Free Essay Analyzing the Themes in The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald

Scott Fitzgerald in his book The Great Gatsby takes his readers back to the early twentieth century and effectively give a picture of how people in the year 1922 lived and how it relates to the modern society (Lucic 70). In his book, Fitzgerald in a knowledgeable manner uses different stylistic devices to highlight a variety of themes throughout the book. Some of the significant themes demonstrated in the book are the American dream, the differences in social classes, superficial life versus reality, degradation of society, love and marriage, life and death, materialism, honesty, hope, safety, past events, money, and home among others (Salmose 68). This essay, therefore, seeks to discuss in depth some of the significant themes depicted in the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald.

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Social Classes

Scott Fitzgerald uses geographical dimensions to capture the differences in social classes especially between the elite, the middle and lower levels throughout his book. East Egg represents the elite class with old money that they have inherited; West Egg consists of the elite group with new money that they get from working hard, while the valley of ashes is made up of the middle and lower class in the society (Salmose 70). The book illustrates how the people in the middle and the lower levels struggle to fit in the elite category as depicted by the character of Myrtle Wilson.

The protagonist in this book, Jay Gatsby represents the elite class in West Egg who work hard to be recognized in the society as he tries to be reunited with the lover of his life daisy Buchanan who resides in East Egg (Salmose 70). Another example of geographical dimensions used to represent the social classes is Midwest, which consists of the elite category with new money who depict strong work ethics and innovative ideas, versus the East Coast that is compared to the east Egg that comprises of the elite class with old money.

Fitzgerald describes the differences between the classes and portrays the people of West Egg who represent the newly rich as gaudy, ill-mannered and lack social etiquette. For instance, Gatsby lives in a very luxurious mansion, wears expensive clothes and drives expensive cars such as Rolls-Royce bus lack social signals and manners. The elite with old money demonstrates a social class with good taste, elegance and grace as is depicted by Buchanan's fantastic home and the clothes worn by Daisy and Jordan Baker (Salmose 73). Fitzgerald also illustrates how the social class impacted the aspects of life such as marriage and love. The social classes in the book indicate that only the most affluent couples survive such as Tom and Daisy's relationship, while George and Myrtle's relationship is destroyed.

The American Dream

The American dream assures the society of the possibility of having social mobility because of the freedom and shared ideals that guide the people of America (Lucic 70). Fitzgerald's book is premised on the notion of achieving the American dream on the premise of prosperity and wealth. Fitzgerald gives equal measures to the possibility of having a dream come true and at the same time criticizes the idea. Through the character of Gatsby, Fitzgerald illustrates how people suffer trying to achieve the social mobility that is defined by the American dream (Lucic 74).

Gatsby believes that through the acquisition of wealth he can transform from the lower class to the elite level, and despite his effort to achieve wealth, he is not accepted (Ghiotto et al. 55). In as much as the book illustrates how possible it is for anyone to recreate and establish themselves to be successful no matter where they begin, it also demonstrates how the fight for the American dream results in insecurities and lack of social skills (Ghiotto et al. 56). For instance, Gatsby has spent his life chasing the American dream to his detriment, because the notion of the American dream has been corrupted by power and money making it almost impossible to achieve.

Money and Materialism

Money and material possession are used as identifiers of social class throughout the book. Characters in the book such as Tom regard themselves as highly privileged because they descend from the old money generation (Salmose 77). In contrast, the people from West Egg such as Gatsby represent the class of people who work hard for their money and do not have to rely on their family's family. The social divide between the old money and the new money of the East Egg and West Egg represent the social stratification apparent in the early social societies and contemporary societies. Material possession, on the other hand, denotes wealth and privilege. For instance, daisy's acceptance of the $350,000 necklace and Gatsby house full of orchestra and music rooms. Daisy's desire to possess material objects is driven by her intentions to be financially stable (Salmose 79). Fitzgerald illustrates how people value material possession more than life aspects such as love, and in particular, Daisy considers material possession more essential than Gatsby's love.

