Social Stratification in the great gastby

Essay by magefish50High School, 11th gradeA, October 2014

download word file, 3 pages 0.0

Downloaded 1 times

Teague 3

Charlie Teague

Mrs. Petix

English 11-7th

7 October 2014

Title

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald a large variety of themes are brought to light, Such as wealth, justice, power, greed, and even the American dream. Of all these themes Fitzgerald's message regarding social class is conceivably one of the best portrayed in the novel. The Great Gatsby, set in the 1920's, shows us the massive divides between each separate social class of the period, but in the end each class has its own problems to contend with. By creating distinct social classes old money, new money, and no money, Fitzgerald sends a strong message of elitism throughout every class of society.

The first and most distinct group portrayed by Fitzgerald is the upper class represented by the old aristocracy. The old money possesses grace, taste, subtlety, and elegance, and polished social skills. This class is represented by the Buchanans, Jordan Baker and Nick Carraway.

However, what the old aristocracy possesses in taste, it seems to lack in heart, as those living in East Egg prove themselves to be careless, inconsiderate bullies who are so used to money's ability to ease their minds that they never worry about hurting others. These characters, such as Tom and Daisy, have had their money for generations, and were all born into their wealth. Nick notices the Buchanans are so extremely wealthy that they could engage in any activity they wish whenever they please. As Nick notes, "Why they came East I don't know. They had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together" (Fitzgerald 6). The Buchanans confirm the stereotype of selfishness among the upper class when they simply move to a...