In the early 1800s, a German philosopher named Karl Marx shared his beliefs on societies and how they revolve around the economy. He believed that societies are mainly shaped by economic organization and that social changes are a product of class conflicts. In the book The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, social classes show the reader how class affects the quality of life. The setting in The Great Gatsby begins in the wealthy areas of East and West Egg. East Egg houses the rich white citizens who inherited their money through the family. While West Egg consists of rich white people who earn their money. Gatsby lives in West Egg along with the narrator, Nick Carraway. While Gatsby’s love, Daisy, lives on the opposite side of the lake in East Egg with her husband, Tom Buchanan. As Gatsby attempts to win her affection he learns how insignificant money is without happiness. On the other end of the spectrum is A Raisin in the Sun. This book is about a family of five living in a small apartment. Mama has a dream of buying a house and when her husband passes away she can afford it with the life insurance money they receive. Walter and Beneatha are Mama’s children. Walter is unhappily married to Ruth and they have a son, Travis. Beneatha wants to be a doctor but there are always factors holding them back from their dreams. The family is African-American and in the lower class. Being in a lower class means not having as many opportunities. The character's experiences and conflict themes are affected by their social classes in the books The Great Gatsby and A Raisin in the Sun.
Both novels have characters that differ in their attitudes based on their social class and experiences. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby lives a life of luxury in his mansion. Unfortunately, his earnings came from his family passing away, and his
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In the early 1800s, a German philosopher named Karl Marx shared his beliefs on societies and how they revolve around the economy. He believed that societies are mainly shaped by economic organization and that social changes are a product of class conflicts. In the book The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, social classes show the reader how class affects the quality of life. The setting in The Great Gatsby begins in the wealthy areas of East and West Egg. East Egg houses the rich white citizens who inherited their money through the family. While West Egg consists of rich white people who earn their money. Gatsby lives in West Egg along with the narrator, Nick Carraway. While Gatsby’s love, Daisy, lives on the opposite side of the lake in East Egg with her husband, Tom Buchanan. As Gatsby attempts to win her affection he learns how insignificant money is without happiness. On the other end of the spectrum is A Raisin in the Sun. This book is about a family of five living in a small apartment. Mama has a dream of buying a house and when her husband passes away she can afford it with the life insurance money they receive. Walter and Beneatha are Mama’s children. Walter is unhappily married to Ruth and they have a son, Travis. Beneatha wants to be a doctor but there are always factors holding them back from their dreams. The family is African-American and in the lower class. Being in a lower class means not having as many opportunities. The character's experiences and conflict themes are affected by their social classes in the books The Great Gatsby and A Raisin in the Sun.
Both novels have characters that differ in their attitudes based on their social class and experiences. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby lives a life of luxury in his mansion. Unfortunately, his earnings came from his family passing away and his good friend “Dan Cody” who gave him “twenty-five thousand dollars” after his death (Fitzgerald 100). He fills his home with strangers in loud parties to make up for his loneliness. As the story progresses, he pursues his lost love, Daisy. As lovely as she appears, she rejects him because her husband has more money than Gatsby could ever give to her, even though she truly loves him. All the characters in this book have shown carelessness. Gatsby’s dream of earning Daisy’s love also sends him off into being “a bootlegger” to earn money (Fitzgerald 61). Comparatively, Walter from A Raisin in the Sun has money problems but on a larger scale. Walter lives in the poor part of town and doesn’t have enough money to pay for his lunch. His family speaks broken English due to the lack of quality education and He soon signs up to give his father’s inheritance to his “friend” Willy. Mama gave Beneatha three thousand and Walter, three thousand five hundred. He later is told that it was a scam and he lost all of his money that he claimed was “MADE OF HIS FATHER’S FLESH” (Taco 85). As he struggles to go about his life he soon realizes that money can’t buy the love of his family, something that Gatsby would never have. Social classes caused Walter to suffer through each day, not knowing if he could provide for his family and being blind to the poverty tearing down his home. Contrastingly, Gatsby could never be happy, knowing that everything in his life is replaceable and he cannot buy joy but rather, anything of materialistic value.
Arising conflicts in the books is significant to the social class in which they take place and the way they are handled. In The Great Gatsby, the main conflict is the possible murder of Tom Buchanan’s mistress, Myrtle. Most cases of conflict could be solved with money, but even money can’t revive the dead. The death was caused by Gatsby’s car running her over. Daisy and Gatsby are both in the vehicle when the collision occurs and Gatsby claims Daisy ran her over but he would take the blame. One night, as Gatsby swam in his pool, Myrtle’s husband came and took his revenge on Gatsby. This is significant because it shows that no matter how much money you may have, you cannot stop death itself. Fortunately, Walter and Mama’s problems did not involve such fatal consequences. The conflict in A Raisin in the Sun is the lack of finances. Not having enough money causes tension between the family. Walter then loses six thousand dollars out of the ten thousand inherited by the family. Although this issue impacted their lives greatly, it never could take away the fact that they “came from people who had a lot of pride” and love for one another (Taco 100). Therefore, life in different social classes caused conflicts of differing natures. Both conflicts are important to the narrative of the story but the recurring theme is that living in a higher class provides a life of leisurely pleasure until serious matters come about and lower class life comes with many struggles but does not hinder the pursuit of happiness.
In summation, The character's experiences, and conflict themes are affected by their social classes in the books The Great Gatsby and A Raisin in the Sun. The Authors of both novels successfully portrayed life in classes during the early to mid-1900s. Marx’s beliefs are deemed true when reading about the troubles most go through in each class. Characters in the book compare to each other even though they are in opposite classes. These characters are also influenced by the social classes through their experiences and differing conflicts.
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