CONSUMERISM: The 1920s brought a wave of new opportunities throughout the United States. Women were indoctrinated into their voting rights, the United States won the war, and a bloom of numerous economic prosperity. However, racial tensions continued to dichotomize the north from the south, and the blacks from the whites. It is important to note the intensity of this matter was small but limited the opportunities of some. On another note, the vehicular industry bloomed, creating a company rivalry between Sloan and Ford. Fashion standards shifted from conservative to more revealing clothes. Fitzgerald notes this rise in consumerism creates a divisive boundary among the social classes. He exemplifies this through Tom and Daisy’s luxurious lifestyle In the opening pages of the novel, Nick Carraway loosely associates himself with the couple, while observing their home. During his descent up the Buchanan doorsteps, Nick notes an array of luxurious items including: the immediate beach access, the French windows, and their well-pruned garden (Fitzgerald 6). Despite this fact, their wealth holds no bounds. Fitzgerald, in addition to their lavish home, amplifies the Buchanan’s wealth through Tom’s “string of polo ponies from Lake Forest” (Fitzgerald 6). Fitzgerald continues this illustration through other characters observation. While trying to classify the sheer beauty of Daisy Buchanan’s voice, Gatsby concludes “’Her voice is full of money’” (Fitzgerald 120). When Fitzgerald equates Daisy’s voice to money, he blatantly associates Daisy with a class of economic advantage. Literary analyst Adam Meehan agrees claiming “he employs not a simile but a direct metaphor; her voice is not like money, it is money” (Meehan 82). Fitzgerald continues this depiction of the Buchanan’s during a flashback. After receiving a note from Gatsby, Fitzgerald writes : "Here, deares '." She groped around in a waste-basket she had with her on the bed and pulled out the string of pearls. "Take 'em down-stairs and give 'em back to whoever they belong to. Tell 'em all Daisy 's change ' her mind. Say: 'Daisy 's change ' her mine! '" Contrasting significantly to the Buchanan’s, Gatsby and Nick, the Wilsons live on the outskirts of New York in what they would call the Valley of Ashes. While describing the slum, Fitzgerald writes “One of the three shops it contained was for rent and another was an all-night restaurant, approached by a trail of ashes; the third was a garage—Repairs. GEORGE B. WILSON. Cars bought and sold.—and I followed Tom inside.” (Fitzgerald 25) Myrtle and George’s less than charitable advantage as compared to Gatsby and Tom. As shown in the Valley of Ashes, the people that live there, including the Wilsons, are limited to three functioning stores within their surroundings. This scarce availability shows how the poor were forced to succumb to the monopolies of “big business”. They used their garage as their sole source of income, depriving them of financial security. Compared to Gatsby and Tom, George Wilson was not involved with business dealings outside of his garage. As a result, the stagnant success of the Wilson’s garage leads them trapped in a “have not” society. Here, Fitzgerald satirizes social class structure, pointing out how Americans use economic standing as the deciding factor in social standing. One critic writes “Fitzgerald calls it the "indiscernible barbed wire between [the wealthy and the less fortunate]" (155)—that has to do with intangibles such as taste
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby explores the issues of society and the hierarchy of social class. The three homes belonging to Daisy and Tom Buchanan, Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway, are all in the vicinity of each other, which illustrates the close proximity of their three lives, and foreshadows how they end up intertwining. Myrtle and George Wilson’s home is between the Buchanan’s and Gatsby’s, in the Valley of Ashes, and eventually comes to represent the failure of the American Dream. The homes in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby represent the different characteristics of their dwellers. Gatsby is a man with a one track mind, while Nick is simple and sensible. The Buchanan 's are unashamedly opulent, while the Wilson 's are poor
Initially, Gatsby stirs up sympathetic feelings because of his obsession with wealth. Ever since meeting Dan Cody, his fascination for wealth has increased dramatically. He even uses illegal unmoral methods to obtain hefty amounts of wealth to spend on buying a house with “ Marie Antoinette music-rooms, Restoration Salons, dressing rooms and poolrooms, and bath rooms with sunken baths.” (88) His wardrobe is just as sensational with “ shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine fennel.” (89) Gatsby buys such posh items to impress Daisy but to him, Daisy herself is a symbol of wealth. Jay remarks, “[Daisy’s] voice is full of money.” (115). For him, Daisy is the one who is “ High in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden gir...
