. Some people have to work to get their money but others are born with money which means that they didn’t have to work for their money. Gatsby for example was not born with money. He had to make his own money by selling and dealing drugs and is now a very wealthy man. Tom didn’t have to work for his money. His family was very rich when he was born and he hasn’t had to work a day in his life. The book makes really good points that have examples of privileged characters.

In “The Great Gatsby” Fitzgerald presents editorial on an assortment of topics, — equity, control, insatiability, treachery, the American dream. Of the considerable number of subjects, maybe none is more all around created than that of social stratification. The Great Gatsby is viewed as a splendid bit of social discourse, offering a clear look into American life in the 1920s. Fitzgerald deliberately sets up his novel into particular gatherings in any case, at last, each gathering has its own issues to battle with, leaving an effective indication of what a problematic place the world truly is. By making unmistakable social classes — old cash, new cash, and no cash — Fitzgerald sends solid messages about the elitism running all through each stratum of society.

In the history of America, the social class ladder has more or less defined the individuals of the United States. It seems as if social classes define people for who they are, but really it does not. In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, social class structure plays a big role in the characters and the novel. Throughout the book, social class structure is present and seems to define the characters for who they are.

    In The Great Gatsby, there are three main social classes portrayed. These are old money, new money, and no money. The first example we see in the novel that portrays social class are the islands of East Egg, West Egg, and the Valley of Ashes. Nick is a member of the new money class and describes West Egg as being, “the less fashionable of the two, though is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a

It was a term most knew as “old rich”. While the “new rich was a social class that is used as today. As Nick had stated “I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth”(Fitzgerald 11). By Nick saying this he had meant that money isn't the only thing that some people are born to. Some people are naturally well with manners and more loyal and they have more sense of the fundamental morals. Also even the partygoers that had attended Gatsby's parties that had earned their money aren't necessarily much better. They attend his parties, drink his liquor, and eat his food, and had never once took the time to even meet Gatsby or even have a bother to get to know him. An Example of care in social class of wealth was shown when Tom stated “It`s up to us the Nordics who are the dominant race to watch out or these other races will have control of things” (Fitzgerald 17). This quote shows proof of change in values of the 1920`s, and the destruction among society that it was causing.

In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald characterizes the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values. One of the major themes explored in this novel is the Hollowness of the Upper Class. The entire book revolves around money including power and little love. Coincidentally the three main characters of the novel belong to the upper class and throughout the novel Fitzgerald shows how this characters have become corrupted and have lost their morality due to excess money and success and this has led them to change their perspective towards other people and they have been portrayed as short-sighted to what is important in life.

Daisy’s dream is to be with Gatsby like his dream is to be with her. Daisy does not achieve her dream because, when they met, he was in the army and before that, “a clam−digger and a salmon−fisher or in any other capacity that brought him food and bed” (Fitzgerald 52). She does not want to be with Gatsby right away because he is going off to war, and there is a chance that he would not return. Daisy also does not choose to be with him because she does not think he will ever be able to provide for her. Coming from a rich family, Daisy is used to that kind of lifestyle and does not want to stray from it. Another reason she does not stay with Gatsby is because, before Gatsby made all of his money, they were of different social classes. For Daisy, “Tom's 'old money' has a power beyond any that Gatsby can command. His wealth and background win the battle” (Donaldson). Money and position are too important to Daisy, and she is not willing to risk that to be with Gatsby. Daisy’s need for wealth is emphasized through saying that, “she vanished into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby nothing” (Fitzgerald 82). In the past and present, all Daisy cares about is money. However, she is now sad that she did not stay with Gatsby all those years ago because he can now give her what she always wanted, money and social status. Daisy realizes that by waiting and disregarding her dream, it is now unobtainable. Daisy disregards her dream because she wants the money instantly, and does not want to put in the time and effort that it takes to truly achieve her

Class status has to do with a series of different aspects that relate to the degree

Wealthy people during the 1920s were very careless and shallow. As the richer, they became the more they fade away from their morals. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, he writes about Gatsby’s destiny and how people during that society “helped” him. The only help that he got was people’s shallowness. Gatsby’s destiny was to have Daisy fall in love with him again by using his wealth. As soon as Gatsby got Daisy’s attention it was taken away from him because people only cared about money, fame, and sometimes vengeance. Gatsby worked very hard and became very wealthy just to grab Daisy’s attention, but since she is so shallow and careless she only puts half of her love into Gatsby.

In the novel, one character who stands out the greatest as trying to fulfill his dreams is Jay Gatsby. He has the most determination out of all the characters in the book. Gatsby begins to become well known when he starts to become rich. He lives in a giant mansion, and hosts extravagant parties due to him, believing wealth will solve his problems. One of the reasons he strives to be successful and rich is so that he can win over the love of his life, Daisy, and pursue happiness. Daisy and Gatsby thought they were truly in love, however Gatsby in the past was not the richest. Daisy’s expectations for the guy she would marry would be a rich dependable man. Gatsby was not that at the time, which was a huge problem for Gatsby, consequently, Daisy

Gatsby is a gold person. Looking through everything at his house, you can tell that he is a gold person. From the colour that his palace of a home glows to the colour of his tie, “...and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in.” (Page 89), Gatsby is gold. It is no secret that he is either. He throws parties every weekend, his impetuous spending habits, and the home he lives in are all very obvious signs of being rich. He has this all for a meretricious Daisy, too. She seems to be a recurring theme in this essay. He could spend his money any way he wants to, but he decided on spending it for her. It’s not little bits of money here and there, it’s millions of dollars just to get her attention. Only someone who truly embodies the colour gold could be able to do that just because. In the end, his attempts are only halfway futile, as Daisy does notice him, and they fall in love. However, Tom comes and crashes the party, ruins the dream. He is just as gold as Gatsby, and can treat Daisy to a more safe, yet just as decadent lifestyle. Daisy decided to stay with Tom. Stupid Daisy. Money and riches and all the other gold things in the world wasn’t Gatsby’s answer to anything as he had earlier thought. A gold person doesn’t always make a happy

America in the 1920’s was a place for self-absorbed desires and pseudo appearances of wealth and happiness. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the audience looks through the empty lives of three characters from the novel, Jay Gatsby, and the Buchanans, Daisy and Tom. Fitzgerald uses the character's’ trials and tribulations to depict the concept that chasing the hollow American Dream leads only to misery and superfluous materialism. Although each individual had various intentions, in the end, they all displayed immoral actions and toxic behavior in attempt to attain their ideal lives.

At what cost should someone achieve the status of rich and luxurious? Should they have to abandon their friend, family or their dreams? Money is the focal point of life, it always has been, and it will always be the focal point of life. People think that having money will make them look better and more appealing, but in reality it is repelling. People who treat others lowly based on their income are not people who are focused on what really matters in life. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the value of money and social class dominates the value of personalities, friends, family and morals.