ipl-logo

Economic Status In The Great Gatsby

522 Words3 Pages

To begin, economic status affected the characters in The Great Gatsby. The characters are distinguished by their wealth and where they live. East Egg reflects high class society or “old money”, and the people of West Egg are wealthy and refer to “new money”. Social status and wealth defines a character and their happiness. F. Scott Fitzgerald, showed women trying to burst out from high class or low class organization. For example, Myrtle wishes to heighten herself into the high class society, where she believes lies all the beauty and wealth, and Daisy attempts to break away from the restrictive society, where she was raised, but Daisy onlys know how to follow the money.
In addition, the search for the American dream is degraded by segregation and racism. Langston Hughes’s poem “Mother to Son” invokes the theme of the American dream, and expresses how the blacks must stand tall and believe in a better future. In the poem a mother is giving advice to her son about life from her point of view and experiences. She wants her son to keep striving or flourish, even though he may be challenged with racism. In the third sentence, Hughes states, “It’s had tacks in it, and splinters, and boards torn up, and places with no carpet on the floor- Bare.” The tacks and splinters represent pain or scars left from the mother’s past, and the boards that were torn …show more content…

Sexism is the “prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women.” “In The Story of An Hour,” by Kate Chopin women were treated as property or belongings. To prove, “Free! Body and soul free!” she kept whispering (14).” The emotions Louise Mallard endures in that moment are powerful and deep. This is a story about finding a sense of self, and Louise feels free. Her life is no longer dependent on emotion or by love, and her husband’s death has set her free. "The Story of an Hour" expresses a disclosure that allows Louise to live

Show More
Related

  • How Does Wealth Affect The Great Gatsby

    717 Words  | 3 Pages

    The impact of great wealth is first seen through the character of Nick Carraway, the narrator and Gatsby’s neighbor. Nick is thrown into a world of money, parties, and lavish lifestyle when he moves next door to Gatsby on Long Island in the summer of 1922. Coming from Minnesota after fighting in World War I and attending Yale, Nick Carraway is a kind-hearted, open-minded man. He comes to New York to sell bonds and settles in next door to Gatsby’s mansion. Gatsby’s lifestyle is exhilarating to Carraway.

    Read More

  • Sexism And Gender Inequality In The United States

    192 Words  | 1 Pages

    Sexism is the discrimination against someone gender. Sexism in America is it is getting better for women Gender inequality in the United States has been diminishing significant advancements towards equality have been made However, despite this progress, gender inequality in the United States continues to persist in many forms, including the disparity in women 's political representation and participation, occupational segregation, the gender pay gap. In the past 20 years there have been emerging issues for boys/men, an achievement and attainment gap in education. Media has been increasing globally, the top positions are still very male dominated. This disparity is particularly evident in Africa, where cultural impediments to women fulfilling

    Read More

  • Effects Of Sexism In America

    1425 Words  | 6 Pages

    Sexism is the prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex (Dictionary.com). Examples of this would be the pay gap between women and men, and how men get paid more for doing the same jobs as women. Some say that sexism in our country is not relevant any more, but that is not the case. Today, sexism still affects how various peopletreat each other, and how children are educated and raised. Within modern America, children are consistently put into roles and expected to stay within them; instances of this often happen within preschools, elementary schools, and even within the home.

    Read More

  • Wealth In The Great Gatsby

    2065 Words  | 9 Pages

    The Connection of Wealth and Personality in Fitzgerald’s Works In our society, money is seen as the most important factor in decision making and in our overall lives. This is shown throughout all of Fitzgerald’s works and in many of his characters. His stories continually mention the effect that money has on the community. In one of her criticisms, Mary Jo Tate explains that “[Fitzgerald] was not a simple worshiper of wealth or the wealthy, but rather he valued wealth for the freedom and possibilities it provided, and he criticized the rich primarily for wasting those opportunities.

    Read More

  • Socioeconomic Status And Power In The Great Gatsby Essay

    792 Words  | 4 Pages

    The impact of socioeconomic status can be examined through a myriad of lenses. F. Scott Fitzgerald aims to show the relationship between socioeconomic status and power. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Tom’s character shows that socioeconomic status is equivalent to power within the novel. Tom puts great pride and emphasis on his socioeconomic status and wealth.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Affluenza In The Great Gatsby

    632 Words  | 3 Pages

    Affluenza in The Great Gatsby Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald characters consistently show signs of Affluenza. Their wealth generates injurious, unpleasant effects on their cognitive and social health such as a sense of entitlement, irresponsibility and failure to acknowledge consequences. Tom and Daisy present signs that one with Affluenza would present. On account of Tom being accustomed to an upscale life, his consideration of the events that follow his actions have disintegrated. Tom handles situations differently than someone who does not have his money to fall back on would.

