Social Issues in the Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is considered an exceptional piece of social commentary that takes a look into social issues in American history of the 1920s. This written work, completed by F. Scott Fitzgerald, takes a look at social issues that continue to plague problems for the American people in modern times. It looks at the rich, poor, power, betrayal, greed and other related elements of how people related to them as such years ago. Fitzgerald used a creative approach to distinguishing social issues while sending strong messages that other societies can easily relate to.
The Great Gatsby takes a look at the wealthy from a standpoint many people could agree with. The author used wealth as a theme to help get significant messages across regarding how people view money. In the story, there are people who are rich, middle class and working just to get by. The rich or the elite in this case, seem as if they don’t want to associate themselves with anything that is not of high standards. It is as if they felt money and material things were what they were all about instead of showing any kind of compassion or feelings for others.
People that had money were divided into categories such as old money and new money. People in each category had a different way of living and how they perceived people and material things around them. A person who was born into a wealthy family may not be seen in the same light as someone who worked for their money or had lower standards because of their limited finances. The elite seemed to be interested in certain people that had money but not for the person they were; it was more about the material things they had or what they could get from them.
Some people used their status to take advantage of other people. Even those who were miserable with their lives and wanted more were willing to commit negative acts in order to be happy, even if it was for a short time. Fitzgerald would use his less fortunate characters to make his point about why material things are not as important as one may think. Even though the story is set in the 1920s, many who read it feel as if they can relate to the actions and thoughts of the characters today in modern society.