The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1674 Words

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that was published in 1925 which was a period known as the â€Å"roaring twenties†. During this period, America was witnessing a post war euphoria that was a companied by prosperity, glamour, self-indulgence and excessive consumption (Bloomfield, p. 17). According to Bourdieu, America at that time was going through a gaudiest spree in history that was characterized by a lot of social change and mobility (p.2). For example, the stock market was getting into new heights, the congress passed the eighteenth amendment, outlawing of sale of alcohol and the opening up of financial opportunities for a number of people who ended up becoming millionaires. One such millionaire is Jay Gatsby who is the†¦show more content†¦The two eggs may have appeared similar in that they both possessed wealth and riches but the two were very different in terms of behavior and values. According to Fitzgerald, the wealthy people from East Egg hu miliated the wealthy people from West Egg and â€Å"carefully guarded against its spectroscopic gayety† (Fitzgerald,47). East Egg symbolizes old money which are the established wealthy and the West Egg symbolizes new money which is the newly accumulated wealth. Fitzgerald describes the citizens from East Egg and West Egg by focusing on their social classes and status. The East Egg is made up of people like Tom and Daisy Buchanan who belong to the upper class and have behaviors and refinement that come with the upper class (Fitzgerald, 57). Jay Gatsby is one of the new rich people from West Egg who became very wealthy during the â€Å"roaring twenties†. Gatsby tries to use his fortune to rise to the class of the established rich and win the love of Daisy Buchanan. However, Gatsby is not able to cross the traditional boundary of class despite the wealth he has accumulated. Fitzgerald describes the overwhelming class barrier that Gatsby struggles to overcome in order to win the love of Daisy Buchanan (Bloomfield, 22). According to the novel, Gatsby engages in a flamboyant display of wealth in order to impress Daisy and to show people that he has risen to the social class of the established wealthy. For