Social Attitudes In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, is the story of the idiosyncratic millionaire Jay Gatsby. It is narrated by Nick Carraway, a Midwesterner from Long Island who later moves to Manhattan. Gatsby’s life is organized around one desire, Daisy, the woman he loved. This desire leads him on an expedition from poverty to wealth, reuniting with his old love, and his eventual death. In his novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald is able to portray the American Dream where people seek out self-gratification and pleasure. He captures the romance of the roaring twenties with the cars, money, illegal alcohol and the wildest parties one could imagine. Much like the character, Jay Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), wasn’t born into the upper class. While Gatsby is from the lower class, Fitzgerald from the middle class, both end up becoming exceptionally rich, fall into the wildest and reckless life, and use their fortunes to win the love and approval of the women they once loved.

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a story about a wealthy man named Gatsby. Gatsby lives a luxuriant life in West Egg of New York. Gatsby’s wealth has an unknown secret because nobody seems to know where his wealth emerged from. Despite of having so much fortune, Gatsby’s true American dream has not been achieved. In the great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald develops Gatsby as a failed American dream to show the impossibility of the American dream in the 1920’s.

In many instances, Gatsby showed signs of selflessness. But, if the reader were to dig deeper into the roots of the story, they will be able to see that under the kind acts and good deeds, Gatsby’s intentions were always selfish. After the car scene, Tom, Jordan, Daisy and Nick returned to Daisy and Tom’s house. As Gatsby waits outside of the home, Nick, unknowingly, asks Gatsby whether or not Daisy was driving. Gatsby replies saying, “Yes, but of course I’ll say I was” (Fitzgerald 143). When Gatsby took Daisy’s place in the murder of Myrtle, although seeming kind-hearted, his only reason for this was to earn Daisy’s love and to impress her. Gatsby has somewhat put up an image of himself to be the pure and almighty man that deserves Daisy more. Meyer Wolfshiem, Gatsby’s business partner, mentions to Nick of Gatsby’s chivalrous actions towards women saying, “Yeah, Gatsby’s very careful about women. He would never so much look at a friend’s wife” (Fitzgerald 72). Although Meyer Wolfshiem’s comment on Gatsby about him being a gentleman, and how he would never look at another man’s wife, Gatsby proceeds to exceed all expectations and have an affair with Tom’s wife, Daisy Buchanan. Yes, some might say his only reason for doing so was out of true love and destiny but, in either case, it was morally wrong. In every action that Gatsby commits for Daisy, his selfishness secretly hides beneath it, shading itself from light so no one will approach the real man that lurks behind the curtains of self pride.

The American Dream has always been the unattainable idea of a perfect life, often causing disorder when it is not realized. In response to society’s unrealistically high standards, and the human desire to be accepted, people shape their existences to fit within the quixotic ideals of society. The ubiquity of this conformity is demonstrated by its omnipresence as a theme in American literature. The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, along with Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, demonstrate how these perspectives of social mores are centered on the prevalence of the unrealistic views of normality. The Great Gatsby, Tender is the Night, and

-Significant Quotations: 1.) “He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance … seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor… believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself” (Fitzgerald 48). The primary importance of this statement from an outsider’s point of view is to understand the social persona/perception and charisma of Gatsby, as well as that of many socialites within the novel. Regarding such, the weight of his importance as a person (not narratively) would make one feel chosen or temporarily significant, and that this reassurance could be reflected unto oneself; however, Nick comments on how this only appears to be the case, as he determines that this demeanour is likely to appease a conversation and that Gatsby is simply performing his role, a veneer common amongst those placed in that position and possible from the gossip he has heard. Furthermore, despite the purpose/general effect of the smile to be that it makes one cheered or encouraged, Nick appears to avoid this entirely, which can be factored into by considering his lower view of himself later in the novel/his self-doubt, thus describing that this lifestyle/Gatsby himself could only have such an effect on someone seeking optimism already, somewhat of an implication of Gatsby’s more disastrous activities and also subtly shares the belief of one’s own self-optimism and confidence that allows

Drugs, alcohol, parties, popularity are the key known factors of peer pressure. In fact, most teenagers today are exceptionally vulnerable to social conformity issues simply because social acceptance at their age is important. However, they are not the only victims struggling in this stage; there are also adults who are still swayed by the public opinions. This stage of social conformity, according to the Kohlberg’s stages of moral development, is often referred to as the Interpersonal (tribal) conformity. This is applied to the large population of teenagers rather than the adults. In the book The Great Gatsby, the peers around Daisy had a tremendous influence upon her decisions. Even as an adult, Daisy consistently made an effort to satisfy

