Effects Of Social Class In The Great Gatsby
In Rita Dove's words, "The American Dream is a phrase we'll wrestle with all our lives." She isn't wrong, and this idea has been crystal clear for ages. For instance, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby, set in the Roaring Twenties, shortly after World War 1, highlights Nick Carraway’s life after moving to a new estate. The novel shows the battles of social class and the fight to obtain wealth/riches. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses characterization and symbolism to reveal the meaning of social class, its effects, and the real American Dream.
Fitzgerald explains the meaning of social class through characterization and symbolism. Nick Carraway meets an old friend, Tom Buchanan, who is married to Nick’s cousin, Daisy Buchanan.
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When Nick meets Gatsby for the first time, he has a peculiar conversation with him in the car that makes Nick rethink Gatsby’s real personality. Nick thinks, “He hurried the phrase “educated at Oxford,”...as though it had bothered him now. And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces, and I wondered if there wasn’t something a little sinister about him.” (Fitzgerald 65) The author characterizes Gatsby as someone who studied at a high-level university but adds words such as “hurried the phrase” to prove he is lying. This contradiction makes Gatsby seem cheap and proves he wasn’t popular or rich in his early days. Instead, he builds many lies to make people think he's always been high class and reshapes his entire life to seem socially admirable. This deception shows the lengths some people resort to achieve a higher status and illustrates the effects of social classes and status. In addition to characterization, Fitzgerald explores this theme through symbolism. Towards the climax of the book, the author reveals that Jay Gatsby changed his name early in life. He believed it would make him sound and seem like the upper class and bring respect and admiration. Nick observes, “James Gatz…that was his name. He changed it… at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career” (Fitzgerald 98). Gatsby creates many elaborate lies about himself throughout the story to cover his real identity, symbolizing a fear or hope created by social status. Gatsby is scared of people learning that he came from a poor family because it will affect people’s views of his status and background. This paranoia is an effect of the status system. Fitzgerald critiques this effect and reveals how much social class can control and change one, such as Gatsby. To conclude, characterization and symbolism illustrate the effects of social
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1009 Words | 5 PagesHe had changed it at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career.” (Fitzgerald 98). Through this, it’s uncovered how Gatsby changed his name to fit his new persona, his new career. Being known as the poor farmer, James Gatz, wasn’t very pleasing to him. On the contrary, being known as the billionaire, Jay Gatsby, did.
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1181 Words | 5 PagesFitzgerald’s synthesis of Gatsby’s true origins indirectly characterize Gatsby as one who views money as a resource with the utmost power. Fitzgerald goes as far to state that the facade of Jay Gatsby “sprang from his Platonic conception of himself” and that his secrecy was only hidden so that the world would view him differently (76). The use of direct characterization in this quote evinces the true nature of why Gatsby acts so humble as opposed to arrogant, which is displayed in Tom’s character. The fact that the material change Gatsby, or rather Gatz, went through only affected his outward presence as opposed to his true turmoil he feels on the inside that fights his outward expression further develops the idea that even if money has no true power in the world, it will continue to be treated as if it does. Fitzgerald purposely directly characterizes Gatsby to inform the reader that he is not who he is on the inside, while also indirectly characterizes Gatsby’s and his relationship with money.
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508 Words | 3 PagesJay Gatsby is an enigmatic character with a lot of traumas and what seems obsessions connected with love and money. Through the book, we as readers were only able to know a small part of his thoughts and emotions since he was not the narrator, but that is enough to understand him and his deep desires. As the narrator, Nick Carraway said, Gatsby is different from all the other characters. He is not as cruel as Tom and Daisy, but he is not morally correct, a quality that our narrator Nick considers he has. Gatsby comes from a poor and not influential family; he did not study in prestigious universities like the other characters, nor did he receive a heritage from his family, which the wealthy “nobility” of America considers to be one of the few ways to be part of them.
Jay Gatsby Selfish
634 Words | 3 PagesHe is not who he appears to be, and his past is a mystery. This mystery is emphasized when nick, the narrator, says, “He hurried the phrase “educated at Oxford,” or swallowed it, or choked on it, as though it had bothered him now. And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces, and I wondered if there wasn’t something a little sinister about him, after all”(Fitzgerald 65). This fact is also highlighted by the fact that Gatsby is not even his real name. He was born James Gatz, and changed his name to reinvent himself.
