Luke Karam
Professor Whitley
English 100
19 November 2018
Literary Theory Paper
The Great Gatsby is saying that there is a clear differential in social class and it determines how people interact with each other. F. Scott Fitzgerald shows the different levels of wealth in the novel through his characters, which have all come from different backgrounds. The relationships also are determined by the characters wealth and status in society, Fitzgerald shows throughout the book the huge difference that being born into money or creating your own wealth can have on who you end up with.
The text is saying that people’s relationships are determined by what financial background they come from and achieve. The most obvious example of this the relationship between Daisy and Tom, they clearly aren’t actually in love with one another. The only reason they are is because they were both born into very wealthy families. Nick and Jay represent those who are earning, earned their wealth, this is why I think they get along so well and Nick admires Jay. They weren’t born into the luxurious lifestyles that Daisy and Tom were and had to earn what they had. Especially Jay Gatsby, he was born dirt poor and refused to accept it , he thought he was destined for greatness, which he eventually achieved. George and Myrtle both are not from wealthy backgrounds and George works as a mechanic to support Myrtle and him. This is another example of the classes being grouped together, even though they are not both in love with another, because they are poor they are married to one another. Fitzgerald novel portrays these characters not with the people they love because of their social standings in society.
The text says it this way because it is very easy to understand, this is something that is still relevant in today’s society. People will marry someone just to achieve/maintain a certain social status. This will lead to these people being unfaithful to one another and chasing after what their hearts truly want. This is displayed in the novel with Tom and Myrtle, and as well as Jay and Daisy. Jay didn’t have the social status at the time he first met Daisy in order to marry a girl like her, even though they obviously wanted to be with one another. Despite Daisy never really loving Tom, she still marries him because of his illustrious family. There is a clear attraction to characters between other social classes, but it feels like society is telling them it is wrong in this novel. This is relatable to the times today, for the most parts the classes don’t typically intermarry, if you’re from a wealthy background you usually get married to someone of equal or greater wealth.
The green light in the middle of the lake represents the divide in classes in the time, Jay is coming from new money, while the Buchanans’ are from old money. The light represents how the classes aren’t supposed to intermingle, the old money will always fall back on their money because it has always been like that their whole life. The new money however, is ambitious and is seeking more than just wealth, they are chasing Dreams. Jay is the perfect example of this, all of his money means nothing to him, he only wants Daisy, part of the reason he obtained this enormous amount of wealth was to woo Daisy and win her over from her husband Tom.
This novel really exemplifies how we look at class and relationships in our society, people are trying to maintain their image to a society that doesn’t really care about true love or happiness. Status has and always will be a driving factor in marriages, especially for those who
are from a wealthier background, they don’t want to lose what they have inherited from previous generations by marrying someone from a lower social standing, even if that means giving up on a chance for a loving faithful marriage. F. Scott Fitzgerald does a wonderful job of demonstrating what society has done to people who are born into those more privileged elite classes.