Degradation of Society

The book describes how the ability to access wealth and affluence led to the continuous pursuit of material possession and pleasure (Meehan 76). The characters in the novel show how materialism impacted on the moral values of the society. Gatsby perfectly illustrates how moral values of the society crumbled by trying to buy people's loyalty, love, and friendship and always hoping that Daisy will marry him after leaving Tom Buchanan. Gatsby brides Nick with a car and asks him to set up a meeting with Daisy. Nick also portrays this theme of social degradation when he is influenced by the East Egg's pleasures and excitement and forgets the virtues demonstrated by the West Egg (Meehan 78). Daisy demonstrates unfaithfulness when she is first tempted by Tom and ignores about Gatsby who she had fallen in love with. Daisy prefers Tom over Gatsby because Tom shows up with costly gifts and presents and also comes from an elite family, and this demonstrates how society is driven by material pleasures (Meehan 80). Even though Daisy later admits that she loves Gatsby, she is still swayed by choice of old money and the privilege of an elite class. The type of marriages described in the book reflects unions that are bound by convenience rather than actual love. This convenience is brought about by social status, desire for fun and material possessions.

Past

Fitzgerald illustrates the theme of the past by elaborating how the characters in the book are continually running from their past. Daisy and Tom are running from their wrongdoing they caused in Chicago, while Baker is haunted by the fact that he once participated in malpractice during a golf tournament. The characters in the book are running away from their past, and ironically Fitzgerald describes how Gatsby is trying to relive some select parts of his parts such as his affair with Daisy (Salmose 80). Nick tries to advise Gatsby that his past cannot be repeated, but Gatsby is so convinced that his history can be relived and his relationship with Daisy can work again.

Home

The theme of home is distinguished from the concept of a house as illustrated by the author. The author gives several examples of houses in the novel some of which include Nick's summer house and Gatsby's estate. The characters described in the book are fugitives in the sense that they abandon their childhood homes and wander around looking for better homes (Salmose 81). For instance, Gatsby abandons his childhood home and name Gatz while Tom and Daisy are said to leave their home because of the scandal they caused in Chicago. All these characters are described as leaving their native homes, always wandering in search of convenient places to settle down.

Safety

Safety is depicted in different kinds such as the financial security in terms of wealth and material possession, psychological security that one gets from social status and recognition of being privileged and loved, and the physical security that involves having physical protection from someone (Meehan 83). Daisy is depicted as enjoying all these three kinds of security because she gets financial security from Tom, and Gatsby physically protects her and loved by both Gatsby and Tom. Daisy considers she is safe from death because she is assured of security form her suitors. The author wisely distinguishes the safety and security that comes from financial status and one's ability to avoid accidents. The book describes Nick and Jordan as emotionally incapable of controlling their feelings hence very insecure. The theme of life and death is first illustrated when the drunken guest at the party crashes the car and dies from the accident (Salmose 85). Fitzgerald uses cars to symbolize the social status and also a cause of death when carelessly mishandled.

In conclusion, The Great Gatsby is a novel that vividly illustrates the American experiences that are perfectly demonstrated in the themes throughout the book. The themes represent the traditional society of the American culture in the early twentieth century that still resonates today. Scott Fitzgerald describes how the American dream can be achieved but even in a very ironical way illustrates how that dream is made impossible by the desires for material possession and wealth, ease and comfort. The themes depicted in the book also explain how the moral values of society and life aspects such as love and marriage have been corrupted by the desire to be wealthy and maintain a particular social class. Elite social level is depicted as being safe, filled with love and a lot of privileges. Finally, this book expands on how social stratification is enhanced by wealth and money as was the case in the geographical dimensions between the West Egg and the East Egg.

Outline

Thesis Statement

This essay seeks to discuss in depth some of the major themes such as American dream, the differences in social classes, degradation of society, love and marriage, life and death, materialism, safety, past events, money, and home among others depicted in the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald.

Social Class Theme

Scott Fitzgerald uses geographical dimensions of the East Egg and West Egg to capture the differences in social classes especially between the elite, the middle and lower classes throughout his book.

Fitzgerald describes the differences between the classes and portrays the people of West Egg who represent the newly rich as gaudy, ill-mannered and lack social etiquette, while the East Egg represents the elite with old money who demonstrate a social class with good taste, elegance, and grace.

Money and material possession are used as identifiers of social class throughout the book. The social divide between the old money and the new money of the East Egg and West Egg represent the social stratification apparent in the early social societies and the contemporary societies.

The American Dream

Fitzgerald's book is premised on the notion of achieving the American dream on the premise of prosperity and wealth.

Fitzgerald gives equal measures to the possibility of having a dream come true and at the same time criticizes the idea as impossible because people are driven by the desires of material possession, wealth and comfort.

The book also describes how the American dream results in insecurities and lack of social skills.

Money and Materialism

Money and material possession are used as identifiers of social class throughout Fitzgerald's book.

The social divide between the old money and the new money of the East Egg and West Egg represent the social stratification apparent in the early social societies and the contemporary societies.

Material possession, on the other hand, represents wealth and privilege....