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.
Fitzgerald’s imagery illustrates the alienation of the working class from ever achieving prosperity through the quote: “He was a blond, spiritless man, anaemic, and faintly handsome. When he saw us a damp gleam of hope sprang into his light blue eyes.” This is in the context of George Wilson’s garage in Chapter 2 when Mr.Wilson is excited by the fact that Tom plans to sell him his car. This transaction is very important to George Wilson because it symbolizes his opportunity to move up from his current unstable work place and expand his business. Without the monetary benefits of the car, George has no way of achieving success on his own and is in dire need of Tom’s help. The rise of hope in George’s eyes is described as a gleam which indicates that the future is not as clear as it could be, but it is visible and within reach. While it may seem possible at first to achieve success and prosperity, it is later disproved through Tom’s hesitation to relinquish the car to Wilson. It can be noted that George has lost hope in himself through the way he is described as anaemic and spiritless since his lacks the vitality he once had, which drove him to continue fighting for his dreams, with that
For example, Gatsby states "Her voice is full of money" because she can be bought and sold like money (120). Her voice'tone goes up and down which emphasize that she is fake just like the sound of coins in someone's pocket. She is for sale, so she can enjoy the wealth of Gatsby's luxurious lifestyle. Daisy sees only wealth in Gatsby while he is searching for real love. Following the tragic life of Gatsby, he fails to fully attain the American Dream.
He writes, through the voice of Gatsby, that “her voice is full of money” (127), implying that Daisy speaks with an eloquence and elegance found only in the voice of those born wealthy. Gatsby inherently connects Daisy with the idea of wealth and money, and shows a desire to be seen as one born with money. Hence, the reader can conclude that Gatsby is in love with what Daisy represents: wealth and the high class. By associating Daisy with the high society, Fitzgerald indirectly reveals his attitude towards America of the 1920s. He implies that similar to how Daisy chooses material pleasure and societal benefit as opposed to a real feeling that brings true joy, the people of the 1920s prioritize wealth and fleeting pleasure over concrete feelings that bring true happiness. He even takes his commentary a step further, as the “true” feeling represented in The Great Gatsby is love. Ironically, the love depicted in this society is corrupt and fake. Thus, Fitzgerald states that the ideologies and values of the American 1920s will result in its downfall, just as the corrupt and fake love between Gatsby and Daisy results in the downfall of Gatsby. Furthermore, through his portrayal of Daisy’s inadvertent cruelty towards both Myrtle and Gatsby, Fitzgerald parallels the unconscious depravity of the high society and its negative impact on America. This is seen
The 1920s was a decade of rapid expansion, wealth, envy, and greed. This is a time during which life felt as if it was moving in fast forward. Its basis was money and the extravagances that money could buy. America went under a radical change and social reform. America is becoming more industrialized, more Americans lived in cities than in the countryside. The development of technologies like radios, mo...
...der an intense image of the pretence that he believed the upper-class felt during the 1920s. In literature, the rose is usually a symbol of beauty and love, however Fitzgerald makes the comment that in reality, the 1920s are not entirely the wonderful era they are portrayed to be. While the issue of materialism is still very relevant in a modern-day context, the force behind it is quite different. Materialism is less a result of society’s search for love and happiness in an unethical culture, rather, high wages and relatively inexpensive commodities mean that modern, upper-class society obliges to the world of consumerism simply because it can.
“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. Such is exemplified by Jay Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan. Their ambitions distinctly represent their class in which Fitzgerald implies strongly about.
As depicted by Scott F. Fitzgerald, the 1920s is an era of a great downfall both socially and morally. As the rich get richer, the poor remain to fend for themselves, with no help of any kind coming their way. Throughout Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the two “breeds” of wealthier folk consistently butt heads in an ongoing battle of varying lifestyles. The West Eggers, best represented by Jay Gatsby, are the newly rich, with little to no sense of class or taste. Their polar opposites, the East Eggers, are signified by Tom and Daisy Buchanan; these people have inherited their riches from the country’s wealthiest old families and treat their money with dignity and social grace. Money, a mere object in the hands of the newly wealthy, is unconscientiously squandered by Gatsby in an effort to bring his only source of happiness, Daisy, into his life once again. Over the course of his countless wild parties, he dissipates thousands upon thousands of dollars in unsuccessful attempts to attract Daisy’s attention. For Gatsby, the only way he could capture this happiness is to achieve his personal “American Dream” and end up with Daisy in his arms. Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy is somewhat detrimental to himself and the ones around him; his actions destroy relationships and ultimately get two people killed.
