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CTMJ | traditionalmedicinejournals.com                                       Chinese Traditional Medicine Journal | 2021 | Vol4 |Issue6 
 

 

 Chinese Traditional Medical Journal 

Social Status and Individual Identity 

A Study of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ 
Yoshitom Hisa, Gao Min, Zho Tia 

 School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mukogawa Women's University, Hyogo 

, Oncology Department, Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Introduction: 

Individuals' self-esteem and self-identity 

have always been subordinated because of 

their ethnicity, gender, or wealth. When it 

comes to society's social expectations, this 

is true even in advanced cultures where 

individuals are always striving to meet 

them. American society's moral code 

suffered greatly during the Roaring 

Twenties due to its pursuit of excessive 

material wealth. The American goal of 

creating a society in which all citizens 

Abstract 

literature, Francis Scott Fitzgerald was a well-known American novelist and short 

storey writer of the Roaring Twenties. They depict a lack of morality, lack of 

principles, and an internal moral dilemma among American youth during World 

War I. Economic growth in the United States was out of control during the 

Roaring Twenties. Aristocrats' extravagant banquets and fashionable attire 

inspired a new generation of wealthy businessmen. Greed and hypocrisy have 

taken over the individualism and moral ideals of the typical American in the 

1920s. 

In "The Great Gatsby," every character's desire to rise to a position of social 

prominence overshadows their uniqueness. Because of his romantic feelings for 

Daisy, Jay Gatsby, the main character, becomes more and more obsessed with the 

opulent lifestyle of the wealthy upper classes. In order to rekindle his relationship 

with Daisy, Gatsby uses his fortune from bootlegging to live an extravagant 

lifestyle. All his splendour, though, is dwarfed by his wife's aristocratic spouse, 

Tom Buchanan. A mistress for Myrtle Wilson is a way for her to escape her awful 

life and for Tom it is just another status symbol. It's the upper class's whims and 

fancies that Myrtle entertains. As a result, the deaths of Gatsby and Myrtle have 

little effect on Daisy and Tom's marriage, which is mostly a financial 

arrangement. 

Keywords: It was a time of upheaval and euphoria for the American upper class, 

as well as for the rest of the world's young. 

 



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were treated equally and had equal access 

to opportunity had failed. 

Americans of the roaring twenties will 

recognise Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald as 

an American novelist. He incorporates the 

shattered American ideal, marital strife, 

and the society's flimsy moral code. To put 

it another way, his focus is on the darkest 

corners of society. 

During the "Roaring Twenties," "The 

Great Gatsby" is set in New York City. 

After being smitten with Daisy and her 

elegant lifestyle, Jay Gatsby sets out to 

establish himself as a wealthy aristocrat. 

Gatsby's naivete and gullibility collide 

with society's class order. 

Objective: 

'The Great Gatsby' seems to be a love 

storey between two stars, Jay Gatsby and 

Daisy Buchanan, but it is a powerful 

statement on the racial divide in our 

society. The novel's protagonists' fates are 

decided by the novel's class system. 

Studying Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great 

Gatsby," the paper's major goal is to 

understand how socioeconomic status 

affects an individual's identity. 

America in 1920’s: 

Equality for all men, or the American 

Dream, is the foundation of America's 

culture. People came to the United States 

in search of the American ideal, which is 

that anybody can achieve if they work hard 

and have a clear goal in mind. The glitz 

and hedonism of the Roaring Twenties are 

vividly depicted in Fitzgerald's writings, 

which include themes of American ideals. 

Other than that, he focuses on a darker 

aspect of the American ideal, which he 

says leads to mindless ambition and the 

use of bootlegging to get money. He was 

not swayed by the wealth of the moment, 

but he was aware of the disparity between 

the rich and the poor and predicted the 

future of the United States. 

Jay Gatsby’s Dreams and Ambitions: 

American fears of the 1920s are depicted 

in "The Great Gatsby" by Fitzgerald. The 

ancient aristocracy, the newly wealthy, and 

the poor are all represented by the two 

imaginary towns of East Egg and West 

Egg, as well as the Valley of Ashes. 

Daisy, the love interest of Jay Gatsby, 

marries Tom Buchanan when Gatsby 

enlists in the military during World War I. 

