Social Inequality In The Great Gatsby

A recent economic analysis shows that as of 2012, the wealth gap in the United States between the ultra rich and the rest of the population is as prevalent as it was in the mid-1920s. After World War II, the top earning 0.1% of the nation experienced massive increase in wealth and just before the stock market crash of 1929, they held about 23% of the entire countries wealth. In the modern era, after the 2008 recession, the .1% again grew their share of the wealth and in 2012, they reached the 23% mark not seen since 1929. Today the top .01% each have net worths of $100 million or more. That converts to about $7 million in the 1920s and would have included most of the people living in East and West Egg, especially Tom Buchanan and Gatsby. By the numbers, our current economic state is as iniquitous as in Gatsby 's time, but the moral conscience of the rich has grown since that era. Now, the ultra rich are not as oblivious as the ones written about in the novel. Today these 0.1 percenters are aware of how their money and status wields great influence and they try …show more content…
Social responsibility has developed beyond the bigotry and extreme narcissism that came with white privilege of the early 1900’s. The wealthy today do have a greater understanding and respect for those below them on the economic ladder of success. The Great Gatsby illustrates the egregious behavior of the wealthy elite in the 1920’s and it helps to highlight how we, as a society, have helped those .1% recognize that their wealth does not excuse them from social expectations to follow the Golden Rule so to speak. It also illustrates how in today’s world, legally speaking, money doesn’t always buy privilege and that we hold even the rich accountable for their attitudes and behaviors toward