Trinh I

Chau Trinh
Ms. Trebtoske
English 11B
22 March 2015
The 1920's were either characterized by economic success,
remarkable social, artistic, and cultural dynamism or political corruption,
organized crime, bootlegging and lacking moral standards. Through the
novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses symbolism and characterization to
illustrate the difference between the social classes during the Roaring
Twenties. Fitzgeralds corrupted society made up of the hollow upper
class, miserable lower class and Jay Gatsby, who went from rags to riches,
belongs to either groups.
East Egg, home of the superior upper class, Daisy and Tom
Buchanan; wealth, power, attentions are the essential goals while morals,
ethnics are simply fading into thin air. They seem to have the whole world
but lack the inner resources to enjoy what wealth can give them
(Samuels online). Tom Buchanan came from old money, hold boundless
authority and wealth, giving himself the privileges to look down on the
lower class, minorities and even rich people who just have money
recently. Racist and ignorant, Tom publically cheats on Daisy for Myrtle,
the woman that came from the lower class that he always looks down on,

Valley of Ashes. Tom Buchanan is the only person that Nick, who claimed
to reserve all judgments (Fitzgerald 5) finds it uneasy to view him as a
good person. Not much of a difference, Daisy is the key for every single
problem throughout the book. She represents that vast, vulgar, and
meretricious beauty (Trask online) in which Gatsby aspired. Daisy
associates with the color white that represents purity, sophistication and
innocence; the
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II
upright traits she longings to appear in while the vicious emptiness
(Samuels online) is withholding inside. She was able to hide whatever
deep inside her, the true self, leaving the eye-catching aura of charms and
luxury to fool the young James Gatz falling deeply in love with her. Daisys
fake glamour was finally revealed in front of blinded Gatsby when he tries
to get an affirmation she is too weak to make (Samuels online) from her.
Daisy and Tom Buchanan lived a life surrounded by money and power that
give them the authority to disregard penalty under the law.
The other structure of the society, Valley of Ashes, lived the
miserably depressing lower class. They are the one have been struggling
the whole lives working to support daily life, categorized under the poor
among Toms prejudices. Myrtle Wilson lives above her husband auto
repair garage where Tom picks her up to go to New York. Throughout the
time she was cheating with Tom, the one person she desired to be the
most is Daisy Buchanan. Myrtle, just like Gatsby, could only see the

charming shell of Daisy and ended up dead running into that illusion she
created for herself. It was the materialism that ended her life Myrtles
brutal death symbolizes the ending for people whose desire is satisfied
with material possessions.
George Wilson has been living a depressing, liveliness life in Valley
of Ashes whose only passion was the love for his wife. Wilson was the one
pulled the last trigger that caused Myrtles brutal death. Devastated after
knowing that Myrtle has been having an affair, he locked her up in her
room waiting for the day he could go West with her. The plan didnt work
out quite well. He sinks into grief and depression after Myrtle died. Talking
about his wife to his neighbor, George Wilson stared blankly outside of the
window at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg which had just emerged pale
and enormous from the dissolving night
Trinh III (Fitzgerald 167). Wilson
threatened his wife that the eyes are the sign of God, watching her from
above, seeing all dark secrets shed been hiding. As Nick mentioned in the
beginning, perhaps they are not the sign of God but only the sign for an
oculists business which was never opened (Samuels online), a sole
advertisement.
Fitzgeralds major theme in the novel is the idea of American Dream,
Jay Gatsby. Across the bay, on the other side of East Egg its the massive,
luxury mansion where Gatsby nurtures his dream of being with Daisy. Five
years long, assuming that the only barrier that keeps them apart is
money, Gatsby risks everything that he could possibly do to move into the

upper class. Making money by bootlegging, hanging out with Meyer

Wolshiem whose involves in organized crime, Gatsbys final destination is
always Daisys love. He insisted that nothing can possibly stop him from
repeating the past, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his
house, just out of reach of his hand (Fitzgerald 116). Eventually his
inflexible determination has to come to an end. Unlike the physically
tragic death of Myrtle, Gatsby suffers his death voluntarily. He died
thinking that perhaps it was Daisy calling on the phone, checking out
whether hes alright and maybe, hes satisfied. Jay Gatsby has been
striving for such a long time, went from rags to riches, but hes still Mr.
Nobody from Nowhere (Michaels online).
The death of the great Gatsby does not indicate the result of the
American Dream. Living among an immoral society (Samuels online),
Jay Gatsby climbed up the social classes, from a 17 year olds James Gatz
who had nothing but passion to the extraordinary Mr. Jay Gatsby as Nick
said to him you worth the whole damned crowd put together (Trask
online). If only he were to let go of the past and move on with his bright
future, perhaps he wouldnt be alone in the death as he had been in life
(Trask online). Fitzgerald named the novel The Great Gatsby to suggest
the impressive outstanding effort of Jay Gatsby, and the
Trinh IV people who go
from rags to riches working toward the American Dream its possible to be
done.

Everything in life has its own values depends on different aspects,

so does The Great Gatsby. The novel reflects the corrupted society
without moral values together with its brighter perspective, various social
interactions and changes. Looking through someone elses lenses, Nick in
particular, might not be absolutely accurate and trustworthy. Theres no
one extremely evil and no ones absolutely perfect because each
individuals conscience defines right and wrong differently. Therefore,
Fitzgerald suggests how diverse and different can our conscience be
through the dramatic society, The Great Gatsby.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. Cambridge:

Cambridge UP, 1991. Print.

Michaels, Walter Benn. "The Trouble with Diversity." American Prospect

Vol. 17, No. 9. Sept. 2006: 18-22. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 29 Mar.
2015.
Samuels, Charles Thomas. "The Greatness of 'Gatsby." Gale Virtual
Reference Library. N.p.1966. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Trask, David F. Title: A Note on Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (n.d.): n. pag.
Literature Resource Center. 26 Apr. 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.