Blog Assignment #25: The Great Gatsby!
One of the many advantages of America is capitalism. Sure, at times it may seem like more of a obstacle than an asset, as some people have figured out how to clamor to the top using the heads of those below them, but in all honesty, capitalism is the very thing that keeps our country running. Therein lies the American Dream: the idea that one can come from nothing and end up as anything or everything. It is this dream that sustains the people of America and causes the influx of people from other countries, yet it is also this dream that causes so much dissension and corruption in this land. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this idea is explored with great detail throughout all nine chapters.
The novel revolves around the middle class Nick Carraway, who moves to New York to try and become a bondsman. He ends up living next to a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby. Nick soon goes to meet his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom and gets swept into their rich and glamorous lifestyle. Much of the novel takes place at different parties and many times Nick is unsure of what to do in these new social situations. The rich people that surround him are all relatively self-centered and don’t really care about anything or anyone else. They are very self-destructive in their daily habits (drinking, smoking and partying) and think that everyone is going to bow down to them because of their incredible riches.
Recall earlier that the American Dream is essentially the entire model of capitalism. The richest people are always finding ways to make their money grow and aren’t satisfied with “enough”. Some of them are the epitome of the American Dream—coming from nothing and becoming breathtakingly wealthy. However, money is often called the root of all evil, and with good cause; money corrupts. The American Dream is a nice idea, but what people do with their money is often debaucherous and morally incorrect. So while the rich continue to use their money for the furthering of their own lives, they use it just as much to oppress the poor.
In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald takes the idea of the American Dream and rebuts it. He uses the uncaring natures of the characters to show what money really does to people. Take Nick for example. As one of the main characters (and the poorest of the four others), his story-telling is apparently ‘objective’. He says this because he is not corrupted by the pull of the dollar bill, and is often kinder to those around him, which is evidenced in almost every chapter. He also does not want to participate in Gatsby’s schemes to make him some cash. Now, take a look at Tom. Tom is very wealthy. He also happens to treat people with no respect and believes that he is better than everyone he talks to, or even looks at. His money is molding his personality into something more evil and unattractive. However, it can be said that even though Gatsby is as rich if not richer than Tom, his disposition is far better. But, while it may be true that Gatsby isn’t rude and arrogant like Tom, Gatsby shows his uncaring nature through his gigantic and wild parties. There’s no way someone who really cared about their money would throw such parties, yet keep them open and mostly anonymous.
Tom is what happens when the American Dream is taken and violently beaten into submission. That is to say, the money Tom earned (or inherited or what have you) changed him in an extremely negative way. This is true in the real world, too. Think about all of the goings-on in America lately. The economy is in the toilet because a few people were greed-ridden and hungry for the taste of more and more money. When rags-to-riches stories end, they sometimes leave a lifetime of lying, cheating and pain in their wake. The money also serves as a sort of catalyst for terrible behavior. When one can do anything they want, with no one to stop them, the consequences are usually very grave.
One simply has to take a look at the tragic George Wilson to see how the rich affect the poor. Tom treats him like less than a man—less than a dog even—right to his face. Tom takes George’s wife to go and fool around in some hotel in New York, while George is left heartbroken and ultimately defeated at the end of the novel. Obviously the author is criticizing the American Dream here. Thanks to Tom’s greed and sense of entitlement, George is mistreated and abused.
The novel revolves around the middle class Nick Carraway, who moves to New York to try and become a bondsman. He ends up living next to a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby. Nick soon goes to meet his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom and gets swept into their rich and glamorous lifestyle. Much of the novel takes place at different parties and many times Nick is unsure of what to do in these new social situations. The rich people that surround him are all relatively self-centered and don’t really care about anything or anyone else. They are very self-destructive in their daily habits (drinking, smoking and partying) and think that everyone is going to bow down to them because of their incredible riches.
Recall earlier that the American Dream is essentially the entire model of capitalism. The richest people are always finding ways to make their money grow and aren’t satisfied with “enough”. Some of them are the epitome of the American Dream—coming from nothing and becoming breathtakingly wealthy. However, money is often called the root of all evil, and with good cause; money corrupts. The American Dream is a nice idea, but what people do with their money is often debaucherous and morally incorrect. So while the rich continue to use their money for the furthering of their own lives, they use it just as much to oppress the poor.
In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald takes the idea of the American Dream and rebuts it. He uses the uncaring natures of the characters to show what money really does to people. Take Nick for example. As one of the main characters (and the poorest of the four others), his story-telling is apparently ‘objective’. He says this because he is not corrupted by the pull of the dollar bill, and is often kinder to those around him, which is evidenced in almost every chapter. He also does not want to participate in Gatsby’s schemes to make him some cash. Now, take a look at Tom. Tom is very wealthy. He also happens to treat people with no respect and believes that he is better than everyone he talks to, or even looks at. His money is molding his personality into something more evil and unattractive. However, it can be said that even though Gatsby is as rich if not richer than Tom, his disposition is far better. But, while it may be true that Gatsby isn’t rude and arrogant like Tom, Gatsby shows his uncaring nature through his gigantic and wild parties. There’s no way someone who really cared about their money would throw such parties, yet keep them open and mostly anonymous.
Tom is what happens when the American Dream is taken and violently beaten into submission. That is to say, the money Tom earned (or inherited or what have you) changed him in an extremely negative way. This is true in the real world, too. Think about all of the goings-on in America lately. The economy is in the toilet because a few people were greed-ridden and hungry for the taste of more and more money. When rags-to-riches stories end, they sometimes leave a lifetime of lying, cheating and pain in their wake. The money also serves as a sort of catalyst for terrible behavior. When one can do anything they want, with no one to stop them, the consequences are usually very grave.
One simply has to take a look at the tragic George Wilson to see how the rich affect the poor. Tom treats him like less than a man—less than a dog even—right to his face. Tom takes George’s wife to go and fool around in some hotel in New York, while George is left heartbroken and ultimately defeated at the end of the novel. Obviously the author is criticizing the American Dream here. Thanks to Tom’s greed and sense of entitlement, George is mistreated and abused.
posted by Kyle Bray at
7:52 PM
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