“In his blue gardens men and women came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Fitzgerald 39). In his character, his relationships, and his gatherings, Jay Gatsby epitomized the illusion of a perfect romance. When Gatsby and Daisy met in 1917, he was searching for money, but ended up profoundly falling in love with her. “[H]e set out for gold and stumbled upon a dream” (Ornstein 37). Only a few weeks after meeting one another, Gatsby had to leave for war, which led to a separation between the two for nearly five years. As “war-torn lovers” Gatsby and Daisy reach the quintessential ideal of archetypical romance. When Gatsby returned from the war, his goal was to rekindle the relationship he once had with Daisy. In order to do this, he believed he would have to work hard to gain new wealth and a new persona. “Jay Gatsby loses his life even though he makes his millions because they are not the kind of safe, respectable money that echoes in Daisy’s lovely voice” (Ornstein 36). Gatsby then meets Daisy’s cousin, Nick Carraway, who helps to reunite the pair. Finally being brought together after years of separation, Gatsby stops throwing the extravagant parties at his home, and “to preserve [Daisy’s] reputation, [he] empties his mansion of lights and servants” (Ornstein 37). Subsequent to their reconciliation, Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, begins to reveal sordid information about Gatsby’s career which causes Daisy to

While society tends to marginalize groups different from average and generalize about their beliefs and struggles (or lack thereof), The Glass Castle gives an in-depth look into an impoverished family which makes it impossible to confidently stereotype poor or homeless people. In a similar manner, The Great Gatsby illustrates the perhaps overlooked problems of the extremely wealthy and encourages the reader to acknowledge the shared humanity of all people. As Jeannette ages in The Glass Castle, she becomes more and more concerned with others’ perceptions of her. While as a child she happily partook in her father’s skedaddles and other mischief, the increasing presences and pressures of her peers emphasize her families abnormalities and shortcomings

In the period of the 1920’s, there was a certain status of wealth that was difficult to achieve. There were two societal classes consisting of those with wealth from prior generations, and those who worked to earn it themselves. Tom, Daisy, and Nick, who represented the old money society did not have to work hard, unlike Gatsby which he represented the new money and they had to work to earn money. People like Gatsby, who gained their wealth on their own often fought for the approval from the upper class who inherited their wealth. Rather than having new money and old money, people who tried achieving the American Dream and ended up in failure usually they end up like George and Myrtle Wilson In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the notion that social norms in the upper class depict the idea that being apart of it was impossible unless they were born in it was expressed through Daisy’s rejection of Gatsby because of the corrupt way in which he gained his wealth, making his American Dream unattainable.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the finest American authors of the twentieth century wrote The Great Gatsby during the Jazz Age to critique the distortion of the American dream, and his work has lasted long past his lifetime. Fitzgerald discusses the nature of love and wealth and stresses the importance of defining a person beyond their external position. In his novel, letter to his daughter, and the screenplay adapted from the novel, it is clear that F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes exposition, narration, and imagery to illustrate how people in the 1920s did not understand the meaning of true love and worried about superficial characteristics, thus resulting in the corruption of the American dream from the pursuit of true love and equality to the pursuit of wealth and discrimination; however, he moralizes that human beings are capable of emotional growth and of escaping the illusion of wealth.

Throughout the 1920’s, F. Scott Fitzgerald witnessed and took notice to how people acted during this time period. In his novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald analyzes the correlation between a person’s lifestyle and their actions. It is from Fitzgerald's thorough scrutiny of the Roaring Twenties which created the model for his writing. Fitzgerald used this writing style to that he could not only show future generations how people lived in the roaring twenties, but also to show how multitudes of people acted during “A period of Great American Prosperity which was built on shaky foundations” (J. Paul Getty). F. Scott Fitzgerald uses social values in The Great Gatsby to depict how people's attitudes affect their viewpoints toward wealth and love.

In my opinion, it is more pertinent to speak of the social issues that Parks is addressing than the political ones. Therefore, although it is interesting (and even ironic) that "history repeats itself" in the idea of Booth shooting Lincoln once again, and the presidency always has to do with politics, your question can best be answered by focusing on two social issues: the despair of poverty and the frustration of the impoverished.

Gatsby does not belong to his own class and he is not accepted by the upper class, therefore he becomes an exception. Because of disappointment of being looked down upon and impossibility of accept by the upper class, he has nothing left except his love, which is also his “love dream”. Gatsby’s love for Daisy has been the sole drive and motive of his living. Gatsby’s great love is also the root of his great tragedy, because he is desperately in love with a woman who is not worthy of his deep love. Fitzgerald offers Gatsby with the spirit of sincerity, generosity, nobility, perseverance, and loyalty. All his good natures can be seen

The Great Gatsby, a film released in 1974, based off a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the tragic story of a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby. The movie takes place in America after World War I and allows viewers to observe the social effect of the post-war’s economic growth. In the film, there are several examples of social stratification, symbolic interactionism, labeling theory, gender norms, and the butterfly effect from the characters’ diverse backgrounds and actions.

F Scott Fitzgerald wrote the novel The Great Gatsby. James Gatsby was a young man from the midwest, where he was a nobody. His family was poverty stricken. He was bound into the same pattern his father and generations before were bound to. He saw an opportunity to change his whole identity, so he did. He was going to collage, to afford collage he was a part time janitor. He didn't want to be part time student and part time janitor, he wanted to full time successful. So he dropped out learning from his mentor how to be suave, when he met a girl, Daisy, the girl of his dreams. For her to see his lavish lifestyle much like the one she is used to, Gatsby throws extravagant parties hoping she would come. But time went by he was left alone, Daisy had gone back to her husband. Gatsby was left without the time to fix