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THE GREAT

GATSBY
by Scott F. Fitzgerald
under the Marxist Lens

"conflicts of interest
Bourgeoisie

"conflicts of interest
Proletariat

Social class
class conflict

OThe Great Gatsby relives the Roaring

Twenties, when a little man can


get rich quickly with its capitalist
schemes of the American Dream.
OBehind the glitter of money, fame
and parties lies people who treat
other people as objects or
commodity, the decay of personal
values and the death of the society.
expose the political and economic
contradictions inherent in Capitalism

OCharacters are guilty of

commodification, even Gatsby


himself is not innocent.

expose the political and economic


contradictions inherent in Capitalism

OThe Haute (High) Bourgeoisie


OTom, Daisy

OThe Petit (Small) Bourgeoisie


ONick

OThe Professions
OJordan, the piano player

OThe Proletariat
O George and Myrtle Wilson
OThe Lumpenproletariat
OMeyer Wolfsheim

Class fractions

O In the Jazz age of the 20s, the amount of

money one had define what class one was


in.
O People in East Egg never have to worry
about money, people work for them through
the old money they have inherited.
O In West Egg, people have to deal with daily
hassle and bustle just to get that hard
earned to fulfill their dreams of moving on
higher strata.
O The people in the Valley of Ashes are the
poor ones who work hard to earn a living.
O Such a scenario depicted the Capitalism
ownership of the means
society

of production

OThe struggle to get to the

top of the social economical


class is driven by the belief
system that advocates the
way of living (East & West
Egg) in the
American
society.
"spheres of influence"
base vs. superstructure

OCultural hegemony is embedded

on the influence of Hollywood


fashion (curly and piled up/bob
cut hair) emulating the look of
movie stars.
Oreproduction of female ideals
and emergence of a new
stronger woman
Othe ideals of an American dream

hegemony

OThe West & East Eggs vs.

Valley of Ashes
OThe politicians, statesmen
and lawmen mingling with
bootleggers.
OMoral values vs. sign values
economic, political and ideological
conflicts

OThe Valley of Ashes is alienated

by the color and glamour of the


East Egg.
OMyrtle Wilson is isolated from the
niceties of life even if she crave
for
them so much, simply
because is from the Valley of
Ashes.
OGatsby
is
alienated
by
Buchanans origins; the reason
why he can never have Daisy. He
alienation
simply does
not belong to their

OThe

fairy-tale of rags-to-riches
where a poor man can climb on
top of the social strata if he only
work hard for it, with combined
luck
brought
by
friends/
connections from the upper class
OIn the end, after all efforts, the
poor will know that the only way
out of their situation is through
their coffin (Tyson).

false consciousness

O Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;


O If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
O Till she cry Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing

lover,
O I must have you!
O Gatsby tried everything he could think of to

move Daisy, but it wasnt enough.


O The The Great Gatsbyshows the futility of
the capitalist society; how people never really
get what they want, but still always hold onto
hope that one day they will finally have it all.

the end

Its now your turn to criticize


in Marxist lens.

Its now your turn to criticize


in Marxist lens.
O SPIDER
O WATER SPOUT
O RAIN
O SUN

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