Prosperity in America during the interwar period was defined by how much a family or person could have outside of the basics of food, shelter, and basic clothing. It was not a unit of measure, but instead a trait that a person or family either had, or did not have. A well known example of prosperity can be seen in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby set during the 1920’s. Yet, prosperity had less meaning to those not as well off during the Great Depression, as millions struggled to feed themselves and their families, let alone spend on superfluous luxuries. This was largely due to the stock market crashing, forcing FDR to introduce the new deal programs, which changed the process through which a person could reach such a status. …show more content…
According to PBS, “The Depression was simply an inconvenience especially in New York where the city’s glamorous venues...such as El Morocco and The Stork Club were heaving with celebrities, socialites and aristocrats.” The interwar period saw a considerable wealth gap formed between the upper class and the much larger lower class. As farmers in the midwest struggled to feed their families, the aristocracy in New York feasted like kings and held parties only the elite could afford. As early as 1923, the rich were getting richer whilst the poor stayed poor: “The Mellon Plan of 1923 lowered the income tax rate for the top income bracket from 77% to 24%” Those who were prosperous did all that they could to maintain their prosperity, while those ‘below them’ still struggled. Andrew Mellon was already one of the richest men in America before he was appointed as Secretary of Treasury during the Harding and Coolidge administrations, and his time in office only made him richer. The tax cuts he put into effect saved him and his brother over 1.4 million dollars combined (roughly 20 million dollars today). The interwar period demonstrated how hard it was for lower class people to achieve prosperity, while those who had already become prosperous did little to help the others. However, FDR’s New Deal program offered the lower class a way out, causing people to debate whether government contributions should be attributed as ‘prosperity’ or
The Great Depression of 1929 to 1940 began and centered in the United States, but spread quickly throughout the industrial world. The economic catastrophe and its impact defied the description of the grim words that described the Great Depression. This was a severe blow to the United States economy. President Roosevelt’s New Deal is what helped reshape the economy and even the structure of the United States. The programs that the New Deal had helped employ and gave financial security to several Americans. The New Deals programs would prove to be effective and beneficial to the American society.
The Great Gatsby shows us the decline of civilization with the loss of thought for God and religion. God is merely mentioned at all in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, except for the eyes of T.J. Eckleberg on the billboard. This notion suggests that capitalism is above God among the rich and powerful. The rich and powerful are blind to the notion of God and religion.
Benjamin Franklin once said “Money has never made man happy, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness." This is arguably one of the most cliché quotes of all time. If money cannot provide happiness, then what exactly can it do? The characters of Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan open a door to a world in which money was the sole motivation for their success and the only reason for their power. When the reader uses a Marxist critical lens during chapter four of F. Scott 's Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby, the social hierarchy reveals how Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan utilize the importance of money and social power to manipulate others in their lives.
In ‘The Great Gatsby’ Fitzgerald criticises the increase of consumerism in the 1920s and the abandonment of the original American Dream , highlighting that the increased focus on wealth and the social class associated with it has negative effects on relationships and the poorest sections of society. The concept of wealth being used as a measure of success and worth is also explored by Plath in ‘The Bell Jar’. Similarly, she draws attention to the superficial nature of this material American Dream which has extended into the 1960s, but highlights that gender determines people’s worth in society as well as class.
After World War I, the United States entered an era known as “The Roaring 20`s”. This time was only roaring for the rich, the poor men and women were living a life of misery and depression. Novels written during this time express how many people lived. In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F Scott. Fitzgerald it proclaims that the rich were going to Jay Gatsby’s parties, and drinking and partying but doesn’t say anything about the poor. If you lived in this time period you would either be homeless or in debt. The 1920`s were not roaring because of the Great Depression, racism towards immigrants by nativists, and that the president took no action to fix it.
