The Difference Between Social Class In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the difference between social classes during the Roaring Twenties through characters, such as Gatsby, Tom, Daisy and Myrtle, and situations conflicting with women and race in the Great Gatsby. The novel is set in East Egg and West Egg, which are two locations of different class. The people of this novel are either old money, new money, or they have no money. The difference in social classes puts a strain on Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship. Fitzgerald also presents scenes of which give a glance at how women and different races were treated during this time period. This novel is set in the East Egg and West Egg. Between these two areas is the Valley of Ashes, in which people with no money, such as Tom Buchanan’s mistress Myrtle, lived. East Egg was Ivy League educated (Dutta 1). Tom and Daisy lived in East Egg; therefore, they were the upper class of old, inherited money (Kershner 2). However, people in West Egg with the newly acquired money lived by moral rather than allow money to control them. This is shown when Gatsby offers Nick a chance to earn more money and Nick refuses the offer (Kershner 2). People of West Egg are less materialistic because …show more content…
Whether they are habitants of East Egg, West Egg, or the Valley of Ashes, women are of a different class than the men. Women were not yet treated equally during the twenties. Daisy accepts this lifestyle of women, yet she has hope for change (Spangler 1). In the novel the women are all conformed. They dress the same, speak softly and delicately, and act foolishly (Spangler 2). Emotion is connected to women. When a drunk woman starts crying while singing (51), the emotion reference is shown. Emotion is not valued and therefore makes women inferior in the novel (Spangler 2). Though Daisy is portrayed as charming and kind, the narrator often pulls back to reveal that she is the same as everyone else of the upper class (Lewis