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Comparing The Great Gatsby And Parasite

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Social stratification is permanent in society and has been represented in numerous literary texts where the most vulnerable dream to become higher class with wealth, and status. This desire to escape the low-class life, flows down into a path of blatant lies, leading to tragic failure and demise.
Nicolah Burns, 27th April 2023

The prosperous ‘Jazz Aged’ parties of Long Island in the 1920s, sparked the mind of F. Scott Fitzgerald to write the classic novel, The Great Gatsby (1925). Fitzgerald represents a class system in the novel featuring the locations of the Eggs and The Valley of Ashes, where success, wealth, and popularity, became a desired lifestyle for those of the higher class, yet a lifetime goal for those of the lower class. The novel …show more content…

Through similar experiences, the modern day film by Bong Joon-ho, Parasite (2019) captures the reality of South Korea, particularly through the perspective of those who are most vulnerable, at the time of society being economically polarised. The class within Parasite is represented through a physical aspect, as the many settings within the film display literal levels of the country from an in-depth perspective. Both literary texts, The Great Gatsby and Parasite, similarly represent the concept of class by the permanent social hierarchy portrayed through geographical and physical settings. The lower class in both texts characterises deception as a “key tool” to attempt climbing the social ladder, however, ultimately it leads to tragic failure and demise.

Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, portrays class through geographical distinctions of East Egg, West Egg, and The Valley of Ashes. Evidently, the permanent social hierarchy is …show more content…

In the scene of Ki Woo, Ki Taek, and Ki Jung running back to their house, an extreme long shot of the staircase in a dark and dirty environment leading down the Kim residents, is used to amplify the physical distance down into the low class level from the high class. Another example of a scene is where Ki Woo is “climbing” up to the Park house. A shot of a steep concreted hill is used in the setting as he makes his way to his interview with those who have high status and wealth. Therefore, leading the audience literally “up” to the high class streets, proving the evident stratification Bong

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