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The Great Gatsby Marxist Analysis

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This novel is a clear-cut representation of Marxism. The key themes, symbols and characterization correspond to the dimensions of Marxism.
The Great Gatsby starts out displaying the theme of Marxism almost immediately with the introduction of the narrator, Nick when he describes his socioeconomic status as a ‘bonds man’. He describes his class pretty quick, saying: “My family has been prominent, well-to-do people in this middle-western city for 3 generations (Fitzgerald 3).” The bourgeois status of Nick is contrasted by the extremely wealthy Gatsby and his grand mansion. The degree of the splendor Gatsby lives in is described in great detail by Nick, as is the Buchanan’s house: “The one on my right (Gatsby’s house) was a colossal affair by any standard it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (Fitzgerald 5). Nick represents Fitzgerald’s view, as he comes from a …show more content…

Fitzgerald is clearly critiquing the American dream, and the capitalism which consumes everyone, but by giving this couple such a gloomy existence, there is no real moral to the story. If they were happy, it would be a truly Marxist novel, but they are portrayed as negatively as the rich people. With or without money people are unhappy and they are unpleasant people, through quotes like, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money, or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess that they had made” (Fitzgerald 25). However, the vivid description of their beautiful clothing, houses, friends, and even their physiques, make them much more attractive to the reader than the pitiful lives of lower

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