New Money In The Great Gatsby Analysis

In the Golden Age of the 1920 's, money defined your position in the social spectrum. There are more specific subdivisions within the social classes. Within the upperclassman category, there were distinctions such as "old money" and "new money". "Old money" is considered people that have been rich for generations and have acquired their ancestor 's wealth and social status (Daisy and Tom Buchannan). "New money" is considered newly rich people who earned their wealth in a short period of time (Gatsby). Gatsby is frowned upon by upperclassmen because they are suspicious of his wealth and how he obtained it without being affluent for generations. To be socially accepted, Gatsby hides his poor origins by elaborating stories to maintain a higher …show more content…
All the characters seem to want more than the already have. Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, and Daisy find their life bland and search else where for satisfaction. Jay Gatsby and Daisy find satisfaction with each other and Tom Buchannan found satisfaction with Myrtle. George Wilson works hard repairing and selling cars but he isn 't making as much income as the other characters. So is the American dream available to everybody? It is a tricky question. The American dream described by Warner, Meeker and Eels goes as follows: "In the bright glow and warm presence of the American dream all men are born free and equal. Everyone in the American Dream has the right, and often the duty, to try to succeed and to do his best to reach the top" This portrays that every man is born free and equal but not every man is born to the same privilege. People are born into different social classes set by society and are majority of them are stuck there. When I asked my sister who is currently a cardiologist of her thoughts on the American dream, she replied with, "American dream is equal opportunity to succeed for everybody. However, certain people receive better privileges based on what they have. For example, a child born into a wealthy family will have better and easier access to higher education unlike a child born into a working class family. It 's unfair but that 's just how life is. Deal with it." Then I asked her …show more content…
The tragedy of the Great Gatsby is that Jay Gatsby was able to get the American dream just so he can be accepted for Daisy 's love but pursuing love led to his downfall as the novel 's tragic hero. It was enlightening approaching literature with a different lens. The first time i read the novel, I only took it as a romance between two long lost lovers but now I am able to understand what the author is truly portraying. When approaching it with the Marxist theory, I can understand what the author was actually trying to portray to the audience. The story is revolved more around 1920 's society. The portrayal of the characters defined what exactly each social class represent and shows many different concepts such as American dream. Also, understanding the author 's life was really helpful in understanding the literature. With the author 's life, I was able to dissect different sections of the novel into different interpretations that I would 've missed before. The narrator Nick Caraway, is the bridge that connects his own observations to the literature. Understanding the Fitzgerald is from a middle class family raised with upperclassmen, helped clear the stereotypes created to show a dark side to high and lower class societies. When approaching The Great Gatsby from a Marxist theory lens, it makes you hate the upperclassmen more than the lowerclassmen and makes you wonder if everything