In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald successfully portrays the discernible class division between the old money and the new money in the context of unprecedented economic prosperity along with the corruption in moral values. The old money, profoundly depicted through Tom and Daisy, proves to have an empty heart under the cover of noble background and elegant lifestyle.
To begin with, the old money, also known as the elite group, has money running in generations and leads a carefree, luxurious life. People like Tom and Daisy are heirs of colossal fortune; therefore, they barely have to work. They expend money lavishly on whatever captures their attention. “[Tom and Daisy] had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here …show more content…
Firstly, the old money is illustrated to be self-centered as well as irresponsible for their damage.. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” (453). Gatsby’s tragic death is directly caused by two factors: Daisy’s cowardice to confess her crime and Tom’s deliberate accusation of Gatsby as the killer to George Wilson. Despite their immoral acts, they take no trouble to attend Gatsby’s funeral but simply move away to disclaim all responsibility. Secondly, the elite class has a classist prejudice against other levels of society, in which Tom is the most salient example. “The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be - will be utterly submerged. It’s all science stuff; it’s been proved”(78). Tom holds a discriminatory attitude towards social climbers, Gatsby in particular, due to his contempt for their background and his anxiety that they may pose a threat to his social status. In addition, Daisy’s rejection to run away with Gatsby implicitly indicates that the old money will never accept the new money as an
To begin with, the old money, also known as the elite group, has money running in generations and leads a carefree, luxurious life. People like Tom and Daisy are heirs of colossal fortune; therefore, they barely have to work. They expend money lavishly on whatever captures their attention. “[Tom and Daisy] had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here …show more content…
Firstly, the old money is illustrated to be self-centered as well as irresponsible for their damage.. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” (453). Gatsby’s tragic death is directly caused by two factors: Daisy’s cowardice to confess her crime and Tom’s deliberate accusation of Gatsby as the killer to George Wilson. Despite their immoral acts, they take no trouble to attend Gatsby’s funeral but simply move away to disclaim all responsibility. Secondly, the elite class has a classist prejudice against other levels of society, in which Tom is the most salient example. “The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be - will be utterly submerged. It’s all science stuff; it’s been proved”(78). Tom holds a discriminatory attitude towards social climbers, Gatsby in particular, due to his contempt for their background and his anxiety that they may pose a threat to his social status. In addition, Daisy’s rejection to run away with Gatsby implicitly indicates that the old money will never accept the new money as an