Old money versus new money as shown in The Great Gatsby

The acclaimed novel The Wonderful Gatsby was written by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald in the year 1925. Throughout time, the book has been recognized for accurately representing the Roaring Twenties’ society in the United States, a point in history where economy grew and the country began to concentrate on spending cash and in social hierarchy. In order to represent this mentality all through the book, higher-class society is divided in new money and old cash with the aim of exemplifying two contrasting lifestyles. Especially, F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes the characters of Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby to represent how social differences among “new money” and “old money” impacts the values of an person. On 1 side, the author utilizes the character of Jay Gatsby to represent how economic corruption can lead to satisfaction, even if this signifies losing authenticity along the way.

In the novel, Gatsby represents new funds, where he is seen as inferior due to the truth that he wasn’t born wealthy and has had a recent taste of a wealthy life style. Thus, Gatsby constructs a new elite identity primarily based on old income by saying he inherited his wealth, when in reality, he sells illegal alcohol in order to hide his poor background. Furthermore, Gatsby makes use of his loved one, Daisy Buchanan, and her materialistic demands as the justification as to why he adjustments his identity to grow to be a rich and corrupt man. This can be illustrated towards the finish of the book:

He may possibly have despised himself, for he had surely taken her beneath false pretenses. I don’t mean that he had traded on his phantom millions, but he had deliberately provided Daisy a sense of safety he let her think that he was a individual from considerably the identical stratum as herself – that he was fully capable to take care of her. (Fitzgerald, 1925, p. 149)

Here, it is noticed that Gatsby may well have hatred towards his new identity, yet he has achieved to be in the same stratum as Daisy, enabling him to finally be with her. Especially, the author utilizes distinct punctuation marks to divide his concepts, creating a reflective and sincere tone that allows the reader to additional comprehend Gatsby’s viewpoint and his relevance in the whole situation. All round, Fitzgerald makes use of Gatsby to show the extremes individuals would take in order to socially match in, such as breaking the law and losing their authenticity but ultimately, by accomplishing to please other individuals, Gatsby pleases himself.

On the other side, Fitzgerald makes use of Daisy Buchanan to portray how greed and superficiality can lead to success, even if this signifies downgrading one’s human value. Daisy represents old income, as properly as all the social rewards and luxuries this social status had. Nonetheless, the character lives in a state of unfulfillment due to the truth that the man that supplies her this life style doesn’t worth her correct self. Daisy’s mentality can be illustrated towards the starting of the book: “ ‘I’m glad she’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that is the very best point a girl can be in this globe, a stunning tiny fool.’ ” (Fitzgerald, 1925, p. 17) By saying this, Daisy is implying that in order to be pleased, a woman demands to be beautiful and a fool. Simply because her husband, Tom Buchanan, is cheating on her, Daisy believes that if she were a fool, she wouldn’t be conscious of the infidelity and would joyously continue to reside her wealthy life. Likewise, her beauty is what made Tom want to be with her, allowing her to have the stigma and handle that wealth supplies. With the preciseness Fitzgerald utilizes, the reader understands that Daisy’s mindset is indifferent towards modify, implicitly stating that she would rather superficially reside in a high social status exactly where she’s looked up to than obtaining a life exactly where her feelings, opinions and worth are taken into consideration.

Despite the contrast that is given between both socioeconomic groups, Fitzgerald uses the characters of Gatsby and Daisy to illustrate the all round moral failings of a society driven by wealth in the 1920s. Each protagonists certainly represent distinctive values due to their background variations. Nevertheless, they share predominant values of betrayal that influence most of their actions. For instance, Daisy and Gatsby’s biggest disloyalty was having an affair whilst Daisy was still married to Tom, where their selfish desires clouded their moral cause. Here, neither Gatsby nor Daisy really feel somewhat guilty about the infidelity, representing precisely their lack of interest towards the consequences their actions may possibly bring. In Daisy’s case, she led Gatsby into believing that she only loved him and that they would be collectively, despite the truth that she was married to Tom Buchanan. Nonetheless, she decided to turn her back on Gatsby and return to her rich husband, and after Gatsby died, she didn’t even attend to his funeral. Gatsby, on the other hand, didn’t only betray his country’s law but also himself. He could’ve been a very effective man in his life with great accomplishments. However, he lost all of his potential, and even his life, by following Daisy’s caprices rather than his.

Following completely analyzing and understanding the social stratification and its implications inside The Excellent Gatsby, it can be concluded that Daisy’s higher-class society is motivated by wealth, even though low-class descendants such as Gatsby are driven by emotion and human value due to their lack of capital stimulus. As a result, none of the characters achieved to be neither profitable nor happy, contributing to Fitzgerald’s general message: an immoral life-style will lead you to an unhappy and tragic ending.