Class structure in the 1920s was synonymous to prejudice. The 1920s was known as a period of wild excess and great parties with excitement arising from the ashes of the wars in America’s history. It was a period in history where rapid materialism and narcissistic ideals grew uncontrollably, and it was the days where Jay Gatsby, illegally, rose to success. Having social classes was the same as segregation, except it was through economic standings, the two both instil injustice within social standards. Class structure was used to describe the difference between the new money and old money. The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, written during the 1920s, emphasizes the division between the social classes and the reasons behind why they are separated; the novel also emphasizes on the daring tasks in which— the bottom of the social class is willing to take in order to climb the ladder. The poor are daring enough to involve in illegal acts to gain success. However, even with success they are still not ultimately complete. Class structured is portrayed in this novel through Myrtle who is the poor, Gatsby—new money, and the Buchanans—old money. These characters are divided through wealth; the poor lacked money while the old money were born into it. However, the difference between the old and new money is that the new money must work in order to achieve the wealth, this is the reason why it is so difficult to climb the social ladder.
...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.
Hugh Hefner once said, “I looked back on the roaring Twenties, with its jazz, 'Great Gatsby' and the pre-Code films as a party I had somehow managed to miss.” The parties of the Roaring Twenties were used to symbolize wealth and power in a society that was focused more on materialism and gossip than the important things in life, like family, security, and friends. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan as the epitome of the era. The reader sees these characters acting selfishly and trying to meddle with others’ lives. On the other hand, Nick Carraway, the narrator, acts more to help others and act honestly. Initially the reader sees Carraway’s views towards Jay Gatsby as negative as Gatsby’s actions are perceived as being like the Buchanan’s. As the novel moves forward, the reader notices a change in Carraway’s attitude towards Gatsby. Carraway sees Gatsby for whom he truly is, and that is a loving person who only became rich to win Daisy’s heart. But in this the reader also sees how corrupt and hurtful Gatsby’s actions were to the love of his life. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy reveals that just as Gatsby’s dream of wooing Daisy is corrupted by illegalities and dishonesty, the “American Dream” of friendship and individualism has disintegrated into the simple pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.
During this era, women’s roles changed greatly as the new high social class females called the “flappers,” developed. The flappers set ideal qualities such as beauty for a woman that high class men such as Gatsby sought after. The flappers in exchange for their beauty wanted access to the material wealth from the men. Fitzgerald shows the influence that American capitalism had over this development in women through Daisy’s relationship with Tom and Gatsby. American capitalism dictates relationships, “Even in the early stages of their relationship, part of his attraction to Daisy arises from his considering factors akin to the laws of supply and demand that influence a commodity’s price” (Little). Daisy’s reason for marrying Tom Buchanan was only so she could gain the riches that Tom possessed. While Tom’s purpose was to care for Daisy in order to keep her by his side to maintain his social appearance. This social exchange forms a perception that women were nothing but extravagant economic tools for men. As both men and women desired the economic benefits of the other, the social aspects of marriage became more about greatening each other’s social status instead of one 's pursuit of love and happiness. However, since Tom is part of the old rich, the new American social marriage belief does not affect him greatly as it does with the new rising rich class because to the old rich this is very similar to their usual marriage traditions. Evidence as Tom says to his new baby girl, “I hope she will be a fool – that is the best thing a girl can be in this world” (Fitzgerald 17). This is an indication that females should stick to their roles as being social tools for their husbands. Because female involvement outside social issues meant that husbands were
“The film adaptation of The Great Gatsby directed by Baz Luhrmann in 2013 is almost as ingenious as the novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. It is easily understood, and keeps the audience attentive up until the very end. The sceneries, in most cases are very close to the description given in the novel and are very pleasing to the eye. Even the actors are well cast in most instances. The costuming fits the description of the 1920s perfectly, the computer generated imagery technology enhances the themes of the film and the music is appeals to the audiences’ auditory senses among other things which are to be explained below. Another aspect that makes a great contribution to the film’s greatness is the narration.