How Does Napoleon Communicate With Other Animals

The Great Gatsby is unremarkably studied in the Australian curriculum under Surface area of Study 1 - Text Response. For a detailed guide on Text Response, bank check out our Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response.

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Introduction

Telephone call information technology the greatest American novel or ultimate story of unrequited romance—The Great Gatsby is undoubtedly a stunning snapshot of one of the nearly American decades that America has ever seen. The 1920s saw significant economic growth after WWI, and what'south more American than material excess, wealth, and prosperity? The stock market was going off, businesses were booming, and people were having a swell time.

Well, not everybody—and on the flipside, what'southward more American than socio-economic inequality or the always-quixotic American Dream?

In this blog, we'll go through the novel in this context, examine some of its key themes, and also have a think nigh the critiques it raises almost American society. We'll also go through an essay prompt that ties some of these things together.

Life in the Roaring Twenties

This snapshot from the 2013 moving-picture show accommodation really tells united states of america a lot about the 1920s. On the ane hand, social and cultural norms were shifting—men no longer sported beards, and women were dressing more androgynously and provocatively. On the other hand, the modern, American economy was emerging—people began buying costly consumer goods (like cars, appliances, telephones etc.) using credit rather than greenbacks. This meant that boilerplate American families were able to go these things for the first time, while more prosperous families were able to alive in extreme backlog.

In Fitzgerald's novel, the Buchanans are one such family. Tom and his married woman Daisy have belonged to the one% for generations, and the 1920s saw them cement their wealth and condition. At the same time, the booming economic system meant that others (like the narrator Nick) were relocating to cities in pursuit of wealth, and (like Gatsby) making significant financial inroads themselves.

The Great Gatsby traces how the differences between these characters can be subversive even if they're all wealthy. Add a driblet of Gatsby's unrequited love for Daisy, and yous have a story that ultimately examines how far people go for romance, and what coin simply can't buy.

The answer to that isn't so obvious though. Yes, money tin can't purchase honey, but information technology likewise tin't buy a lot of other things associated with the lifestyle and the values of established wealth. Nosotros'll get into some of this now.

Wealth and form

Fitzgerald explores tensions betwixt 3 socio-economic classes—the establishment, the 'nouveau riche' and the working class.

Tom and Daisy belong to the 'old money' establishment, where wealth is generational and inherited. This means they were born into already wealthy families, which affects their upbringing and ultimately defines them, from the way they speak (Tom's "paternal contempt" and Daisy'southward vocalism, "full of coin") to their major life decisions (including wedlock, symbolised through the "string of pearls" he buys for her—which, fun fact, is estimated to exist worth millions of dollars today). It also affects their values, as nosotros'll run across in the following section.
For now, consider this image of their dwelling house (and those ponies on the left, which they also own), described every bit follows:

"The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for [400 metres], jumping over dominicus-dials and brick walls and burning gardens—finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in vivid vines as though from the momentum of its run."

Nick Carraway also comes from a similar (though not as extravagant) background—his family had been rich by Midwestern standards for "three generations" before he came to New York.

Conversely, Gatsby belongs to the 'nouveau riche', or new money. Unlike the Buchanans, Gatsby was born into a poor family unit, only coming to wealth in the 1920s boom. Specifically, he inherited money from Dan Cody after running away from home at 17.

Although they are all rich, there are significant cultural differences between sometime and new money. Onetime money have their own culture of feigned politeness which Gatsby doesn't quite become. When Tom and the Sloanes invite Nick and Gatsby to supper in chapter six, Gatsby naively accepts, to which Tom would respond backside his dorsum, "Doesn't he know [Mrs. Sloane] doesn't want him?" Even though Gatsby is financially their equal, his newfound wealth tin't buy his way into their (nasty, horrible) lifestyle.

Finally, this is assorted with the working course, especially George and Myrtle Wilson who we encounter in chapter 2. They live in a grey "valley of ashes", the detritus of a prosperous society whose wealth is limited to the 1%. Fitzgerald fifty-fifty calls it a "solemn dumping ground", suggesting that life is precarious and difficult here. Consider what separates George—"blond, spiritless… and faintly handsome"—from Tom (hint: $$).

Myrtle is described differently, nonetheless—she is a "faintly stout" woman with "perceptible vitality". This may be less of a description of her and more of a commentary on Tom's sexuality, and what attracts him to her such that he cheats on Daisy with her. Still, Myrtle's relative poverty is evident in her expressions of desire throughout their coming together—"I want to get one of those dogs," she says, and Tom just hands her the coin.

Ultimately, looking at the novel through the lens of class, we see a social club where upward social mobility and making a living for yourself is possible, only not for everybody. Even when you get rich, it doesn't guarantee that y'all'll of a sudden, seamlessly integrate into the lives of quondam money.

