Society In The Great Gatsby

As a mysterious novel based on the Roaring Twenties, The Great Gatsby’s intriguing view on society helps people come to terms over how society has or has not changed throughout the decades. During this era, people in the upper class were split into “old money”, people who were part of a rich family, and “new money”, people who have self-made riches. In the novel, Jay Gatsby symbolized “new money” while Tom and Daisy Buchanan symbolized “old money”. This would be a crucial factor in the outcome of the book. Believing that their “old money” will save them from their repetitive mistakes and infidelities, Daisy and Tom Buchanan’s constant carelessness may lead to people despising them symbolizing how society in the 1920s was not as glamorous as …show more content…
It also hints that the Buchanans might have moved around a lot because of their repetitive mistakes. While explaining Gatsby and Daisy’s past, Jordan also refers to one of Tom’s infidelities. “The girl who was with him also got into the papers, too, because her arm was broken-she was one of the chambermaids at the Santa Barbara hotel” (77). After talking about the affair, Jordan states that they later moved to France. This draws the conclusion that they might have left Santa Barbara because of the infidelity. The quote also foreshadows Myrtles death and how it was caused by Tom and Daisy’s carelessness; the chambermaid broke her arm because of the car accident and Myrtle died in the car accident caused by Daisy. Tom’s first affair had been brought to light because of the car accident, and Myrtles affair could have been, too, had he not manipulated Wilson into killing Gatsby. This led people to believe that Gatsby was having an affair with Myrtle even though she was having an affair with Tom. Tom has no control over his actions and seems to dominate the people in his affairs. This might be because he cannot control himself, so he tries to exemplify control by dominating others. He only had affairs with poor women in the novel signifying how he took advantage of people he saw as lower than him for his own pleasure. He believed he had the right to cheat because he was a rich …show more content…
They never took into account how their lifestyle might affect their daughter, Pammy. She will either realize how manipulative they are and hate them or grow up and become like them. After all, a child’s biggest role model is its parents. Another consequence is that people will begin to despise them. For example, while Nick is walking through the city, he talks about an encounter he had with Tom. “Just as I slowed up to avoid overtaking him he stopped and began to frown in the windows of the jewelry store. Suddenly he walked back holding out his hand. ‘Whats the matter Nick? Do you object to shake hands with me?’ ‘Yes. You know what I think about you’” (178). Nick tries to avoid Tom because he does not want to talk to him. His reply indicates that he does not like him. Clearly Tom and Daisy lost Nick’s respect. Nick replies “You know what I think about you” implying that Tom might have known what Nick thought of him and was unaffected by it. This shows how other people’s opinions had little meaning to them. Even though he may think Nick does not like him, he still expects him to shake hands. When he says “Do you object to shake hands with me?” the minute he walks up to Nick, it signifies how he might have been anticipating that Nick was going to walk up to him and ask to shake hands first. He did not wait five minutes and realize Nick was not going to do this.