American Dream and Consumerism in 'The Great Gatsby' Essay

Oikos involves an ancient Greek household, family, or house that formed the basic unit of society in Greek city-states. Therefore, in the family setting, it meant the line of descent from the father to the son through inheritance from generation to generation (Fitzgerald 2007). In a political context, as used by Aristotle, Oikos involve people living in a particular house and would include immediate family, slaves, and the head of the Oikos. Oikos comprise people with different connotations in terms of what they own, their leaders, and the number of members. Depending on how extended it is, Oikos incorporate people only living in the Oikos but not those outside the Oikos. Therefore, this paper aims to explore Oikos and its relation to the Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald. The paper will be examined based on the aspect of blindness in The Great Gatsby.

“The Great Gatsby” is an ultra-modernist novel which was written by an American Scott Fitzgerald. The book is a symbolic reflection of what happened in the United States, especially on the collapse of the American dream on aspects of materialism and wealth (Joucla & Fitzgerald 2012). The two elements discussed in the novel relate to the West and East, each with different connotations and people living in each part. The two small islands East and West Eggs, are identical in terms of contours but different in many ways. The two pieces are different in terms of people living where the West Egg represents old money, and people living in this part inherited their fortune. On the same note, they look down upon the poor living in the Eastern Egg. In return, those in the East Egg participate in organized crimes and Hollywood to earn their fortunes. Therefore, both parts (eggs) are characterized in different ways where those living in the West have been regarded to be fair, sophisticated, and relatively innocent/naïve. Those in the East were characterized as corrupt and greedy. For example, West Egg is less fashionable, and this is where Bick and Gatsby love. On the contrary, the East Egg is regarded to be fashionably characterized by white palaces where Tom and Daisy live their comfortable and carefree lives. The color white is symbolic to indicate that things could be pure and innocent, but corruption lies on the inside of the Oikos.

Place an order

The aspect of social class is depicted in the novel representing two different people with money and those without money. The bay between the two small islands represents the difference between the wealthy and poor social classes in the community which may not be met due to the difference in their social standards (Cameron 2008). However, when others join the other, for instance, the poor working for the rich, they are manipulated using excessive force to meet the standards of the wealthy. In this case, Easterners, who moved to the West Egg, have taken their mannerisms with them with their new life in the West. Gatsby is an excellent example of this novel. Another symbolic aspect in the Valley of the Ashes represents social and moral decay in society due to the unconstrained search for resources and wealth. In this case, the rich treat themselves to be of a high standard and consider their pleasure as of great importance more than anything else in the community. The valley is a colorless and desolate area because it is a dumping site for the ashes, and the parties present in this area are noisy and drunken compared to the parties in the West. They are relaxed and silent while enjoying their pleasure.

Throughout this novel, it displays people who watch their lives unfold, but despite seeing what happens, they do nothing to change the situation. They are figuratively blind because they are unable to see the truth in every case they face (Trümper 2011). Major themes portrayed through symbols include loss of social and moral standards alongside conflicting perceptions. The Oikos are related to these parts, the West and the East, where people living in Oikos are identified based on their control. Based on the ancient Greek, Oikos involves three distinct aspects, which include the family, family property, and the house. The house here refers to the homes that were made of sun-dried mud bricks, but the aspect of West and East, as depicted in the novel, is explained here. The numbers in the Oikos were differentiated based on how wealthy the members of the Oikos were. The West, in this case, represents the wealthy who live in large Oikoi while the poor represent those in the East who struggle through hard ways to earn money. Therefore, there were two types of houses for the poor and the wealthy (Joucla & Fitzgerald 2012). In this case, the latter inherited their wealth/old money from wealthy families, and the former earned a living