Morality and values

Added to this story of social stratification is a moral dimension, where Fitzgerald can be a little more critical.

Firstly, old coin is portrayed as shallow. Daisy's marriage to Tom and the Sloanes' insincerity are elements of this, but another good instance is Gatsby'south party guests. Many aren't actually invited—they invite themselves, and "they came and went without having met Gatsby at all." Their vacuous relationship to Gatsby is exposed when he dies, and they completely abandon him. Klipspringer, "the boarder", basically lived in Gatsby's house, and even then he still wouldn't come to the funeral, only calling up to get a "pair of shoes" dorsum.

The rich are also depicted as cruel and inconsiderate, insulated from repercussions by their wealth. Nick's description of Tom'southward "cruel torso" is repeatedly realised, as he breaks Myrtle'southward nose in chapter two and condescends Gatsby with "magnanimous scorn" in chapter seven. After Myrtle dies, Nick spots the Buchanans "conspiring" and describes them as "smash[ing] up things and creatures and then retreat[ing] dorsum into their money or their vast carelessness"—he sees them as fundamentally selfish.

Gatsby is portrayed more sympathetically though, which may come from his humble upbringing and his desire to be liked. This is probably the key question of the novel—is he a hero, or a villain? The moral of the story, or a warning? Consumed by dearest, or corrupted by wealth?

I'chiliad going to leave most of those for the side by side section, but I'll stop hither with one last snippet: Lucille, a guest at his parties, tears her clothes and Gatsby immediately sends her a "new evening gown". Weird flex, but at least he's being selfless…

Honesty

That said, a major part of Gatsby's character is his dishonesty, which complicates his moral identity.

For starters, he fabricates a new identity and deals in shady business just to reignite his five-year-former romance with Daisy. We come across this through the emergence of Meyer Wolfsheim, with whom he has unclear business "gonnegtions", and the resultant wealth he now enjoys.

In chapter three, Owl Optics describes Gatsby as a "regular Belasco", comparing him to a moving picture director who was well-known for the realism of his sets. This is a really lucid analysis of Gatsby, who is in many ways simply like a film director constructing a whole fantasy world.

It's also unclear if he loves Daisy for who she is, or simply the idea of Daisy and the wealth she represents. Indeed, he doesn't seem to treat her as a person, simply more like something that he tin pursue (similar wealth). This is a good read, and then I won't really get into it here—only consider how much things take changed since Gatsby offset met Daisy (like her marriage and her children), and how Gatsby ignores the fashion her life has changed in favour of his still, stationary memory of who she used to be.

Dear, desire and hope

All of this makes information technology tricky to distil what the novel's message really is.

Is information technology that Gatsby is a good person, especially bandage against the corrupt old money?

This analysis isn't wrong, and information technology actually works well with a lot of textual prove. Where Nick resents the Buchanans, he feels sympathy for Gatsby. He explicitly says, "they're a rotten oversupply…you're worth the whole damn bunch put together." Perhaps love was an honourable goal compared to coin, which ostensibly makes you "cruel" and "careless".

I wouldn't say he was fell, just this reading is complicated by how he can be devil-may-care, choosing not to care about Daisy's agency, and letting his desires overtake these considerations.

Is information technology that Gatsby and his desire for Daisy were corrupted by wealth despite his good intentions?

In that location's also evidence to suggest wealth corrupts—Nick describes it every bit "foul dust" that "preyed" on Gatsby, eroding his good character and leaving behind someone who resembles the vacuous elite. Although dear might've been an honourable goal, information technology got diluted by money.

Gatsby'southward paradigm for understanding the world becomes driven past materialism, and he objectifies Daisy. He starts trying to buy something that he originally didn't need to buy—Daisy'southward love. She certainly didn't fall in love with this man who owned a mansion and a cupboard full of "beautiful shirts." Thus, Gatsby is a sympathetic product of a organization that was always stacked confronting him (a poor boy from Due north Dakota). Commercialism, right?

Is it that capitalist America provides nothing for people to pursue except for wealth, and therefore niggling reason for people to experience hope?

Well…

By the basics: structural economic tension and the doomed American Dream

Now we want to start thinking beyond the characters (e.thousand. if Gatsby is a proficient person or not) and likewise factor in their social, historical, political and economic context (eastward.g. if he was doomed to brainstorm with by a society driven past coin). This subheading does sound a bit much, but we'll break information technology down here.

A key office of this novel is the American Dream, the idea that America is a land of freedom and equal opportunity, that anyone can 'brand it' if they truly try. Value is placed on upward social mobility (moving upward from a working-class background) and economic prosperity (making $$), which defined much of the Roaring 20s…

…for some.

