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Cultural themes in things fall apart by chinua achebe
Essay on Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Essay on Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
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The novel also provides a detailed commentary on the capitalistic society of 1930s. On the one hand, capitalism, and the creation of profits for distribution among a small group of people, is embodied by the Dalton family, specifically Mr. Henry Dalton. Dalton is not a rapacious capitalist, but, certainly, he wishes to reinvest his earnings, some of which derive from real estate owned in black neighborhoods, in the community, but he still uses his wealth to insulate himself from the misery of those living in the Black Belt. Bigger is often caught between these competing worldviews, and he expresses frustration at the societal status quo. To have a temporary relief, Bigger as an African American deem it as a salvation tactic to imitate the manners
Those who have read The Great Gatsby have an understanding that he does not acquire his wealth in legal manners. Fortunately for Cohen, his time consisted of financial scandals and corruption such as the company of Enron, whom he claims would have been an organization that Gatsby could have ruled in the real world. The company of Enron and the character of Gatsby share misconduct in their workings, which makes this an effective comparison by Cohen in understanding the criminal nature of this character. In addition, this man is ranked number one among other well recognized figures in 1900’s literature. One might ponder “What makes Gatsby more special than the great attorney Atticus Finch?” Finch is respected for his morals and positive identity, but the mystery behind Gatsby makes him a brilliant
The dawn of the 20th century was met with an unprecedented catastrophe: an international technological war. Such a horrible conflict perhaps threatened the roots of the American Dream! Yet, most do not realize how pivotal the following years were. Post war prosperity caused a fabulous age for America: the “roaring twenties”. But it also was an era where materialism took the nation by storm, rooting itself into daily life. Wealth became a measure of success and a facade for social status. This “Marxist materialism” threatened the traditional American Dream of self-reliance and individuality far even more than the war a decade before. As it morphed into materialistic visions (owning a beautiful house and car), victims of the change blindly chased the new aspiration; one such victim was Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. As his self-earned luxury and riches clashed with love, crippling consequences and disasters occur. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby delves into an era of materialism, exploring how capitalism can become the face of social life and ultimately cloud the American Dream.
Bigger is a young black man living in the Southside of Chicago with his mother and two younger siblings. His family lives in a one room apartment, leaving little space for privacy. After being awoken by the sudden clang of an alarm clock, the Thomas’s start their day like every other before it. As the family is getting dressed a large rat runs into the room, causing chaos. Bigger trapped the rat in a box, giving it no way to escape. Looking at Bigger “the rat’s belly pulsed with fear. Bigger advanced a step and the rat emitted a long thin song of defiance, its black beady eyes glittering” (Wright 6). The fear that pulses in the belly of the rat is the same fear that runs through Bigger. Bigger is trapped within the physical walls of his run-down apartment and the city lines that the white society has put around the Chicago Black Belt. Bigger and the black community have no choice or way to escape. The confinement of these areas causes Bigger to feel confusion and anger towards those who have put him
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.
The notorious and capable Al Capone once commented, “This American system of ours, call it Americanism, call it capitalism, call it what you will, gives each and every one of us a great opportunity if we only seize it with both hands and make the most of it.” “This American system,” as referred to by Capone, is not simply one idea alone but a conglomerate of all ideals held to represent the American culture: capitalism, freedom, and opportunity. These ideals go hand in hand with each other; freedom allows for capitalism to flourish and, in turn, allows equal opportunity for every citizen. However, the key to success in the American system is not simply available by going through the motions of life, but rather requires determination, will, and an urge to succeed and capitalize on every opportunity provided to us. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Gatsby, the poverty-stricken army officer turned eccentric millionaire, proves that the American system is one that does not discriminate between the rich and the poor, or by creed, or even by race, but allows for equal opportunity for all, supporting those with ambition and drive, while punishing those who lack purpose and initiative, one where everyone has a chance for greatness if they have the drive and initiative to seize that opportunity and “make the most of it” and that the resulting success derived from that motivation erases the significance of one’s background.