A few years later, Gatsby becomes 

engaged in bootlegging and purports to be 

an Oxford-educated man. Since moving to 

West Egg (across the bay from Daisy's 

House on East Egg) from East Egg, he has 

hosted lavish parties in the hope that Daisy 

may attend one. Gatsby tries to get Nick 

Carraway, the cousin of Daisy's best friend 

Jordan Baker, to set up a meeting between 

him and Daisy. She goes on to describe to 

Nick how, after receiving a letter from 

Gatsby, Daisy intended to call off her 

wedding to Tom, but drank wine the night 

before and ended up marrying him. Nick 

and Daisy's visit to Gatsby's West Egg 

house causes Daisy to burst into tears of 

joy. Daisy seemed to have been overcome 

by the wealth of Gatsby and was unable to 

control her feelings. It is shown later in 

Nick's narrative that even Gatsby's love for 

Daisy is increased sub-consciously as a 

result of his drive for a high social 

standing and a luxurious way of life. 

He then added, "Her voice has a lot of 

money in it." 

 

It was over. Prior to this, I had no idea 

what you were talking about. The tinkling 

of it, the cymbals' song of it, the endless 

fascination that rose and fell in it—that 

was the inexhaustible charm that rose and 

fell in it. 



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The golden girl, the king's daughter, lives 

in a white mansion above the sky (7.105-

6) 

For Gatsby, Daisy represents riches, 

elegance, and nobility; he refers to her as 

the "golden girl" and uses money as a 

metaphor to describe her voice. For all his 

years in the past, he saw Daisy's love as 

the only thing that mattered to him. Gatsby 

believes that Daisy's feelings for him 

haven't waned over time and that she was 

only forced to marry Tom because of the 

circumstances. As a result of this 

realisation, Gatsby is left disappointed and 

disheartened by the fact that Daisy's love is 

not enough to satisfy him. Even in an 

economically prosperous country, there is 

still a widening wealth difference between 

the old nobility and those who have lately 

come into their own. Daisy is unable to 

make a decision when challenged with 

Gatsby and Tom, and she ends up 

choosing neither of them. She was 

infatuated with him. 

Her position and royalty would be at risk if 

she were to be with Gatsby. In this contact 

between them, the class system of society 

overpowers even fundamental human 

feelings. 

Marriage and Social Security: 

East Egg is home to a number of well-to-

do families, including the Buchanans. 

Tom, a young guy with a strong body and 

a racial outlook, is an aggressive and 

combative individual. 

"It's a great book, and I think everyone 

should read it. Essentially, if we don't keep 

an eye out, the white race will be 

completely obliterated, according to this 

theory. It's all a matter of scientific fact." 

(1.78) 

A book Tom has been reading recently 

claims that the white race is superior to all 

other races and must preserve its 

dominance over society, which Tom 

discusses. Because of their low social 

status, he maintains control over his 

mistress Myrtle Wilson and even her 

husband, George Wilson. 

While Tom is having an adulterous affair 

with a working-class lady, Daisy chooses 

to ignore it because she believes that being 

a fool is the ideal role for a woman. To 

keep up with the upper-class social 

expectations, Daisy pretends to be 

disappointed and unsure about her future 

with Tom. Upon injuring Daisy's finger, 

she refers to him as a "hulking beast of a 

guy." For the sake of societal stability, 

Daisy sacrifices her originality for the sake 

of her husband's devotion and pleasure. 

Daisy's life seems idyllic on the surface, 

but the monotony of her existence drives 

her to seek solace in Gatsby. 

Exploitation of Working Class: 

 

A working-class neighbourhood halfway 

between Manhattan and the East and West 

Egg suburbs, Myrtle is the wife of George, 

owner of a garage in the "valley of ashes." 

She lives in a Manhattan flat with Tom 

and imitates upper-class women's 

behaviours. Since Tom's catholic wife 

refuses to divorce him, she feels that he is 

unable to marry her. On hearing that his 

wife is not a catholic from Nick, she 

incites him. He gets upset and attacks her 

when she refers to him as her first name in 

front of his legally married wife. Even 

though he knows she's his wife, Tom treats 

Myrtle like just another one of his 

possessions. To him, aristocracy has a 

higher social standing than working class, 

so she's not even allowed to call herself 

Myrtle. Tom is terrified of losing his grip 

on Myrtle and Daisy, and his anxiety 

grows as he realises he may be losing it. 

His relationship with Myrtle is little more 



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CTMJ | traditionalmedicinejournals.com                                       Chinese Traditional Medicine Journal | 2021 | Vol4 |Issue6 
 

than a show of his egotistical and 

domineering nature. As a result, he fears 

that he has lost all of his authority 

 However long it takes Daisy to admit her 

genuine love for Gatsby, Tom refuses to 

give in to the strain in their marriage. By 

dismissing his relationship with Myrtle, 

Tom pretends to be in love with Daisy. 