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1504 Words | 7 Pagesin response to her cold carelessness towards Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses Nick’s resentment to show readers the self-preservation of the upper-class and how this results in cruelty towards the lower classes. The depictions of the upper-class lacking remorse for the suffering they cause only further Fitzgerald’s representations of class privilege throughout the
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462 Words | 2 PagesSocial classes represent the hidden structure of America, as well as in several other countries in the world. If one is unsatisfied with the social class they are born into, however, is it possible for them to change it? The answer is yes, they can, as per evidence from real life situations and from The Great Gatsby. Some might say that it is impossible to change the social class one is born into. In their opinion, if that person is born poor, consequently they will certainly die poor.
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1336 Words | 6 PagesAs said by other critics, “Jay Gatsby's determination to establish a new identity for himself sets him apart from the other characters in the text” (Verderame). Gatsby grew up as a poor farmer boy. Born into poverty from the beginning, Gatsby cared little for his family and was determined to leave them behind for a new life. This tragic past encourages Gatsby to entirely start a new life by changing his identity and personality before the reader is even introduced to the character. “So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end” (98).Critics say, “In doing so, Gatsby has proven to himself that he can successfully change the story of his past” (Scisco).
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1598 Words | 7 PagesGatsby embodies the archetypal figure of the hero, driven by a sense of purpose and a desire to achieve his goals. In contrast, Tom represents the archetypal figure of the shadow, embodying the negative traits and impulses that lurk within the human psyche. Through their interactions and conflicts, these characters reveal the deeper psychological and social forces at play in American society, illuminating the ways in which the pursuit of wealth and status can lead to moral decay and disillusionment. Fitzgerald's use of characterization and dialogue is particularly effective in illuminating the class tensions and class-based attitudes that pervade American society. The interactions between Gatsby and Tom, such as the infamous scene in which Tom says to Gatsby, "I've got a nice place here, and I don't want to have any trouble with anybody," highlight the contrasting perspectives and values of
Lies In The Great Gatsby
669 Words | 3 PagesIn Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby lives a life of lies and creates an entire fake persona in order to live up to the standards that Daisy, the love of his life, has set for him. James Gatz, a poor farm boy, transforms himself into something he is not, Jay Gatsby, a rich, powerful man, and will do anything to get there. Blinded by his love for Daisy, Jay Gatsby deceives everyone to believe he is a good man who inherited his wealth. In actuality, Gatsby’s entire character is a lie, proving Gatsby cannot come to terms with his past, allowing Fitzgerald to reveal the immorality connected to achieving dreams. Jay Gatsby creates an entirely false image of himself and lets others believe that he is someone else, to impress the girl he loves.
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808 Words | 4 PagesGatsby is a wealthy man who lives in West Egg. He tells Nick that he is “the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West” (Fitzgerald, 65). He later states, “I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition” (Fitzgerald, 65). This is what Gatsby wants Nick to believe but, in reality, Nick tells the reader that Gatsby was a man by the name of James Gatz and he was the son of unsuccessful farmers.
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537 Words | 3 PagesFitzgerald expressed that social class defines a person and their personality. You can’t escape the social class you were born into, and you can’t fake it either. Your roots will always show through. The overall message Fitzgerald was trying to send to the reader is to accept your social status and don’t take it for granted. Someone will always be better than you, therefore accept what you have and be
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1659 Words | 7 Pages" Under the circumstances Nick hardly expects any section of Gatsby's fabulous story to be true..." (Donaldson 161). Gatsby manipulates Nick throughout the novel, causing
The Symbolism Of 'Jay Gatz In The Great Gatsby'
1536 Words | 7 PagesGatsby is supposed to be an ideal, and he is not the actual James Gatz. Jay Gatsby is a representation of how James Gatz believed rich people behaved, and it was to further himself away from his lineage. Gatz abandoned himself to become part of the elite and distance himself from anything from his beginnings in hopes of becoming wealthy. His persona becomes obvious when he speaks as it overly “elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd” and at first it just seems like Gatsby is possibly just awkward, but it makes sense that he acts like this because he is mimicking the rich (Fitzgerald 48). His speech is one of the factors that makes it very obvious that Jay Gatsby is nothing but a character and has been put in place of James Gatz.
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1837 Words | 8 PagesThe deception of the characters in Fitzgerald’s novel signifies the emptiness and artificial lifestyle of people in the 1920s. From a young age, Gatsby has never accepted the life he was born into, always seeking a way to participate in the abstract customs of the rich, resulting in his lies to convince Daisy as well of others of his rich background. Gatsby is presented as a character that has not been able to transition his life to the present day time period, keeping his eyes shut from the realities of his dreams, "Can't repeat the past? Why of course you can!"(Fitzgerald 116). In Gatsby’s attempt to change all the features he was born with, including his name, James Gatz, he fails to realize that his dreams are not worthy of him and he will never be able to achieve them.
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