The highly successful chocolate manufacturer Paul Marshall represents the drive of industrialists to take as much as possible, regardless of the cost to others, which is evident in the sexual assault of Lola that is blamed on Robbie. The rape emphasizes Marshall’s dominance over powerless Lola as a result of his socioeconomic position as a rich, upper-class man. The new class of industrialists that lived onto the 21st century, showed a willingness to use any and all means possible to make a profit, including exploitation and fraud. For instance, Marshall did not hesitate to let the sexual assault charges fall on Robbie, an honest lower-class man. This represents the industrialist’s unyielding drive to retain power, which often requires exploitation of commoners li...
Posnock, Ross. "'A New World, Material Without Being Real': Fitzgerald's Critique of Capitalism in The Great Gatsby." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby."
The roaring twenties were a time of great success and wealth, but it also was time of greed and corruption. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is exceptional at portraying this view on the roaring twenties, especially the idea of corruption during this time. The most corrupt characters in the book hail from the eggs in this novel, where money and power create corrupt people. The themes of the novel, like that of the crumbling American dream, dishonesty, and money, reveal many of the corrupt aspects in this story.
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.
Despite their numerous connections, there is great conflict between the different economic classes in The Great Gatsby, those being old money, new money, and the scarcely discussed, no money. Separated by the lake, West Egg and East Egg never cease to oppose one another. Fitzgerald shows the effect excessive capital has on people, emphasizing that money is power. Since Tom Buchanan comes from old money, his family fortune has simply been passed onto him; he doesn’t have to work to achieve his social status. Conversely, Jay Gatsby is required to put in the hard work and go to the extremes to get where he is. Tom Buchanan can easily be compared to the well-known Paris Hilton. What great successes is she truly known for? Solely being related to the founder of Hilton Hotels, she has never truly had to make a name for herself. When it comes to Gatsby, if one is capable of overlooking his illegal means of doing so, he is forced to work for his fortune. Steve Jobs, in comparison, also worked for his money, having originally begun his billion dollar company in his garage.
...rom the elite rich, who possess old money. Tom also claims that Gatsby “threw dust into your eyes just like he did in Daisy’s”, (142) and can be said to be using his false wealth to mislead and confuse Daisy and Nick into thinking he is someone of their standards, which shows that Gatsby is not recognised as one of their class. This undercuts the glamorous wealth associated with Gatsby, and the ideal of equality in the American Dream.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, can be read as a critique of capitalism. Fitzgerald created a world where class and money are the essence of everyone’s desire. The plot and the settings of unfolding events in The Great Gatsby are perfect examples of structures of capitalism, along class lines, which allows for a Marxist capitalist critique. Even though Fitzgerald wasn’t a socialist or Marxist himself, he shows in his book how capitalism creates and alienates different social classes. Class levels in the US of the 1920s are very prominent – the rich class is drastically separated from the poor class, and the rich class wishes to keep it that way. This is an essential problem of capitalist theory and Fitzgerald criticizes capitalism throughout his book.
Posnock, Ross. "'A New World, Material Without Being Real': Fitzgerald's Critique of Capitalism in The Great Gatsby." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 201-13.
The 1920’s Roaring Twenties characterized by man’s pursuit of wealth, women’s ideal symbolization, and religious ideology, is about the American enrichment in a society that is embodied within the foundation of theology and capitalism. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the characteristics such as Gatsby’s perfectionism and Wilson’s jaded viewpoint of God are used by Fitzgerald to inspect the pessimistic elements that resemble the foul association with capitalism. By connecting the combined religious ideologies such as Puritanism, with the characters’ internal beliefs belonging in society, Fitzgerald examines the downfall of the American capitalism by exploring the effects caused by the fabricated
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald creates an artificial world where money is the object of everyone's desire. The characters, the setting, and the plot are very deeply submerged in a Capitalism that ends up destroying many of them. Fitzgerald's criticism of Capitalism can be seen as a move to subtly promote Socialism, an ideology in which value is placed on the inherent value of an object rather than its market value. In a late collection of notes, Fitzgerald himself proclaims that he is "essentially Marxist." [i] Marxism is a specific branch of Socialist theory. Fitzgerald makes Gatsby a novel that is not inherently Marxist or even Socialist, but one that is imbued with Marxist theory. He does this by denouncing nonhumanitarianism, reification, and market value. Fitzgerald implies that the Capitalist system does not work because at the end of the novel, all of the characters that represent typical American Capitalism end up either dead or completely unhappy. Fitzgerald's criticisms work to warn 1920's Americans of their behavior and how destructive it can be.