The roaring 20's
Nicknamed the ROARINGGG 20's, the 1920's emerged as one of the most prosperous decades of American history, but below the surface, the roots of the American divide began to grow. The wage gap grew as the rich continued to get richer and the poor got poorer. Hence, the mantra of American capitalism. Great Gatsby continues to highlight this divide through its use of symbolism and contrasting descriptions of both the Buchanan's and Nick's homes. The famous quote by Nick, "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and . . . then retreated back into their money . . . and let other people clean up the mess they had made," coincides with the larger aspects of American society during this time. The American Dream continues to die away as monopolies emerge and consumerism takes over the American household. Millions across the country live in poverty as an ever lessening number continues to gain and spend money.
Evident even in our lives today, the cycle of poverty lives within households across America. The richest in America continues to become billionaires and preach the American Dream, while millions live under the poverty line. The ever so famous quote of "working hard will get you places" is systematically crushed by the policies implanted by the fortunate and privileged.
As the Great Gatsby concludes, the poor, Nick, and the embodiment of the American Dream, Gatsby, are left in ruins as the prosperous and rich couple of Tom and Daisy thrive and lead their lives in ignorance. Daisy, who killed Myrtle, and Tom, who indirectly killed Gatsby, all continue to live their lives in pleasure, in the palm of riches.
Evident even in our lives today, the cycle of poverty lives within households across America. The richest in America continues to become billionaires and preach the American Dream, while millions live under the poverty line. The ever so famous quote of "working hard will get you places" is systematically crushed by the policies implanted by the fortunate and privileged.
As the Great Gatsby concludes, the poor, Nick, and the embodiment of the American Dream, Gatsby, are left in ruins as the prosperous and rich couple of Tom and Daisy thrive and lead their lives in ignorance. Daisy, who killed Myrtle, and Tom, who indirectly killed Gatsby, all continue to live their lives in pleasure, in the palm of riches.
wow we both wrote about the 1920s. we loveeee history 🥰I love how you were able to project your thoughts on capitalism and connect them to a greater idea of wealth!
ReplyDeleteAPUSH gang, lol jk I didn't take that class. It is clear that your understanding of this era is very profound which directly correlates to the central themes in the novel. The wage gap is so apparent in this novel and the addition of the gap between old money and new money shows that there is also a gap between different types of wealty people. This relates directly to Varun's post from last week where he broke down the cycle of poverty and he presented solutions to alleviate the negative side of poverty. I like how the book doesn't have a happy ending as it symbolizes the unresolved issues of the American Dream and the wage gap.
ReplyDeleteI also wrote about the roaring twenties last week. I like how you went a different route than what I did by talking about the economy and how that relates to the American Dream theme of the Great Gatsby. This was definetly a interesting perspective to take on because I did not know anything about the economic divide and wage gap during this time period. I love how you related this cycle of poverty to today's world, it's interesting how history repeats. Great job( see complaining about APUSH was worth it ;) ) !
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