During my time reading The Great Gatsby a lot of different themes passed by. Some of those were trust, power and integrity for example. But the theme that stood out the most was the American Dream, and the division between the newly and formerly rich. The Great Gatsby tells you a story about how it was to live in the 1920s, in a flourishing country called The United States. However, there was a clear distinction between the different social classes called “old money” and “new money”. The author of this book explains the meaning of this very well, and tells you how everything functioned in those times.
Most of the times people make a clear distinction between the rich and the poor. Many of …show more content…
And this works in their favor in many ways. However, “new money” are everything but kind and understanding. They do not look at your situation or at your personality, and they are quick to judge and very superficial. They believe that they are superior to all other human beings and they explicitly show that. You can say that the people that acquired “new money” are no better than them. Every week Gatsby throws very big parties. A lot of people attend and they usually get drunk and are very loud. They never even take time to meet the party’s host. Most of them are not even invited to the party. When Gatsby dies for example no one shows up on his wedding. Gatsby can no longer provide them with goods and services so they just never bother to see him. You would think that “new money” would be more compassionate, but this is not the …show more content…
Nick for example did not come from a low-class family, but his wealth was a lot less than that of Gatsby. At the end you can see that Nick is actually a man with a lot of good manners and a lot of respect. Myrtle however is from the middle class. She lives in the valley of ashes and really wants to get out of there. She wants to do this by having an affair with Tom, which is from a much higher class.
Because Myrtle is in such misery, she wants to do anything to get out of her situation. She doesn’t hesitate cheating on her husband if it can lead to her getting out of her situation, but there is one thing she does not see, she will never be accepted into their circle. Myrtle is just something for Tom to play with.
In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald illustrates the cruel world that he lives in day to day. In the 1920s the growth in The United States was enormous, and Fitzgerald depicts all the madness and chaos in society very well. However, in 1929 there is a very big stock market crash and the society and world that he presented in the novel came to a quick end. Everyone places their faith in materialistic things and forgets that compassion and sensitivity separate humans from