Class In The Great Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby classes are very much defined based on the view society gives one, the society views class as ones social and economic standing. Many people in the novel try to pretend they are something they are not and society will always see them as one class the one they were born into. The characters may try but because of the society views on them they will never achieve their desired class standing. On the other side of the class system there are the high class individuals which do not need to try to pretend, because they were born into their class they already have what the desire. Class is the society’s view vas one as individual based on money and family past. Daisy and Tom Buchanan come from old money which means they have a lot of it and its in their family. Jay Gatsby is new money which means he made his money on his own. Daisy will never be with Jay because he is new money and does not have class (Fitzgerald). In the beginning of the book Nick Carraway talks about his younger years and the information his father taught him one of the

He tells them that he inherited his money from dead family, but he really made his money from selling illegal alcohol and working with Wolfshiem. Toward the end of the novel he tells Nick that Dan Cody taught him everything he knows, but Dan Cody was not from high class, therefore could not teach him properly (Fitzgerald). Jay tries to tell people that he is old money and that he went to oxford, Tom does not believe him because, “An Oxford man!’ He wears a pink suit” (Fitzgerald 129). Tom is making the statement that one can just read about being classy but one must learn how to dress and act like the right class, Gatsby just cannot learn it from a book. Jay is trying to fool people so that Daisy will leave Tom to be with him but because he is not high class Daisy will not leave Tom because she loves status more than