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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 10
Publication Date: October 25, 2021
DOI:10.14738/assrj.810.11034. Alaabed, A. A. H. (2021). The Great Gatsby: A Story of The American Dream and The Social Conflict. Advances in Social Sciences
Research Journal, 8(10). 245-252.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
The Great Gatsby: A Story of The American Dream and The Social
Conflict
Abdullah Abdulhaq Hussien Alaabed
ABSTRACT
The Great Gatsby is a novel that was written in 1925 by Scott Fitzgerald. it represents
The American Dream and the desire of achieving it through the protagonist
attempts to achieve The American Dream. The protagonist is Jay Gatsby he is a self- made man who belongs to the working class of society, he gained his wealth through
the organized crime and illegal business, Jay was charmed by the lifestyle of the rich
people and the identity of being one of them. He used his fortune to make incredible
parties in his mansion showing his wealth power and to attract Daisy’s attention,
the women he loves most. Gatsby represents the American dreamers who belong to
the repressed class of society, this young generation who believes in The American
Dream and the possibility of achieving it. The American Dream was created by the
dominant class of society in order to control the economic system. The falsie fact
that this dream was built upon is the social justice, the social equality that gives
equal chances to everyone to achieve their desires via hard work without concern
about their social background. The American Dream is mainly about either wealth
obtaining which was the aspiration of these young working-class people or social
ascendency. Gatsby despite his recent gained fortune and new identity as he
changed his name from James to Jay Gatsby was not able to be a member of the
bourgeoisies; he was rejected due to his social background. Therefore, the social
equality concept was denied alongside the hard work and equality of chances in
achieving The American Dream was denied by the illegal career of Gatsby.
Keywords: American Dream, Capitalism, Gatsby, Misconception of Love, Social Conflict
INTRODUCTION
The social situation in the twentieth century was best captured by Fitzgerald in his Masterpiece
The Great Gatsby. In this novel, the author showed the social conflict between the working class
and the dominant class. This conflict happened due to several aspects, the premier one was the
desire of the bourgeoisies in increasing their fortune; therefore, they needed to control the
economic system. In order to achieve their aspiration, they needed low wage workers. These
workers were the ones who immigrated to the cities like New York city in order to achieve their
dreams.
The young generation of the working-class people are the ones who mostly were affected by
The American Dream ideology. The American Dream is one of the aspects of American society
and its culture aspects best defined by Irwin (1994) stating that “In the Native American
context, dreaming is a form of knowledge. It reveals the activities of the mysterious powers -
their engagement with or relationship to the dreamer. The dream is a medium of knowing, a
way of experiencing the reality of the lived world, a faculty of perception” (p.21). The American
Dream is part of the American society culture as it is an ideology that were applied by the
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dominant class. The effect of it was related to the social conflict it made, since the immigrants
like the protagonist in Fitzgerald’s Gatsby were unrespectability rejected. They were rejected
to be equal to the bourgeoisies due to their social background.
The immigrants wanted to have better living conditions through gaining wealth or social
ascendency as well. They immigrated from the countryside of America to the cities especially
after the economic crash due to World War I that embodied in the crash of Wall Streets.
Alongside this economic situation, the feudal system had a role in this immigration since the
landlords decided to get rid of these farmers. Hence, they immigrated to the cities believing in
The American Dream ideology that were made by the capitalists.
This ideology was built upon the falsie concept of social equality and chances equality without
concern about social background. The American Dream falsie concepts were referred to by
Mohammadi (2020) as he asserted “We originally think of the American dream perhaps as this
idea that anybody can succeed if they work hard enough, class distinctions will not hold them
back. However, it has come to mean the obtaining of material possessions that in themselves
are signs of wealth and affluence” (p.1). In this quotation, Mohammadi reveals what are the
common concepts about The American Dream. Moreover, he clarifies that how it attracted the
working-class people to attempt to achieve it. These falsie concepts were made to reinforce The
American Dream ideology in order to gain its benefits for the dominant class people.
These benefits were maintaining the dominant class people’s wealth, also increasing it as well
as their industrial business. On the other hand, these immigrants faced the dominant class
mistreatment such as the social isolation, the working-class were isolated. Fitzgerald
represented that through dividing the island in his novel into two parts, these parts are the
West Egg and the East Egg. The people of working class were living in the East Egg such as
Myrtle and her husband Wilson who worked there as a mechanic and Gatsby.