For many others, there was significant tension betwixt these lofty values and their lived reality of life on the ground. Equally much as club around them was prospering, they simply couldn't get a piece of the pie, and this is what makes it structural—every bit hard equally George Wilson might work, he just can't get himself out of the Valley of Ashes and into wealth. Indeed, yous can't achieve the Dream without cheating (as Gatsby did).

Then, there'southward this tension, this irreconcilable gap between economical goals and actual means. Through this lens, the tragedy of The Great Gatsby multiplies. Information technology'due south no longer but about someone who can't buy love with coin—it'due south well-nigh how nobody'due south dreams are really attainable. Non everyone can get coin, and money tin can simply become you so far. Everyone is stuck, and the American Dream is basically just a myth.

Thus, the novel could be interpreted as a takedown of capitalist America, which convinced people like Gatsby that the answer to everything was money, and he bolted subsequently the "greenish light" attraction of cold, difficult cash only to find out that it wasn't enough, that it wasn't the answer in the end.  (.

Consider what kind of message that sends to people like the Wilsons—if money can't actually buy happiness, what good is information technology really to chase it? And remember that Gatsby had to crook to get rich in the first place.

Is [the novel'south bulletin] that capitalist America provides nothing for people to pursue except for wealth, and therefore niggling reason for people to feel promise?

You tell me.

Prompt: what does Fitzgerald advise about social stratification in the 1920s?

Whenever you lot become a new essay topic, you can use LSG's Remember and EXECUTE strategy, a technique to help you lot write better VCE essays. If you're unfamiliar with this strategy, then check information technology out in How To Write A Killer Text Response.

Allow's try applying this to a prompt. I'll italicise the central points that take been brought up throughout this post.

Firstly, social stratification clearly divided society along economic lines. This could be paragraph one, exploring how class separated the Buchanans and Wilsons of the world, and how their lifestyles were so completely different even though they all lived in the prosperity of the Roaring 20s. George Wilson was "worn-out" from work, just he still couldn't generate upward social mobility for his family, stuck in the Valley of Ashes. Conversely, Tom Buchanan is built-in into a rich family with his beach-facing mansion and polo ponies. Colour is an important symbol here—the Valley is grey, while East Egg is filled with colour (a green light here, a "blue coupe" there…).

The next paragraph might await at the cultural dimension, exploring how y'all just tin can't buy a way of life. This might involve analysing Gatsby's wealth as deluding him into thinking he tin can "echo the past" by ownership into the life(way) of onetime money. This is where Fitzgerald disillusions usa about the American Dream—he presents a reality where it isn't possible for anyone to 'arrive', where the Buchanans withal treat you lot with scorn fifty-fifty if you're just as wealthy. Gatsby's dishonesty is ultimately a shallow i—try as he might, he merely cannot fit in and win Daisy dorsum.

Finally, we should consider the moral dimension—even though the wealthier socioeconomic classes enjoyed more than lavish, luxurious lifestyles, Fitzgerald also argued that they were the virtually morally bankrupt. Coin corrupted the wealthy to the point where they only did not care well-nigh the lives of the poor, as seen in the Buchanans' response to Myrtle'south decease. Even Gatsby had to compromise his integrity and deal in shady business in order to get rich—he isn't perfect either. Social stratification may wait ostentatious and shiny on the outside, merely the rich are actually portrayed equally shallow and corrupt.

A practiced essay on this novel will typically combine some of these dimensions and build a multilayered analysis. Stratification, love, wealth, morality—all of these big ideas can be broken downwardly in terms of social, economic, cultural circumstances, so brand sure to consider all angles when yous write.

Have a go at these prompts!

1. Nick is biased in his assessment of Gatsby—both of them are no meliorate than the corrupt, wealthy Buchanans. Do you concur?

2. In The Slap-up Gatsby, coin is a stronger motivating factor than love. Practice you agree?

three. Daisy Buchanan is more innocent than guilty—explore this statement with reference to at to the lowest degree ii other characters.

four. What does Fitzgerald say about happiness in The Great Gatsby?

5. Is money the true antagonist of The Peachy Gatsby?

6. The women of The Dandy Gatsby are all victims of a patriarchal society. To what extent do y'all concur? (Hint: are they all every bit victimised?)

Challenge: According to Fitzgerald, what really lays underneath the façade of the Roaring 20s? Make reference to at least 2 symbols in The Great Gatsby. (Hint: façade = "an outward advent that conceals a less pleasant reality" – think near things similar colours, clothes, buildings etc.)

Resource

The Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response

How To Write A Killer Text Response Written report Guide

How to embed quotes in your essay like a dominate

How to turn your Text Response essays from average to A+

5 Tips for a mic drop worthy essay conclusion

The Importance of the Introduction

Source: https://www.vcestudyguides.com/blog/animal-farm

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