    Read More

  • Class Status In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1331 Words  | 6 Pages

    Class status has to do with a series of different aspects that relate to the degree of luxury in terms of wealth and lifestyle. From a generic viewpoint, class refers to a wealth concept that characterizes your lifestyle, assets, and family income. Although there are three generic categories for assessing one’s level of wealth (lower, middle, and upper class), is it possible for there to be a significant fluctuation in amount of wealth over a long period of time that culminates to a change in lifestyle? This question is one of the central themes of a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald known as The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a key character in this book that attained a lot of wealth throughout their lives, but passed away by the completion of the story.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Greed In The Great Gatsby

    780 Words  | 4 Pages

    Set in the lavish era of the 1920’s, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the wealthy, yet sinful life of Jay Gatsby. When describing his character, Fitzgerald touches upon the three deadly sins: greed, envy and gluttony. James Gatz, having grown up in a small town to farmers, wished to make more of himself. Disowning his parents at a young age, he went off in search for money, and a new identity. “And when the TUOLOMEE left for the West Indies and the Barbary Coast Gatsby left too” (Fitzgerald 107).

    Read More

  • Examples Of Social Class In The Great Gatsby

    537 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Great Gatsby, social status is a significant element in the book as it separates the haves from the have nots. However more importantly, social status portrays the personalities of people belonging to different classes. In the end, you are stuck in the class you are born into, and attempting to change classes only leads to tragedy and heartbreak.     In The Great Gatsby, there are three main social classes portrayed. These are old money, new money, and no money.

    Read More

  • Money And Power In The Great Gatsby Analysis

    1149 Words  | 5 Pages

    Wealth identified how you lived to the people surrounding you in society. It was wealth that built you and destroyed you. Wealth overshadowed true love and beauty in The Great Gatsby. Those who had old money looked down upon those with new money, while those who were not rich was ignored by society. Wealth and the desire to be accepted by the society distracted the characters from making moral decisions.

    Read More

  • Negative Effects Of Wealth In The Great Gatsby

    854 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Negative Influence of Wealth Wealth and prosperity are the core of living a lavish lifestyle and having a successful life. However, money can influence people into debauchery. In the book, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald introduces to us to some of the dangers of being rich. Most people in the Great Gatsby were very privileged, and they lived a lavish lifestyle.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Wealth Analysis

    751 Words  | 4 Pages

    In many literary works, the wealthy are generally depicted as pretentious or cruel and authors tend to portray their personalities through various methods. In his work The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses literary techniques to distinctly characterize the wealthy. Doing so helps him communicate the work’s theme on the soulless nature of the affluent. Fitzgerald conveys his message by incorporating juxtaposition, effective diction, and suiting moods with his characters.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Wealth In The Great Gatsby

    747 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Great Gatsby the characters in the novel come from various social classes. Nick, Daisy, and Tom are from Wealthy families who have been wealthy for a long time. These characters are referred to as “Old rich” because of their families’ long histories of wealth. Jay Gatsby, unlike Daisy and Tom, did not belong to a wealthy family, and he earns his wealth through his own hard work and success. Although Tom and Gatsby are both wealthy, Tom and the other “Old rich” people look down at Gatsby.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Poverty In The Great Gatsby

    619 Words  | 3 Pages

    The website wordpress made an article about the social classes in the Great Gatsby, talking about the differences and similarities that both social classes in the book have with each other, from the good things, to all their flaws. “All the characters do not suffer due to lack of funds in life, but from key dimensions within themselves”(wordpress, Poverty in Great Gatsby). All of the characters in the Great Gatsby have some form of funds in their life, but each of them are devoid of certain key aspects of their personality. One of them could have a lack of social wealth, such as Jay Gatsby. Everyone is wealthy and poor, and when this was brought out to the public when this novel was published, this redefined poverty, and wealth as a whole.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Social Mobility In The Great Gatsby

    578 Words  | 3 Pages

    The American Dream is the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success, prosperity, and social mobility through hard work, determination, and initiative. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby attempts to achieve social mobility but ultimately fails due to the constructs of old vs new money. An argument is shown that the American Dream is just that, a dream, and that happiness cannot be achieved through wealth. In the novel, the super poor are stuck in their social class, unable to move because they live in the valley of ashes, which represents poverty and the corruption and social decay that came with the lavish and careless lifestyles of the rich.

    Read More

More about Economic Status In The Great Gatsby

Open Document