The Great Gatsby: The Role Of Consumerism In The US

The 1920’s were a time of change the United States had yet to see. The United States had participated in its first world war. The technology, the economy, the government, the culture of America was progressing at incredible speeds. One of the most important factors to fueling of this consumer economy was the advertisement business. Bright and flashy ads depicted what you could have, even if you do not need the item. The accelerating consumerism created a goliath of difference between the lower classes and the upper class. The progressive reforms of the 1910’s were over, ushering back in the private control of business that the wealthy so missed. This gap that grew like an resulted in a feelings of dissatisfaction amongst those of the lower …show more content…
The American belief of equality being explicatively referenced in the Nations declaration of independence, “That all men are created equal”. However even this was difficult to sustain in the beginning of American existence with a portion of its population being enslaved. Not to mention even if one was the alleged superior being, you would still need to be of the of most wealthy class to vote. From The Great Gatsby there is no better comparison to represent the ‘American’ spirit than such a Tom Buchanan, who personifies a physical representation of the true nature of Americanism. Upon examination of Tom Buchanan’s nature, one can see amongst the other character he interacts with, such as his wife or his mistress, he views him or her with a supercilious glance of perceived height. Fitzgerald even describes the Buchanan home in the patriotic colors on red, white, and blue to seal the image of America. Tom is further examined by Nick as if “he [Tom] seemed to say, ‘Just because I’m stronger and more of a man than you are’” (Fitzgerald, 7). Tom displays his true nature several times throughout the course of the novel. This includes Tom’s treatment of those he considers less than him. Upon Nick Caraway spending only a few hours with Tom since they were in college together, Tom declares to Nick his fears about the collapse of ‘civilization’ and how …show more content…
Not only in amount of money made but as well as how the poor are treated in terms of taxing. The tax plan of the U.S. head of treasury under President Harding, Andrew Mellon, placed an incredible tax burden on the burgeoning middle class while at the same time decreasing tax on the wealthy. This taxes goal was to lower the national debt, and true enough, the tax pressure did so. But doing so hurt the people the tax was placed upon. It was evident that the lower classes issues had been forgotten about in hopes of a lowering the defect. A similar representation of the forgotten lower class is most expressively the Valley of Ashes in The Great Gatsby. This stretch of land between Long Island and Manhattan is a festering and pallid cesspool of working class Americans that power the industrial factories of New York City. Wilson lives above his garage with his wife, Myrtle. Tom frequents this garage to visit his mistress Myrtle as well as to have regular garage services performed on his cars. The disrespectful treatment by Tom of both Myrtle and Wilson is a representation of the working class as a commodities by upper society. When Wilson is ill from catching on to Myrtle’s affair and is lethargic to pumping gas into Gatsby’s car, Tom barks at him “What do you think we stopped for, to admire the view?” (Fitzgerald, 123). The same goes for Myrtle, when she does something that angers Tom, he feels no reason to not

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