Social Stratification In The Great Gatsby Analysis

Social Stratification in The Great Gatsby Capitalism is a flawed aspect of the modern society. Humans by nature will take advantage of capitalism and prevent any hope of success. American literature reveals many of these flaws, but to find them one must apply a Marxist analysis to the reading. A Marxist analysis helps show why capitalism and the American dream will never be an adequate economic and social structure. While Fitzgerald’s work may seem to be glorifying capitalism, a Marxist criticism reveals that it actually shows capitalism’s largest flaws (Tyson 69). In The Great Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzgerald uses class differences and social stratification in order to reveal the flaws of American capitalism. One of the many flaws of capitalism is the limitation of social movement. Characters like Gatsby, despite any effort, …show more content…
Tom is the main culprit, treaty Myrtle and Daisy like they belong to him. Tom even abused Myrtle when he “broke her nose with his open hand” (37). However, Tom is not the only person guilty of this. Gatsby turns Daisy into an object of his own fantasy, ignoring the person she actually is. This is revealed to the reader by Nick in both the production interpretation and the novel. Lois Tyson calls this the commodification that occurs as a result of capitalism. Tyson agrees that “nowhere in The Great Gatsby is commodification so clearly embodied as in the character of Tom Buchanan” and that Gatsby sees the “possession of Daisy” as the “ultimate commodity” (70, 74). However, Tyson furthers this point by arguing that other characters, such as Daisy and Myrtle are also guilty of commodification. A key example that Tyson gives is that “Daisy’s extramarital affair with Gatsby… is based on a commodified view of life” (72). These examples show how this objectification of people, that Tyson calls commodification, runs rampant in capitalist