The role of social classes in the great Gatsby - Research Paper Example

Fortunately, he becomes rich and starts to live at West Egg (Fitzgerald, 2012). His fight to win back his lover (Daisy) from his current husband, Tom, is used by the author of the novel to represent the role of social class. This portrays the difference between the rich and the poor (two social classes). “There is a difference between simply being a rich person (nouveau riche) and being rich and learned (old money), and this means that although Gatsby is rich he cannot fake education or the characteristics of a rich man” (Fälth, 2013).

To begin with, towards the end of this novel, the narrator, Nick, meets the father of Gatsby during arrangements of his funeral. This part reveals how Gatsby had become rich and the way his social class had transformed. The father of Gatsby is an old man and was living a very simple life since he was not that rich. The house he is currently living was bought by his son Gatsby. He starts to narrate to Nick how his son when he was young. He explains to him how Gatsby left home at his youth age to pursue a better life and he fortunately gained the wealth he dreamed of (Streissguth, 2009).

This story enables the story teller to understand that Gatsby had become a very rich man, but still maintained the characters he had before changing his social status, which is very necessary for his character and personality (Svensson, 2012). At some point, the narrator tells Gatsby’s father, “they’re a rotten crowd; you’re worth the whole damn bunch put together (p. 44)”. At this point, Nick is referring to Tom and Daisy. This means that, Tom and Daisy, despite their high social class, they are different from Jay because they are far much behind in terms of behavior and character.

Secondly, another part that reveals the role of social class in the novel is when Daisy is driving back home with Jordan and Gatsby and hits a woman. Instead of stopping and assess the situations, she drives away and the