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Natalie DeGraves

Mr.Smith

Junior ELA

18 March 2024

The Great Gatsby Essay

Throughout the story of The Great Gatsby, in both the movie and the book, the author F.

Scott Fitzgerald presents different ideas on ambition. When read through a Marxist lens, the

characters show ambition in different ways. On one hand, there is arrogance due to wealth.

Conversely, Gatsby is more driven by his morals. Fitzgerald explores two perspectives of

ambition, both corruption and purity; while the film subverts Gatsby’s purity.

Tom Buchanan is Daisy’s wife and he is a very wealthy man but the way he expresses his

wealth affects other characters both mentally and physically. Tom’s money is unhealthy for him

because he uses it against others and abandons his morals. When Nick Carraway talks about Tom

he states, “Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a

supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and

gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward.” (Fitzgerald 4). Nick describes

his first impression of Tom after having not seen him since their college days. Nick describes

Tom as lofty and arrogant. Nick believes Tom is ignorant of the wealth that he has and the

luxurious life he lives. Tom is seen as selfish and he thinks he is more powerful than other

characters due to the extensive amount of money he has. Tom reacts to Nick’s comment by

saying, “Just because I’m stronger and more of a man than you are.” (Fitzgerald 5). Tom also

believed he had possession over everyone which often caused him to feel that he was able to act

rudely to others. Myrtle once talked back to Tom causing a dispute to break out, “Daisy! Daisy!
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Daisy!” shouted Mrs. Wilson. “I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai——” Making a short

deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” (Fitzgerald 22). Tom took

his anger out by physically abusing Myrtle. Everyone was stunned when they witnessed Tom put

his hands on Myrtle. Due to the power he believed he had over others he was able to use that as

an excuse and get out of physically hurting Myrtle. Tom is seen through many views in the story

and the book but overall he is looked at to be a self-absorbed character and does not have any

feelings towards his family and friends. This all stemmed from his social status and wealth.

Jay Gatsby on the other hand is seen as more pure in his ambition. Though Gatsby is also

very wealthy he expresses his wealth in a much more appropriate manner. Gatsby is not as

selfish and arrogant about his money because he is new money whereas Tom is old money.

Gatsby’s wealth was not generational, he grew up in a poor household which made him the way

he was, “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people—his imagination had never

really accepted them as his parents at all.” (Fitzgerald 58). Although his parents were not very

successful, he and his parents had high hopes for him to be a successful man. Gatsby presents his

pureness by making his parents proud by accomplishing their hopes on his own. His parents were

very proud of him and knew he had very good potential in life. Gatby’s parents were very

protective over him and kept him in line, for example, Gatsby’s father had a whole schedule for

him when he was a boy, “ Rise from bed…..6:00 am, Dumbbell exercise and wall-scaling…6:15-

6:30 am, study electricity, etc…7:15-8:15, Work…8:30-4:30 pm, Baseball and

Sports…4:30-5:00 pm, Practice elocution, poise and how to attain it…5:00-6:00 pm, Study

needed inventions…7:00-9:00 pm” (Fitzgerald 174). The scandal Gatsby’s father created for him

was extremely strict and included many activities that were not in daily life for most. Gatsby

adored his parent's advice and considered it. His parents were very honest with him and wanted
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him not only to be financially successful but they cared more about him being socially successful

and overall a genuine guy. Gatby wasn’t only pure about his ambition of wealth through his

family but also expressed it through his affection for others. Nick states, “Gatsby bought that

house so Daisy would just be across the way” (Fitzgerald 63). Gatsby used his money to buy nice

things but was also particular about what he bought. Gatsby was also very honest about his

wealth. Gatsby is very similar to Tom in wealth but Gatsby is more humble about it and does not

see or act that he is greater than anyone else because of his wealth.

However, Luhrman’s depiction of Gatsby subverts the idea of purity, through Gatsby’s

actions during the hotel scene. In the hotel scene, Tom is furious because he is jealous and

disgusted at Gatsby and Daisy’s connection. Tom is sternly talking to Diasy and trying to

convince her not to go with Gatsby but Gatsby very quickly changes his tone of voice to almost

match Tom’s. The two of them are throwing backhanded comments at each other which raises

the tension in the scene. Soon enough the volume of both their voices increases, whereas, Daisy’s

voice whimpers in the back as she wants to leave the scene. As Gatsby intakes more and more

alcohol he starts breathing heavier and suddenly he can’t take any more of the comments Tom is

making and he turns around shattering all the glasses on the table. He grabs Tom’s jacket and

screams at him to shut up multiple times. Gatsby nearly punches Tom in the face but he catches

himself in action and stops himself. Gatsby steps back breathing very heavily. Nick says,

“Gatsby looked in that moment as if he had killed a man” with Daisy in the back whimpering to

go home. In this scene Gatby is not shown as pure he is shown as more corrupt in the movie

compared to the book you do not get the same visuals. The scene is pictured as much less violent

and tenacious.

Gatsby and Tom go about their lives both being very wealthy but the way each of them
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expresses it to the other is very different Gatsby is shown as both pure and corrupt with his

wealth and Tom is shown as just corrupt. When looking at both the book and the movie from a

Marxist lens Tom is seen as a more self-absorbed character and believes he is more powerful

than everyone else. Whereas, if you look at Gatsby through the Marxist lens he is seen as a more

genuine and reasonable guy when it comes to his money. Although in the film he is seen as more

corrupt and violent. Overall, this story demonstrates that generally, those who inherit an

abundance of wealth are more likely to be ignorant than those who are self-made and raised to

appreciate what they have in life.

Skill N Foundational Proficient Advanced

Y

Thesis N EsPreviouss *Previous and *Previous and

Y a basic Indicates the Effectively &
claim relationship conveys the
Mentions between texts relationship between
both texts The claim is a texts & and the
Specifically reasonable message or
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mentions or interpretation interpretation that

alludes to a and moves can be determined
critical lens beyond the Developed
summary throughout essay
Developed
throughout the
essay

Claims Makes a *Previous (and) *Previous (and)

statement Somewhat Considers the thesis
that requires considers the of the paper
evidence to thesis Effective use of
support Somewhat transition
developed words/phrases
through Developed through
paragraph paragraph

Evidence N Includes *Previous and *Previous and

Y evidence Includes multiple Includes a variety of
from both pieces of specific, meaningful,
texts (either evidence/ and well-chosen
quotes or examples that evidence that relates
examples) relate to the to the thesis
Most thesis, individual
evidence claims, and
relates to a critical lens
lens Includes multiple
pieces of
evidence in each
body paragraph

Analysis N Somewhat Explain how Explains

Y explains evidence well-selected points
how supports the of comparison
evidence topic sentence of among evidence
supports the individual and their connection
topic paragraphs to the thesis
sentence Explain how
and thesis evidence
supports the
thesis of the
essay
Some use of film
specific
vocabulary

MLA Some elements missing No errors in MLA format

or some errors in MLA
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format

Conventio Shows Most quotes are All quotes are

ns evidence of correctly correctly integrated
basic integrated Shows evidence of
proofreadin Follows essay careful proofreading
g organization
Shows evidence
of proofreading

Fluency Simple use Demonstrates Strong use of of

of use of grade vocabulary, diction,
vocabulary level vocabulary, sentence structures
Simple diction, sentence
sentence structures
structures Accurate use of
text specific
vocabulary