The Last Dance

According to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Americans have unrealistic visions of success and social class. His American novel The Great Gatsby, along with other modern American short stories such as Ethan Canin’s “Starfood” and Tobias Wolfe’s “The Rich Brother,” portrays America as a place where wealth and power are the most important qualities in a person. Although Many people value materialistic items these authors also highlight values of idealism and righteousness. Jay Gatsby’s persona revolves around being wealthy and being at the top of the social hierarchy while other characters like Donald from “The Rich Brother” believe in spirituality and compassion towards others. Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan represent America during the roaring 1920s and their  values still hold 100 years later. There are still people like Donald and Nick Carraway who believe in being a good human and in practicing charity but they typically are towards the bottom of the social hierarchy because of their lack of power. America is a land that values wealth and social classes.  

From the massive mansion, to the extravagant parties, to the expensive cars, we can all see that Jay Gatsby is a wealthy man. Although he had all the fortune one could ever want, he wasn’t always a rich man. He was originally James Gatz, a poor farm boy from North Dakota. After warning Dan Cody, a wealthy copper mogul, about an upcoming storm, he was then employed by him and created a new persona as Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is what James Gatz aspired to be. Instead of being poor, he wanted to be a rich and powerful person with immense influence on people:  “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself… so he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a 17-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end” (Fitzgerald, 98). Gatsby doesn’t want to be a poor farm boy because it’s too low on the social hierarchy for him. He created a new identity for him to have a clean slate and become a new man. It is exposed that he later got his money illegally. To Gatsby it didn’t matter how he got rich because his only goal was to get rich and not be ethical or moral about it. 

The main theme of the lack of morality is presented in The Great Gatsby is typically represented by the wealthy characters in. We get insight of this through Nick who doesn’t have the same wealth as Tom and Gatsby. After witnessing all of the drama and shady things that happened between Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby, he started to see that money doesn’t equate to being a good person.Leaving Gatsby's house Nick speaks about Tom and Daisy, “We shook hands and I started away. “Just before I reached the hedge I remembered something and turned around. ’They’re a rotten crowd’ I shouted across the lawn. ’You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together’” (Fitzgerald, 154). Although Nick is complimenting Gatsby, he still doesn’t approve of his moral code. It’s interesting how Nick uses the word ” worth.” It’s obvious that Daisy and Tom have a lot of money so he isn’t referring to their material worth. It’s referring to their moral worth. Both Gatsby and Daisy have made huge unethical lies throughout the novel. Daisy lied about her involvement with Myrtle's death and Gatsby's entire life is a lie because he is just putting on a persona. These values of wealth  in The Great Gatsby still appear in modern day America. People are still trying to get rich any way that they can even if it's unethical. From tax evasion, to insider trading, to unethical business decisions there are still a lot of shady things that wealthy people do in modern America. 

On the other side of the spectrum we have people like Donald from “The Rich Brother” in modern America. He represents people who have a good moral code but don’t necessarily care about wealth. His brother Pete belongs to the class of wealthy people who don’t have a good moral code. This is illustrated when Pete is driving Donald and they come across a hitchhiker who urgently needs a ride to Santa Cruz to see his sick daughter. Pete is against having the hitchhiker, who we learn is named Webster, come in the car with them. But because Donald is more sympathetic for the well-being of this random person. “Before Pete could say anything Donald got into the act again. ‘No problem’ he said. ‘We have plenty of room’” (Wolfe, 82). This is something that people like Tom and Daisy would never do. Without hesitation Donald does the Righteous thing and allows the helpless hitchhiker to travel with them without his brother's initial approval. He does this on a whim. Doing the right thing makes his moral code higher than people like Tom and Daisy who wouldn’t even attend the funeral of their murdered friend. He then proceeds to give the $100 that his brother gave him to Webster. When Pete gets mad at him about it Donald exclaims “‘I invested it. I wanted to share, Pete.’ When Pete looked over at him Donald nodded and said again, ‘I wanted to share’” (Wolfe, 88). The word “share” perfectly describes Donald’s mentality. He doesn't care if he has money as long as other people are also well off. Pete then gets mad at him about it. Pete represents the American values of caring mainly about wealth. That’s why he ditches his brother at the gas station at the end of the story. He cares more about his money than his own family. As Nick said in The Great Gatsby, because Donald is a righteous person he would be “worth” more than someone like Pete who only cares about money. However, hee would be considered lower on the social hierarchy because he doesn't care about wealth. 

America values wealth and social class. Tom and Daisy value having money and being at the top of the social hierarchy because they flaunt their money and care more about themselves than other people. Gatsby did everything with the wealth to impress Daisy but still has poor moral character because he got his money illegally. People like Donald would be at the bottom of the social hierarchy in America because they don't care about wealth but have a good moral character. America is a land that values wealth and being on the top of the social hierarchy.