Social Class Boundaries In The Great Gatsby

Words: 1025
Pages: 5
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Ahmed Badirr
AP Lang
Mrs. Kim
November 8, 2016
Great Gatsby Annotations
Big Ideas
-Social class and boundaries: Fitzgerald symbolizes the division of social classes and the evident boundaries set by the societies by discussing the value of old vs new money in the society. It symbolizes this importance of social class using this division, East egg vs West egg not only as a geographical split but also a split of their society.
-Sense of Belonging: Fitzgerald displays the theme of belonging using the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, since he is not actually from there, however everyone knows and respects his name since he is very wealthy. It can be concluded that Fitzgerald is arguing that wealth is what determines whether one belongs in the society …show more content…
They both contain the wealthy and powerful. However, The east represents an old aristocracy and the newly found West egg are those that represent the new money of the 1920s. It shows the divide between old money and new money. “I lived at West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. [...] Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water, and the history of the summer really begins on the evening…” (14). East egg is described as cultural and more fashionable, the West Egg is evidently less appealing in comparison.
The valley of Ashes is a long desolate strip of land that separates the West Egg and New York City. Fitzgerald uses the valley of ashes to describe the moral decay of those that have put too much pursuit into finding wealth.The valley of ashes is described as really dry and dead area. It is land that has decayed, from a once beautiful land.
New York City is where the setting of the novel is so far, it is viewed as a nice land by the narrator, Nick. Not much has been symbolized by it. I wonder what it will be representative …show more content…
As Nick narrates most people at the parties do not even know Gatsby and create false stories to shroud the mystery Gatsby is.
-Gatsby’s shirts represent the wealth that Gatsby has accumulated over time. Also, it shows the hollowness of the society because why is that many shirts really needed. Daisy crying is representative of those people who are living in the past and are finding it hard to let it go.
-The weather matches the mood and emotions of the narrative. For example, when Gatsby sees Daisy again for the first time they are showered in rain, evidently the mood must’ve been sad and full of uncertainty.
-Clocks represent the constantly moving and limited time that we all have, and the desire to reach our future and relive our past. The symbol of clocks and time in the book shows us that when you are living in the past, you are not living at all
Characters
-Nick is the novel’s narrator and fitzgerald uses him to show an outside perspective of the 1920’s hollowness and deep social divisions. Also, the damaged American Dream is seen through his eyes with the decay of moral
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