Blog Post 13 - TayTina's Collablog Part 2!!

The moment you’ve all been waiting for… another Tay-Tina Collablog. You’re welcome.

Thanks to our loyal followers, you keep us going. #2peat. xoxo, T & C.

Some guiding questions we decided to further explore:

1. How would you describe the “American Dream?”

Ahh yes, the American Dream. I would describe the “American Dream” as the 1920s if I were asked to classify it as a time period. If I were asked in a more general sense, I would say the American Dream is an ideology in the minds of Americans in which they wish for a more prosperous future. In the context of the 1920s and The Great Gatsby, this idea of the American Dream can be seen through the upward social mobility for the American citizens in the book. In the 1920s, America had just got out of WW1, so there was a huge economic boom. This allowed people to work hard and move their status economically or socially if desired. The culture in America revolved around materialistic things because citizens had more money to spend, which is representative of the social values of materialistic, physical things at this time. Socially, wealth was highly valued and looked highly upon. The stereotypical ideal of the American dream consists of white picket fences and a big house with a large family, however this is not the case for many. As time has gone on there is a new perception of the American Dream and it is more individually based these days. For example, my personal American Dream includes my success later in life with a great job and a family, but to others it may be more nationalistic and literal to America or others may have different personal goals. In relation to The Great Gatsby, the American Dream relates to the riches and personal affairs that the rich had. The parties and tangible objects that the people of the 1920s desired were what they saw as the American Dream.

2. What is your definition of wealth?

My definition of wealth is more so success based rather than materialistic like literal paper money wealth.
I view wealth more like how successful you are, rather than how wealthy you are. When I hear the word
“wealth”, yes, I think of money, but it also makes me think of happiness. You can have a wealth of happiness
and be extremely happy without an abundance of physical things like money. :) When thinking of wealth in
regards to The Great Gatsby, money seems to be a central motivating factor in the characters’ relationships,
motivations, and overall outcomes. So in contrast to my definition of wealth, I believe that wealth is more so money
related when applied in the context of The Great Gatsby, rather than success obtained. When I first hear the word
“wealth” I think about physical money and riches that one has, but this is not the only meaning. Although this is the
case that the word is most commonly used in, wealth may also measure intangible accomplishments. As Taylor said
above, these accomplishments may include happiness or success. In the 1920s and in The Great Gatsby “wealth”
was mainly perceived as tangible money wealth. The social classes were such a huge factor in the lives of those in
the 20s that when they discussed wealth they meant money and tangible items, not success or happiness. They
measured their success through their money and the amount of items they owned, not their personal accomplishments.

3. What are Americans’ attitudes toward wealth and poverty?

This is a very broad generalization, but, in my opinion, most Americans’ attitudes towards wealth and poverty is based on power and social status. When one has a higher level of power in society or a higher status socially/economically, they tend to have more wealth. But those who have lower amounts of power or are in a lower social class, they are more likely to be less wealthy and live in poverty. That being said, Americans attitude towards wealth and poverty is dependant on their status because wealth and poverty can be seen as a way to measures success. Unfortunately, many Americans are very negative when it comes to perceptions about the poor and the wealthy. Especially in the 1920s, when The Great Gatsby was written, the division of social classes was very important in many people’s lives. The wealthy only wanted to be associated with the wealthy and the poor were servants or not invited to prestigious events. There was quite a facade over the social classes because the wealthy gave off the impression that all was well and happy within their group, but mostly they were attempting to keep up appearances and maintain their status. Today, many people still look down on those who are in poverty or even those who are not as wealthy as others. Although the social classes are not as outwardly divided as in the 1920s when there were parties and great negligence between the classes, there are still boundaries put up between people.

4. What is your attitude toward wealth and poverty?

My attitude towards wealth and poverty is very complicated. I believe that it is very difficult for someone
who was born into poverty to get out due to how they grew up, where they live, and what has happened
in their life. However, I am a firm believer in working hard to become successful, so I do not like when people
think that they have no chance of getting out of a bad situation. This also applies to those who are physically
wealthy because I think that just because someone is very fortunate does not mean that they should not also
work hard to get what they have. I believe that if we were in the 1920s there would be many people with similar
views and beliefs as me but to a more extreme extent. Throughout the 20s people were not accepting to those
who were of a lower class. Additionally, in the 1920s social status had much to do with the ability to rise up in
economic class as well, it was very difficult to move up especially in one was born into their class. Finally, I believe
that people should be humble about their wealth especially around those who do not have much. Personally, one
of my pet-peeves is when people talk about how they are more wealthy than others. This was very apparent in The G
reat Gatsby because the wealthy put on huge parties to showcase that they had greater riches than those around them.
RB!!! (re-blog… like retweet… ok I’ll stop now) My personal attitude towards wealth and poverty is quite similar to
Christina’s. I think that most people strive to achieve wealth rather than poverty. More people want to be wealthy
because in society I feel that having wealth is looked at as a great thing and our culture in America really values wealth.
On the other hand, poverty is not typically what people chose to live in. Like Christina said, I think that it can be very hard
to move up from what class you are born into. More specifically, if you are born into poverty it takes a lot of hard work and
the right mindset to increase your wealth in regards to money. When relating this idea of changing social classes to The
Great Gatsby, there were two groups of wealthy people. There were the “New Rich” and the “Old Rich”. In the book, the
New Rich are the people who are suddenly gaining wealth due to the 1920s post war economic boom and the Old Rich
are the people who were wealthy prior to and throughout the war. The Old Rich who had wealth before the New Rich were
not as accepting of the people with the newly acquired wealth because they were becoming like them and moving to their
level socially.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe ;) Comment how you would describe your American Dream and maybe we’ll do more
collab-blogs for our fans...

Works Consulted

Fitzgerald, F.Scott. The Great Gatsby. Penguin Books, 1950.