Explore the way Social Class can affect how the main characters are judged in Atonement and The Great Gatsby
Jia Chadha Candidate Number: 8256
Explore how the theme of Social Class is presented in Atonement and the Great Gatsby?
1920’s America was very much a materialistic society revolving around money, wealth and status. This obsession with wealth is portrayed in the majority of relationships in Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’. Not only does the idea of money being the most important factor in life means one’s partner comes second, it additionally solidifies one’s class, meaning families are separated just by the amount of money they have to their names. Atonement comes from an "at onement", the idea being that penance and suffering allows us to be "at one" with God or ourselves. One of the central themes of atonement is that of social mobility. This is manifested through the characters and their actions. In the book "Atonement" by Ian McEwan, the act carried out by Briony sets of a chain of events, for which either atonement is sought or society seeks atonement from. Fitzgerald illustrates the theme of social mobility with the relationship of Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson, Tom, powerfully built and hailing from a socially solid old family yet associating with Myrtle, whose lifeless husband George owns a run-down garage in the valley of ashes which portrays failure through the use of the phrase “grey land”, the adjective “grey” representing death and lifelessnes, it doesn’t have the same life and vigor that other colors in the novel bring about, like green and yellow. In that sense, this is where Myrtle dies, Gatsby 's dream dies, Nick 's hope for something good dies etc. McEwan reinforces this theme in the relationship between Robbie Turner and Cecilia Tallis, Robbie a gardener and Cecilia the daughter of the ministry-employed and wealthy Jack Tallis are also partitioned by class. Briony and Cecilia’s mother is the dividing barrier between the two and portrays the split between the
Explore how the theme of Social Class is presented in Atonement and the Great Gatsby?
1920’s America was very much a materialistic society revolving around money, wealth and status. This obsession with wealth is portrayed in the majority of relationships in Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’. Not only does the idea of money being the most important factor in life means one’s partner comes second, it additionally solidifies one’s class, meaning families are separated just by the amount of money they have to their names. Atonement comes from an "at onement", the idea being that penance and suffering allows us to be "at one" with God or ourselves. One of the central themes of atonement is that of social mobility. This is manifested through the characters and their actions. In the book "Atonement" by Ian McEwan, the act carried out by Briony sets of a chain of events, for which either atonement is sought or society seeks atonement from. Fitzgerald illustrates the theme of social mobility with the relationship of Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson, Tom, powerfully built and hailing from a socially solid old family yet associating with Myrtle, whose lifeless husband George owns a run-down garage in the valley of ashes which portrays failure through the use of the phrase “grey land”, the adjective “grey” representing death and lifelessnes, it doesn’t have the same life and vigor that other colors in the novel bring about, like green and yellow. In that sense, this is where Myrtle dies, Gatsby 's dream dies, Nick 's hope for something good dies etc. McEwan reinforces this theme in the relationship between Robbie Turner and Cecilia Tallis, Robbie a gardener and Cecilia the daughter of the ministry-employed and wealthy Jack Tallis are also partitioned by class. Briony and Cecilia’s mother is the dividing barrier between the two and portrays the split between the
Bibliography: 1. Priest, Christopher - http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/christopherpriest/mcewrev.htm 2. Maureen Honey – Feminism in the 1920’s https://journals.ku.edu/index.php/amerstud/article/download/.../2869 3. D 'Ann Campbell - Women in Combat: The World War II Experience in the United States, Great Britain,Germany, and the Soviet Union. - http://americanhistoryprojects.com/downloads/ww2/combat.pdf 4. “hidden sections of an establishment that were used to illegally sell alcoholic beverages during Prohibition.” - http://theroaringtwentieshistory.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/prohibition-and-speakeasies.html 5. Rea, Kevin. "The colour of meaning in The Great Gatsby." The English Review. (April 2000) 6. Finney, Brian. “Briony’s Stand Against Oblivion: The Making of Fiction in Ian McEwan’s Atonement.” (2004)