Social Classes in The Great Gatsby
- Yuying
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Abstract
The Roaring 20s, or the 1920s, were an important era primarily situated in America and England, representing the peak of economic prosperity and culture. The Great Gatsby, a 1925 tragedy novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, reveals the importance of wealth and social class within the community. The society within this novel is undeniably corrupted and controlled through social class and fortune. Most people are influenced by the impact of wealth, and only see money as the key factor in their lives. The novel partially criticizes social inequality for its influence on the American Dream and on the people of this community. Within the economy, people from poorer social classes, such as the Wilsons from the Valley of Ashes, were typically treated unequally and disrespectfully compared to people like Jay Gatsby or Tom Buchanan. People are defined not only by their social class but also by their income source. Daisy Buchanan chose Tom over Gatsby because Gatsby was part of the ‘new rich’. This essay will focus on analyzing the influence of social inequalities and societal boundaries within The Great Gatsby.
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The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, introduces Nick Carraway, a Yale graduate who moved to New York after fighting in WW1. He describes his neighborhood, the West Egg, to be full of the 'new rich'. When he goes to the East Egg, the neighborhood full of the 'old rich' to have dinner with his cousin Daisy Buchanan, he meets Tom Buchanan, Daisy's husband, and Jordan Baker. Soon, Nick discovers Tom's secret affair with Myrtle Wilson, who had a husband, George Wilson. After attending one of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby's, extravagant Saturday parties, Nick meets him in person and learns about his past relationship with Daisy, including his wish to get back with her again. After Nick arranges a meeting with the two, they rekindle with one another, to Tom's fury. One evening, Daisy, driving Gatsby's car, hit and killed Myrtle Wilson on her way to run away from her husband. Gatsby, blinded by his love for Daisy, doesn't tell anyone other than Nick that she is driving the car. George Wilson, convinced that the person who ran over Myrtle was her secret lover, shot Gatsby and killed himself shortly after in his pool. Nick sets up a funeral for Gatsby, only for he, Gatsby's father, and a drunk man from one of Gatsby's parties to show up. Daisy and Tom left with no message. After running into Tom shortly, Nick learns that Tom was the one who misguided Wilson into believing Gatsby was the one who ran over Myrtle. Disgusted by East Egg’s corruptedness, Nick reflects on Gatsby's character and compares it to that of the first American settlers before moving back to Minnesota.
Social inequality is a major factor throughout the novel that influences the American Dream, in a way that the narrator often criticizes. The novel emphasizes and highlights the difference between the daily lives of the wealthy and the poor, showing how society is corrupted by social inequality. Throughout the novel, the story of Gatsby’s life is poses as a large contribution to this idea. Growing up in a money-corrupted society, Gatsby believed that as long as he had money and wealth, he would be able to win Daisy’s heart back. In the past, Gatsby attempted to get near Daisy by faking his identity has a wealthy man, but to no avail, as Daisy had married Tom Buchanan when he was away for war: “He let her believe that he was a person from much the same strata as herself—that he was fully able to take care of her. As a matter of fact, he had no such facilities—he had no comfortable family standing behind him.” (Fitzgerald, 8). Daisy Buchanan was corrupted by her desire for wealth and fortune, and married Tom Buchanan for his stable income, despite the fact that she had loved Gatsby. Similarly, thinking that Daisy would love him again if he were to be rich, Gatsby used illegal methods to gain wealth rapidly. Although they did manage to keep a relationship for a while, Daisy left Gatsby immediately once she learned about his source of income. In addition, Myrtle Wilson also attempts to win over Tom Buchanan’s heart, but her low social status is not in her favor. All of her attempts end in a tragedy when she is hit by Daisy driving Gatsby’s car on her way to meet Tom. Bernie Sanders, an American politician and activist, states that: “For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.” (Sanders, 2). Each character in The Great Gatsby has their own dreams, but are all let down by it due to wealth and social limitations. The major impact of social inequality on people’s lives in The Great Gatsby is often critiqued by Nick, and most likely by the author, too.