During the Great Depression, life was not as easy as it once was. Many people were out of jobs and prices on things went down, therefore making it harder for people to make money. In a poem written by Donald Justice it says, “We gathered on porches; the moon rose; we were poor.” Money was a huge struggle during this time, causing a lot of
The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald relates to the current event video in a few ways. It applies to the reading of Great Gatsby because of the idea of affluenza; which is a way of saying that somebody was raised wealthy and with privilege, and had no consequences for bad behavior, so they do not know how to act or make the best decisions in the real world. Daisy specifically relates to this because she was raised very wealthy and even married wealthy to keep living her luxurious and privilege filled life. “For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras…” (151). She even got away with killing Myrtle because her and Tom were wealthy enough to just disappear, and
Jane Austen once said, “A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.” While some may agree with this statement, I wholeheartedly disagree and find this assertion to be false for a plethora of reasons. Not only does this quote challenge the overall theme of what is truly worth loving in life in Leo Tolstoy’s “How Much Land Does a Man Need,” but it also demonstrates the unfortunate perspective that an overwhelming number of people have throughout the world today. Pahom, the protagonist in Tolstoy’s story, believed that having an abundance of land would make him happy and allow him to live a better, more comfortable life. The outcome of this story proves otherwise. Not to mention, other literary works, in addition to Leo Tolstoy’s parable, stress the fact that money is not the key to happiness such as The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald. Money and materialistic items can only bring so much happiness to one’s life. Love, however, is the
The Great Gatsby “The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, depicts the vast social difference between the old aristocrats, the new self-made rich and the poor. He vividly interprets the social stratification during the roaring twenties as each group has their own problems to deal with. Old Money, who have fortunes dating from the 19th century, have built up powerful and influential social connections, and tend to hide their wealth and superiority behind a veneer of civility. The New Money made their fortunes in the 1920s boom and therefore have no social connections and tend to overcompensate for this lack with lavish displays of wealth. As usual, the No Money gets overlooked by the struggle at the top, leaving them forgotten or ignored.
There is an impression that has been built over the years that poor people do nothing but sit around and feel bad about themselves. Gina Rinehart, one of the world’s wealthiest women, tells the poor not to “‘just sit there and complain,’ [and] spend less time drinking or smoking and socializing, and more time working’” (Ellin). These impressions on the poor do not reflect on the actual reason as to why many are failing to find success. Underprivileged individuals are very capable of accomplishing their goals, it is just that they do not “have the repertoire of necessary responses. It is as though their brains' ‘emotional keyboards’ play only a few notes” (Jensen). The unfortunate disability poverty stresses on an individual does not come by
Socioeconomics are the study of the economic activity and how it could be influenced by society. The idea that the economy has the ability to be improved by society was called social progress. The Great Gatsby had a lot of social progress shown through how the main characters, Nick Carraway, Jordan Baker, Jay Gatz, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson, all lived in their Long Island houses. Part of that social progress was beneficial to their economy and some had been harmful to it too. Socioeconomics in The Great Gatsby are illustrated through different interactions between the characters like Daisy & Gatsby, Myrtle & Tom, Nick & Jordan, in addition to the places they called home.
What we often think of the American Dream is living a luxurious life, being happy, being able to afford whatever you want to, also most people believe is being rich as well. In order to live the American Dream most people believe that you have to be rich or at least have a moderate amount of money.
The 1920’s was the perennial Golden Age of America, where economic opportunities for individuals would fulfill a lifelong affinity for a successful life. This opportunity was mainly due to technological advances that would change the American image. The age was known for introducing new ways of transportation, jazz, and the influence of motion pictures. Highlighting this age of advancing excellence was the moment of impact for the arts for widely distributing printing, such as newspapers that obtained the new gossip that suffocated the streets. The actions of printing conveyed the social classes in height of cultural change.
Wealth and class have played an important role in society because it determines a person’s societal status in the social hierarchy. It is human nature to crave a higher status in this hierarchy that society created and now, simply accepts. Perhaps this is what F. Scott Fitzgerald found so interesting when writing his novel, The Great Gatsby. However, does having an abundant amount of money automatically mean a high place in our socially hierarchy? In other words, does being rich automatically mean one has class? Class is defined as acting with a level of sophistication, maturity, and social graces. In The Great Gatsby, the main character’s father teaches his son a very valuable lesson about not letting money affect ones attitude towards other people. The lesson was “’whenever you feel like criticizing any one’…’just remember that all
The Great Depression was the economic low point in the United States history. Building up the nations economy was an exhausting process that took decades to improve, and even today there are still many Americans still being affected by the Great depression. The United States, through hard work began to improve the United States economy in 1980’s and the 1990’s through the buildup of new policies, industries, and programs. Not only were there a lot of people who benefited from the recovery, but there were also a lot of people who did not benefit to the change in the economy.