The 'Great Gatsby' can be regarded as a social satire and an observation of The American Dream - Discuss

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The ‘Great Gatsby’ can be regarded as a social satire and an observation of The American Dream

Navina Kurup

IBS-1 English

November 11,2004

The Great Gatsby is observed as a social satire of the United States in the roaring twenties, where Fitzgerald exposes the American Dream as a flawed fantasy merely generated by over-indulgence. America was established in the conception of equality, where any individual could have equal opportunities and success on the substratum of their abilities and effort, which can be described as the American Dream. The former president Abraham Lincoln confirmed this surmise, as he himself was an impoverished, disadvantaged little boy who became president through his efforts. The Great Gatsby is set in the twenties, which was a period of contradictions and inquietude. The ghastly shock of the war was just ended, and it was now time for people to forget their wretchedness and have fun. This created a society obsessed with materialism and prodigality which eliminated moral values and traditional beliefs, and became engaged in a life of pointless extravagance and indulgence. The ‘Great Gatsby’ can be regarded as a social satire and remarks on the downfall of moral values and excessive indulgence of society.

When different characters in the novel are viewed, it is obvious that not all have the same social standings in society. Nick’s father comments on this when he says “ whenever you feel like criticizing someone, just remember that all the people in this world have not had the advantaged that you’ve had (pg.1)”. The Buchanans were, actually, born into a typically wealthy environment, which is symbolized by the sanctioned affluence of East Egg. Gatsby and the Wilsons do not belong in the distinguished society; and when Gatsby shows off his affluence and extravagant parties, he is attempting to enter Tom and Daisy’s world but is still ostracized by the people around him and is unsuccessful in upgrading himself to the level of  society in East Egg. Therefore, this observation proves that no amount of wealth or power can upraise him into the social circle of the Buchanans.

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As affluence and success propagated among people, there was an expanding loss of ethics as it was replaced by social rankings and materialism. The elite group of Gatsby’s time distorted their own moral values in order to gain worldly possessions. Tom, a man from an extremely wealthy background, is an example of a character that obviously does not have an ounce of moral ethics. His character is described as a metaphor by his physical appearance as having “a hard mouth with arrogant eyes and a speaking voice with a gruff husky tenor, which added to the impression of fractiousness ...

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Quality of writing In general, the candidate writes well and structures their essay well. There is a clear introduction and conclusion, and the candidate discusses the general context and background of the novel before going into more detail and examining different characters. The essay stays relevant to the question and spelling and grammar are of a good standard. However, the candidate uses several made-up words ("to upraise", "un-succeed", for example) and this is a mistake expected of a much lower-ability candidate, and would likely lose them some marks.

Level of analysis The level of analysis in this essay is excellent. The candidate comments on the cultural and social context of the 1920s which heavily influenced the novel, showing a sound understanding of the text. The fact that they have chosen to focus on several characters, and use them to provide evidence for their argument ensures that the essay is focused and enables them to go into an appropriate level of detail for GCSE level. The candidate uses a high level of relevant textual reference to support their arguments. This shows a good knowledge of the text, and is a necessity for higher grades. The recognition of the importance of the American Dream in any analysis of the novel also serves to demonstrate that this is a strong candidate.

Response to the question The candidate gives a very good response to the question, discussing the context of the novel and giving detailed analysis of the characters, showing a good knowledge of the text and selecting appropriate areas of the text to focus on in order to answer the question. I feel that a question that instructs candidates to "discuss" invites them to consider opposing points of view and acknowledge that there may be a debate over the issue raised in the question. As this is GCSE, this is not necessary, but it shows a strong candidate and is a good habit to have for A Level study.