Throughout the Roaring 20s, there has been a large divergence between the ‘new rich’, the people who have recently gotten fortunes through business, and the ‘old rich’, people who were wealthy at birth and inheritance. In The Great Gatsby, the ‘old rich’ and ‘new rich’ are divided both physically and mentally. For one, these two groups of people are separated by the towns or neighborhoods they live in. In the wealthier part of New York, the old rich would typically live in East Egg, while the new rich lived in the West Egg, where a body of water separates the two. In addition, as Nick notes, the new rich liked to show off their wealth a lot more than the old rich, and would live in large mansions with pools and entertainment, to the distaste of the old rich. Moreover, the old rich would do horse riding as a hobby, due to living in large country estates, contrary to the new rich who lived in urban areas. Because of their difference and potential threat to each other, the new rich and old rich disliked each other. When Nick went to the Buchanans’ for dinner at East Egg, Tom Buchanan compared their situation to a book called The Rise of the Colored Empires. “The idea is if we don’t look out, the white race will be—will be utterly submerged. … It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out for these other races will have control of things.” (Fitzgerald, 1). The old rich oftentimes looked down upon the new rich, as, according to historian Frederick Lewis Allen, the old rich were typically more ‘refined’ because they inherited their wealth. In many literature and novels from around the 1920s emphasize the divide between these two groups of wealthy households. Typically, the ‘old rich’ are said to be more refined than those who recently earned money during that era, as bootlegging and getting wealth through illegal procedures were common at that time.
Aside from the division between the old rich and the new rich, inequality is mostly focused on the poor families with little wealth or social status. The poor are often looked down upon by the richer families because of their meager amount of power and wealth. Even when poor families manage to make money and become part of the ‘new rich’ society, the other wealthy households still show distaste for them. Gatsby’s life story, from a poor to a wealthy man, emphasizes the prejudiced opinions people have of people born into lower social classes. Born into a poor family, Gatsby uses mysterious, or illegal, methods like bootlegging alcohol to achieve his goals. In the past, Gatsby attempted to get near Daisy by faking his identity as a wealthy man, but to no avail, as Daisy had married Tom Buchanan for a stable income when he was away for the war. Moreover, the Wilson family is seen to be treated less respectfully than the wealthier family because of their social status. The author highlights the bleak and poor life they live in through the description of The Valley Of Ashes. “This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of ash-grey men, who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.” (Fitzgerald, 2). In the novel, George Wilson is depicted as a man corrupted by fatigue and despair, often times seen to be tired and ill-looking. On the other hand, Tom’s mistreatment of Myrtle also shows his disrespect to the poorer families: he uses her as a ‘tool’ and breaks her nose just because she was talking about Daisy Buchanan. Furthermore, Myrtle’s death is easily brushed off by Tom and Daisy, even though she was Tom’s mistress and even though Daisy was the one who drove the car. In a society where everyone is corrupted by their focus on wealth and social status, the poor have much less benefits and advantages.
The Great Gatsby narrates the story of Nick Carraway, a man who has recently moved into West Egg in New York from Minnesota. Throughout his days living there, Nick meets multiple people with different backgrounds and personalities. The novel reveals the importance of wealth and social class within the community. The society within this novel is undeniably corrupted and controlled through people’s social classes and wealth. It emphasizes and highlights the difference between the daily lives of the wealthy and the poor, showing how society is corrupted by social inequality. People like Daisy and Tom are completely controlled by their desire for wealth and prosperity, so that they no longer care for anything else. On the other hand, the poorer families are often stepped under the shoes by the wealthy, and are looked down upon by the rest of the society due to their lower social status. For example, the Wilson family is looked down upon and neglected by people like Tom and Daisy, even though they have complex relations with each other. In addition, throughout the novel, there has been a large divergence between the ‘new rich’, the people who have recently gotten fortunes through business, and the ‘old rich’, people who were wealthy at birth and inheritance. The old rich would often show distaste for the new rich because they believed that they weren’t as refined and pure-blooded as ones who were born into a wealthy family.
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. “The Great Gatsby”, Project Gutenberg
Allen, Frederick L. “Only Yesterday”, Internet Archive
Sanders, Bernie. “Bernie Sanders: No To Oligarchy”, The Nation
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