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Great Gatsby - Behavior of upper classes - Coggle Diagram
Great Gatsby - Behavior of upper classes
Tom
Restlessness
character constellation with Gatsby, another wealthy person
Semantic field in intial delineation of Tom: "drifted", "unrestfully", "for no particular reason"
Such a semantic field, as well as the character constellation with Gatsby, another enormously wealthy person, seems to convey that the American dream, once achieved, is unfulfilling.
Idea of hedonic treadmill, and the law of diminishing returns, if one can afford to do anything then they become bored of it.
Tom described as seeking a "football game", demonstrates Tom seeking the past, in which he was still able to be excited by something
Aggression/ Supercilious Manner
Carelessness
Power under threat
Deceit and ability to bend the truth
White Supremacy
Daisy
Carelessness
Rendering truth irrelevant
Wealth
Initial description of Jordan and Daisy: "two women were buoyed up as though on an anchored balloon."
Symbolism of the women buoyed up highlights the way in which both women are supported solely by their wealth and that this creates a height, or superiority, over everyone else. However, the fact that the object is a balloon is notable, as this could refer to the fragility of the separation and social distinction which the women enjoy, and how it is "hollow" and "full of hot air".
The fact that the balloon is "anchored" is also interesting, as it suggests that Daisy, although supported by her wealth, is also somewhat restricted by it; she cannot go any further up , and is weighed down by an anchor. This could also provide visual antithesis to Gatsby's idea of 'climbing' up the social ladder.
Gatsby's parties
Separation between upper and lower class
Valley of Ashes
Name of setting: "valley of ashes"
A valley is a geographical formation consisting of a lower area situated between two upper areas of mountains or hills
A valley typically has steep sides, so Fitzgerald may be making a connection between the steep-sided formation of valleys in a literal sense and the difficulty with which a person of the lower classes would have ascending from his lower social status. The lower class are kept enclosed or entrapped by those who occupy the upper echelon of society around them.
Noun is suggestive of the socially and economically 'lower' position that the lower classes are expected to occupy in society.
Fricative alliteration "fantastic farm" draws attention to the metaphor
Nick describes the place not as a residence but of its only value to him; the things and labor which it provides. The metaphor alsmost imagines the occupants as livestock - waiting obliviously to be consumed for their labor and resources
Description of Dr T.J Eckleberg's fading sign, which was set up to "fatten his practice in the borough of Queens"
Metaphor "fatten" implies that he, representative of the upper class, is figuratively eating up the lower classes, destroying them out of extreme greed
Seemingly not a necessary act. "Fatten contains connotations of gluttony and suggests eating past he point of necessity. Implied that upper class do not commodify lower class out of necessity, but of greed, which furthers their moral corruption
Myrtle
Gatsby
Wilson
Distinction between new money and old money
Setting: "a pair of enormous eggs, identical in contour and separated only by a courtesy bay."
Symbolic of the two kinds of rich people populating Long Island; those with old money are identical to those with new money, however there is still an expansive gap of "courtesy bay" separating them. Suggests the fabricated distinction and separation that those with old money have created with the air of their status.