The social background role and social equality denial was proved once more since Gatsby who
was considered to be rich, he was living in the East Egg despite that he was rich but due to his
social background he was living with the working-class. Unlike Tom Buchanan and his wife
Daisy who lived in the West Egg that proves the role of the social background. Hence, the
difference of the social classes provides differences in the treatment and acceptability. This
difference is clear and were captured through the events of The Great Gatsby. The difference
was mostly shown by the wealth role compared to the social class role, as Gatsby who obtained
his wealth could not be a member of the bourgeoises due to his social background despite his
fortune and its abilities.
DISCUSSION
The Great Gatsby was published in the era of the twenties; it depicted the life after the World
War I. Hence, it imaged the socioeconomic situation through several aspects mainly and
between the lines was the social conflict. This era was known for its specialties and features
that was mentioned by Snyder (2012) “The 1920s in America was known for its jazz music,
large amounts of money, extravagant clothing, expensive cars, and great parties” (p.5). These
features shaped the form of that period and was depicted in Fitzgerald’s Gatsby. Additionally,
there was a difference in that era due to its circumstances such as the moral standards, the
values and mainly the illegal careers such as Gatsby’s career.
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Alaabed, A. A. H. (2021). The Great Gatsby: A Story of The American Dream and The Social Conflict. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal,
8(10). 245-252.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.810.11034
The moral standards of that era were represented in this novel via Gatsby’s character and his
career. Also, his desire and attempts to achieve his dream in any possible way even if it was
immoral or illegal. Gatsby’s mentality was defined by Rohrkemper (1985) defined Gatsby’s
character “his goal appears never to be more than success, material success” (p.157). This
shows the purpose of Gatsby through his illegal career, which was the organized crime like
bootlegging. He aimed to obtain wealth in order to achieve his American Dream that embodied
in the social ascendency. The protagonist wanted to achieve this social ascendency and be equal
to the capitalists through reunion with Daisy.
Fitzgerald captured the social conflict at that era, the twenties and the reason of this social
conflict was the economic system. This conflict happened due to several aspects the premier
one was the desire of the bourgeoisies in increasing their fortune; therefore, they needed to
control the economic system. In order to achieve their aspiration, they needed low wage
workers. These workers were the ones who immigrated to the cities like New York city in order
to fulfill their dreams.
The immigrants wanted to have better living conditions through gaining wealth or social
ascendency as well that was referred to by Al-Keshwan (2016) discussed this immigration by
stating “people began to move from the towns to the cities searching for a better life” (p.1). They
immigrated from the countryside of America to the cities that displays the impact of The
American Dream on society, the immigration movement played a key role in the wealth
increasing of the capitalists, as it supported them with the low-wage workers. The working- class people immigrated to the cities believing in The American Dream that were made by the
capitalists. This ideology was built upon the falsie concept of social equality and chances
equality without concern about social background, which were denied by the lack of education,
racism and isolation that those immigrants faced.
The immigrants wanted to have better living conditions through gaining wealth or social
ascendency as well. They immigrated from the countryside of America to the cities especially
after the economic crash that embodied in the crash of Wall Streets. The mistreatment the
working-class faced represents the reality of the American social structure. In fact, it unveils
the social injustice, which is the opposite of The American Dream untrue promises. Hence, The
American Dream were made by the capitalists. This ideology was built upon the falsie concept
of social equality and chances equality without concern about social background.
The American Dream was developed in that period; in another term, it was beautified by the
bourgeoises. The cultural activities, those were supporting the industrial revolution and the
capitalism, beautified The American Dream and widespread it, in order to take the advantage
of having low wage workers. The development was to reinforce the concept of equality in the
American society, which was denied between the lines of Fitzgerald’s Gatsby as despite Gatsby’s
fortune he was living with the working class due to his social background. Also, the city was
divided between the two social classes, it shows The American Dream reality.
The author of The Great Gatsby specialized the characters through the terms in the novel to shed
light on the social injustice and the falsie concepts of The American Dream. The characters were
different through their behaviours and attitudes like Tom Buchanan. He is a wealthy man
belongs to the bourgeoisies and he inherited his fortune from his family unlike Gatsby who