People have dreams, and sometimes those dreams can be destroyed. Many times this devastating event happens because of either money or social class. In S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, the Greasers understand and realize they belong to the working class and that mobility up the social class ladder is nearly impossible.
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is the author of the twentieth century American classic, The Great Gatsby. It is a story of the American dream, settled down in the 1920’s, with issues of the time period being, prohibition, women, class structure, crime, and many more, The Great Gatsby has a taste of each. Fitzgerald incorporated subjects of his time and his very own experiences into the story to portray an era of social and moral values. The 1920’s were a time of breaking morals Class structure and wealth were among the highest pleasures achievable. The 20’s were an era of Jazz; with extravagant music playing throughout all hours of the night. Not only men went to fancy parties, but women as well were invited, sometimes appearing to have no company. Times were changing for women, for they could go out on their own and dress spontaneously. In many occasions throughout the book we get sights of the characters drinking, another big boom of this era; we know that prohibition was an enormous debate about this time as people began to drink more (Fitzgerald). All of this ties together, because Fitzgerald’s vision of the American dream was about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. Were his works for the characters of his book and his readers, or for himself? It is believed that Fitzgerald incorporated his life situations and emotions into his stories.
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.
The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a classic 20th century story -that period was also known as the “roaring twenties”- which critiques the vision of the American Dream people in general have. At that time, the idea of a free market, and industrial revolution provided the opportunity for many to seize the market and people were starting to see that they could become rich without having any type of restriction. New York city was the centre of this wealth-creating society. After the war, this movement generated new opportunities and ambitions for people wanting to start a wealthy upper class life. That period of time was all about alcohol, partying, gambling, fashion, and money. The Great Gatsby presents its characters as having living the American Dream. However, it is only a belief; the behaviors they have and decisions they take only leave them with a false perception of life and lifestyle. The Great Gatsby relates to the corruption of the American Dream for those materialistic people who were after money. Fitzgerald reveals the idea of corruption in the American Dream through conditions such as wealth and materialism, power and social status, and relationships involving family and affairs. He uses examples of this corruption to show the reader that people are willing to lie, betray others, and commit crime to be able to live a ‘better and fuller’ life.
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.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby describes the life of Jay Gatsby in the 1920’s. The novel shares his love story and his loneliness. A major question the author raises is how does wealth impact class structure and society? Fitzgerald answers this question through the distinction between “New rich” and “Old rich” and the significance of East and West Egg.
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. In the novel itself, Gatsby in the end is poor, just as he was when he was born. “Gatsby’s house was still empty when I left- the grass on his lawn had grown as long as mine”(Fitzgerald, pg 179). Jay Gatsby was born a poor man, and even though he rose up in his social class to be one with the rich, powerful people of the time, he was still a poor man. There is a big difference in the social class in the 1920’s, that nobody could escape
Although F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby debuted in 1925– before the Great Depression– it serves as a prophetic exemplification of the the material excess of the 1920s that drowned out signs of the coming Great Depression. The book’s plot follows the bootlegger Jay Gatsby as he pursues his old love Daisy Buchanan through flaunting his new extravagant lifestyle, mainly by throwing ostentatious parties. Yet, in the end, Daisy chooses her unfaithful husband Tom over Gatsby. Through Fitzgerald’s use of wealthy, materialistic characters, he comments on the effect of the material excess of the roaring twenties: moral corruption.
Books are one of humanity’s greatest creations. They are treasures of precious thought. Whenever I hold such beauty in my hands I am amazed by a human being’s ability to write and transform simple letters into words, into stories, into ideas. Throughout my young life so far I have had the pleasure and honour of reading a myriad of novels from many different genres. In the future I hope to further expand my library of knowledge. Of course, as one reads – much like I have - they will stumble across books, good books, and, most importantly, great books. The words of poet Pablo Neruda resonates deeply with my belief that “…books that help you the most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading,
Dexter Green, and Jay Gatsby were two very wealthy, young men who both strove to be in the highest attainable social class, and to marry the girl they have sought over for years. The characters from two of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels are near identical in many aspects. Although they are very similar, they are extremely different. Both characters had grown up very different. Both had attained wealth in two different way. Both had different a different love life scenario, and both of their lives finished out very differently. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, it is the story of Jay Gatsby and all of his greatness through the eyes of his close friend, Nick Carraway. Jay Gatsby was involved with the bootlegging business, and ties
Humans, by our very nature, are always striving to achieve more in life. Unfortunately, our materialistic society, and that of the Roaring Twenties, interpret this as striving for wealth. That pursuit often becomes all-consuming, eventually hindering our pursuit of gratifying life goals. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts wealth as a fraudulent thief whose pursuit must be abandoned for the sake of tangible fulfillment. He illustrates the dangers of attempting to find gratification in wealth through the life of Jay Gatsby, who ironically sacrifices morality, identity, and love in order to gain wealth, which he attempts to use to justify his claim to these very things. When Gatsby loses everything, we see that wealth not only fails as a means of fulfillment but actively participates in the destruction of this goal. Fitzgerald suggests that wealth cannot lead to happiness, rather it undermines the existing and potential good in life. It should therefore should not be used as means of attaining fulfillment.
How does one’s social class affect one’s honesty and morality? In the book, Fitzgerald makes commentary on various themes, such as the American dream and the passing of time and so on. Of the various themes being illustrate, none is more developed as the impact of social class on one’s moral identity. The book offers vivid peak into the everyday society in time period of the Jazz age. The idea of one’s morality due to one’s identity is being illustrated and explored in the book, as the author, Scott Fitzgerald suggests that honesty and morality are interconnected with one’s authority and social status. This is being portrayed through the author separation of characters into the two distinctive
During the twenties the economy of the United States was changing greatly. Due to the establishment of the prohibition of alcohol the billionaires were those who would smuggle the goods to society. The Great Gatsby is a novel which portrays the different societies of the United States during the twenties differently. F. Scott Fitzgerald focuses on revealing the types of lives lived by each social group. Throughout the book we are exposed to the marginalization of women and the lower class during the time, since the important individuals in society were the wealthy people who impacted the economy of the country. The reader comes to the realization that the middle class was almost nonexistent since the poor were very poor and the rich were very rich during that era.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s early American masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, gives readers a glimpse of life in the Roaring Twenties. In a time period filled with new inventions and a booming economy, rising through the ranks of social hierarchy seems deceivingly simple. Yet, improving one’s social stature in the communities of East Egg and West Egg is, in fact, a nearly impossible task. Unfortunately, rising in social standing in today’s society has proven just as difficult. As the nation’s wealth gap grows larger, more and more individuals are driven into poverty. Children from these less fortunate families struggle in school; many are lucky to even graduate from high school. Without college degrees, these children face limited
What did Fitzgerald say about American society in his book? The Great Gatsby did not insult American society. The book stated how people who have money were seen by the public and that perspective has not changed to this day. If you have a big house or a nice car people will want to be around you hoping to increase their own image. In his book Fitzgerald talked about, with two main ideas, American society. His main ideas were social class and status. The richer you were the higher your social class and the more well known you were. As he talks about the houses, cars, and riches of characters in the book the more interested we, along with other characters in the book, get. Fitzgerald did not insult the American society but clearly stated how money was