"What's more, Daisy is one of my 

favourites. Occasionally, I go on a wild 

escapade, but I always return, and in my 

heart, I always adore her." (7.251-252) 

He convinces Daisy that he doesn't care 

about his "sprees," since he intends to 

return after they're done. Tom's entire 

priority is maintaining his social status, 

and he cares more about his marriage and 

mistress than anything else. 

Death of Myrtle: 

After the turmoil, Tom boasts that Gatsby 

couldn't win him back and hands Daisy the 

keys to his vehicle so she may accompany 

him on his trip. To save herself, Myrtle 

leaps into the path of oncoming traffic, 

attempting to stop the vehicle. Gatsby 

assures Nick that he would take the blame 

and protect Daisy, who was driving the 

car. 

There is no way for Gatsby to repair his 

connection with Daisy while he is still in a 

golden dream. As far as the repercussions 

go, he doesn't give a second thought to 

them. 

Nick is shocked by Jordan Baker's 

carefree, devil-may-care attitude after 

Myrtle's sad death. How can Jordan not be 

affected by the death of a person? 

The next night, "You didn't treat me very 

well." 

Was it even relevant at the time? (8.49-53) 

In this scene, Nick recognises that the old 

money group is cold, reckless, and nasty, 

and that Gatsby is the only one who can 

save him from them. 

 

Death of Gatsby: 

Upon learning that George Wilson is the 

one who murdered Myrtle, Wilson decides 

to kill Gatsby in order to exact vengeance. 

The Buchanan family then relocates to 

France, where they want to stay for the rest 

of their lives. 

In order to prevent a crime scene, drug 

lord Meyer Wolfsheim does not attend 

Gatsby's burial. It is impossible to 

maintain a strong friendship with Gatsby 

after he has passed away, even for 

Wolfsheim. People are just disposable to 

Wolfsheim, as he explains in his 

explanation. 

"Any involvement in the death of a guy 

bothers me, and I avoid it at all costs. I 

maintain my distance. When I was a young 

guy it was different—if a buddy of mine 

died, no matter how, I remained with them 

until the end. 

You may think that's sappy but I mean it—

to the bitter end…. 

Our friendship should be shown while a 

person is still living, rather than after he 

has passed away "he made a suggestion. 

"My own guideline after that is to just let 

things be." (9.95-99) 

Conclusion: 

In Jordan Baker's words, "there are only 

the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and 

the fatigued," the core of the class conflicts 

in society is summarised. A society is 

divided into three groups: those who 

chased their aspirations, those who are still 

chasing their dreams, and the people from 

the valley of ashes, who are constantly 

busy suggesting exploitation of physical 

labour or enslavement, respectively. 

When Gatsby and Myrtle die, it becomes 

clear that Tom and Daisy will not be held 

responsible for their deaths. Instead, they 



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CTMJ | traditionalmedicinejournals.com                                       Chinese Traditional Medicine Journal | 2021 | Vol4 |Issue6 
 

may hide in their money and let others deal 

with the aftermath. 

This couple was sloppily behaved. They 

destroyed things and beings and then sank 

back into their money or the enormous 

carelessness or whatever held them 

together, leaving others to clean up the 

damage they had left behind (9.146) 

Tom and Daisy are protected from the 

consequences of their actions by their 

wealth, whilst others must suffer and even 

die to achieve their goals. Despite his 

riches and grandeur, Gatsby couldn't live 

up to his ambitions; he flaunted his fortune 

to become a member of society only to be 

abandoned and left with an empty heart at 

the end of his life. Myrtle had always 

dreamed of living a rich lifestyle, but she 

didn't know it was impossible. 

Consequently, we might infer that social 

standing has an impact on one's 

uniqueness. 

References 

 

1. In the first place, Fitzgerald F. 

Scott (Scribner, 1925) Tender 2: The Great 

Gatsby. The following document may be 

found at this link: 

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in 

2.      

https://chendrickson.wordpress.com/theme

s/ \s3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The 

Great Gatsby 

3. . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F. 

Scott Fitzgerald#Novels 

 

4 . https://blog.prepscholar.com/the-

great-gatsby-quotes 

  

5. . 

https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/ 

  

.6 . 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK22

6GVXIAY 

.  

.7

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=u8 jIK2LyRw 

  

8 . 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5zw

c2coJls 


