Effects Of Tom In The Great Gatsby

Shortly after Tom had visited Mr. Wilson, he arrives at a party, at which Myrtle, and several others, are at. Myrtle taunts Tom by repeatedly shouting Daisy’s name. Tom cannot keep his anger to himself and recognizing Myrtle’s lower class background, he makes “a short deft movement (...) and broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 37). Despite Tom’s aggression, his violence towards the lower class is disrespectful. By tolerating or putting up with the lower class, the higher class allows them the opportunity to obtain the desirable American Dream. However, Tom’s intolerance obscures the reality of living in prosperity, which gives the lower class no purpose to work towards their unreachable goals. In other words, not being tolerated and being disrespectful gives the lower class no hope or ambition to achieve the American

The emerging inequitable class systems and antagonisms of the nineteen twenties saw the traditional order and moral values challenged, as well as the creation of great wealth for few and poverty for many. The Great Gatsby, written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, explores the causes and effects of the unbalanced class structures. Fitzgerald outlines the idea that the desire to accumulate wealth and status is a common ambition amongst the lower classes; when that desire is reached, the traditional upper class is challenged by the emerging newly wealthy, which finally leads to destructive consequences. By creating rigid class structures, traditional upper class, new wealth, and the poor in The Great Gatsby, it is

Tom Buchanan is portrayed as a representative of old money, arrogant,

Fitzgerald depicts 1920’s America as an age of decline in traditional social and moral values; primarily evidenced by the cynicism, greed and the relentless yet empty pursuit of prosperity and pleasure that various characters in The Great Gatsby exhibit. He presents a society in which uninhibited consumerism, materialism and an all-pervading desire for wealth have perverted the previously righteous qualities of the American Dream, corrupting it in the process.

Music, liquor, and gold, everything you need to make a great party. And, that’s what it was, the roaring twenties, it was a never ending party of financial gain and materialism. However, there were some who viewed it to be a gilded age. They were the Lost Generation, Fitzgerald among them. After the Great War they viewed society as rotten from the inside, gilded gold while systematic problems broiled underneath. This social breakdown masked by wealth and success is nowhere better seen than in Fitzgerald’s greatest work, The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby, if anything, is excellent at exemplifying many moral shortfalls, anywhere from adultery and deceit to bootlegging and murder. The most natural and the most vile of human actions coupled with flawed and disillusioned characters constructs a perfect stage for society to crumble. Gradually, Fitzgerald takes us on a depressing journey while we watch the breakdown of modern, civil institutions.

The men in the novel are dominant over women, in charge of the financial payments, and are the head of the household. Fitzgerald uses one of the main characters Tom Buchannan to represent the power that men held over women during the 1920’s. Tom is portrayed as a violent man, who shows no respect towards women. For example, “Tom Buchannan broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 37). This not only shows that Tom Buchannan has a short temper, but also shows how impolite some men were towards women back in the 1920’s. The fact that Tom is having an affair and

Fitzgerald uses Tom Buchanan, a disloyal and proud character, in order to suggest some of the traits that may cause one to lose their sense of morality.

Fitzgerald (12). This piece of textual evidence shows that Tom thinks he's better than others and thinks only about himself. He ignores what others/races think and believes he's more important than everyone else. His pride stops him from seeing how he’s making other people think about his actions in the book, which could lead to people not liking him. According to a study from ipl.org, “[Tom's arrogance and racial prejudice are evident in

Many novels are written as a means of scrutinising the details and flaws of a specific society. The author’s purpose is to use the novel as a lens through which they can offer their own critical perception. The highly praised novel The Great Gatsby provides such a view into 1920s America, an era which was often described as the “Jazz Age” or the “Roaring 20s,” mainly due to the +and carefree nature of the wealthy. This higher class, who were essentially safeguarded by their money, lived life as if it was an endless party. It is this particular group that F. Scott Fitzgerald mainly targets when providing his criticism

The novel, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is set in the 1920s America, New York - a class society of money -, depicts a society which exists in a state of moral confusion and chaos, through the eyes of the narrator; Nick Carraway. Fitzgerald condemns the character’s tendencies in the novel to become greedy and materialistic in order to be successful, displayed throughout the chaos that arises as a result of the repercussion of these actions. This chaos continues to grow through the unfaithful marriages and illegal practices that exists extensively throughout the novel. Furthermore, Fitzgerald explores the prejudice discrimination between the newly rich and those with “old money”. Through all of this we come to see that during the “roaring 20s” was one of moral disorder and mayhem.

The Great Gatsby takes place in the heat of the nineteen-twenties where countries, especially the United States, were economically booming after having recovered from World War One. This novel tells the tales of the fabulously rich while acknowledging, in part, the poor, working class who live during this time. In his work, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the characters and their actions in an unexpected fashion. He does not illustrate the triumphs of the twenties in a positive light, but, instead, mocks societal views by portraying them as full of: greed, falseness, and carelessness.

During the 1920s, a new need for materialism emerged out of society’s desperate search for meaning after World War I. When young soldiers returned from the war, they found that that their old way of living had little importance. Rather than finding a meaning for this, they immersed themselves in money and spending and consuming. The Stock Market and organized crime became very popular and common ways to feed mans greed and their hunger for wealth. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows this greed and regard for money as the downfall of American society during the 1920s. He uses his characters and places in his novel to represent the different sides of this new twisted mentality. Nick and Gatsby are examples of the World War I veterans who searched after money and status that they felt they needed and deserved. The guests at Gatsby’s parties symbolize the need to gain wealth. Fitzgerald uses the disparities between the East and West Egg to portray the differences between the aristocracy and the newly rich.

The 1920’s brought about extreme change in the way the average American lived their lives, both socially and politically. Immigration, industrialism, and economy boomed, creating abundant wealth among Americans through the creation of new job opportunities. Eventually, a more defined social class structure was established, bringing fluctuations in the distribution of wealth among different ranks in society. This period of time, known as the “Roaring Twenties”, is exhibited in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who uses the characters in the novel to depict the conflict in American society. Gatsby, the central figure of the novel, represents the lower class and is followed as he attempts to achieve the benefits of the American Dream,

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a piece of American literature that successfully unpacks the 1920s, using ideas of class, race, and the American Dream. Within each idea, the reader can understand the psyche of the bourgeoisie and working class of this time. And, in doing so, the reader can see that modern society is not far off from the world portrayed by Fitzgerald. In the modern day, the working class is alienated more than

Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ is set in America of the 1920’s, a predominantly materialistic society revolving around wealth and status above all else. Fitzgerald depicts this obsession with money and luxury through complicated relationships full of trouble, infidelity and sorrow. The relationships Fitzgerald portrays all symbolize the materialism and hedonism of the age; each relationship is doomed to a certain extent based on the social class of each character.