Essay Comparing The Great Gatsby And A Raisin In The Sun
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American Dream Relevance Social classes are as prevalent as ever in America. F. Scott Fitzgerald was keenly aware of these classes when he released The Great Gatsby in 1929. It is the story narrated by Nick Carraway about Jay Gatsby, a man who became incredibly wealthy, but is not accepted into the upper class. He decides to pursue a wealthy young woman to finalize his social rank, but does not succeed and realizes that he can never achieve his dream, eventually ending with his demise. A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, includes a similar theme. The main character, Walter Younger, wants to become a successful businessman. After achieving this, he believes he will become a respected member of the community and will be able to provide for his child. He takes a risky business opportunity with his father’s life insurance money and is ruined. His family is disappointed in Walter, but forgive him for his folly. Some audiences may not believe modern-day students can relate to the values expressed in these classic novels, but they are mistaken. The Great Gatsby and A Raisin in the Sun include important themes of social class that remain relevant to contemporary society.…show more content… According to a study done in 2011 by Harvard Graduate, Michael I. Norton, most Americans believed the top 20% of people owned approximately 60% of the wealth. In reality, the top 20% of people own approximately 85% of the wealth in America, and the top 1% owns about 50% of the wealth. Even worse than that, the bottom 40% owns a mere .2% of the total wealth (Norton 11). The fact that many Americans are oblivious to these facts is very upsetting. It is for this reason that the hopelessness of the American Dream is often overlooked in younger generations. They don’t understand that these classes still exist to this