The novel is introduced with an Aphorism as narrated by nick. He states “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you’ve had” This instantly presents the idea of social mobility that we see from Nick and the speaker’s lens.
The term Social mobility is explored with Gatsby. Gatsby is presented as the son of “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people”. He was determined to change his class and economic status. This represents the desperation for social mobility at the time and mirrors the unfair divide between rich and poor. Although Gatsby achieved social mobility, he hides the origins of his wealth. There are suspicions from other characters that he “killed a man” or he made his wealth as a bootlegger. This highlights the distinction made between ‘old money’ through Aristocracy and ‘new money’ as new found wealth within a short space of time. However, Marx would completely oppose the concept of Social mobility in the text, as it emphasizes on the unfair divide between the rich and poor. Gatsby wealth is based on corruption he holds an advantage over others and thus defeats the values of the American dream.…show more content… It is the geographically stated as “The other side of the tracks”, conveying that as the class divide grows between social class so the divide in which the Valley of the Ashes could be geographically seen. This could suggest that it is the negative consequences of the American dream, and the decline of moral values associated with the American Dream. Images of death are associated with the Valley of Ashes. Myrtles death is a prime example of this as Nick describes her with such deformity, “her breast hanging loose” and thus Fitzgerald’s use of objectification presents myrtle as a product of the roaring