Sam Konieczka
No Class
When reading the books, The Grapes of Wrath and The Great Gatsby, it seemed
to me that the thing I took most from this was how money (either the lack of it or the
abundance of it) seems to be what defines a person the least. Although social and
economic classes are in place I like to believe that is irrelevant and I will use these books
to illustrate that point. The points I will make are a.) America has been, since its
existence, a classist state and b.) Ignoring classism and living your life not valuing lives
by the money they have in the bank but by the goodness they have in their heart. It is my
feeling that both these books will be great for showing off this point because of their
placement in America’s history and the lessons I received from them.
Clearly the snapshots that both these books take give us a picture of two utterly
different sets of living conditions. Both of them take place at a very dark time in
Americas economic past, The Great Depression and both of them depict the reactions of
the different social classes with a great insight. One of my favorite lines from The Grapes
of Wrath spoken by Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath is as follows “If you're in trouble or
hurt or need—go to poor people. They're the only ones that'll help—the only ones.” The
reason I find this important to have in my essay is because it gives insight into how
classism affects different groups of people. Although the quote is a generalization I
believe it makes a good point about how poor people, no matter how poorly they are
treated, always are willing to go above and beyond when they put their hearts into it. This
quote also shows off how it is not something you’d expect from the working/middle class
or the upper class. This is something I tend to agree with and that is why I consider
America to be a classist state. However I do not think it needs to remain that way!
The reason I enjoyed these books so much was not the plots or storylines but
rather the real life characters that are placed in these books. These fully fleshed out
human beings going through this time are great examples of my plea to eliminate
classism. One of the best quotes from either of these books and the one that best supports
my point comes from Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby while reflecting on his father
“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one…just remember that all the people in this
world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had." This is an extremely deep
commentary especially considering the source and I think it illustrates the idea of not
making judgments on people for things they can’t control. This is one of the most
difficult concepts for people to grasp the world over and I think the reason that is, is
because of our society based on the idolizing of material possessions. If we had a society
more concerned with the value of someone’s life rather than the value of the dollar I
believe we would have a much happier more productive society. I know this may seem
like an impossible dream but I think that most of the greatest dreams there are seem
impossible and that’s why dreaming them is so great, because it doesn’t have to be
impossible.
In conclusion I hope the following things were received from this essay. First of
all I hope it is recognized that classism has been an issue all over the world since the
beginning of economics and The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath point out how
classism has been a deep seeded issue in American culture. Although neither of these
books call for a radically different America they both portray the ambitions of those who
wish for a better world for everyone in it. I feel that as long as money is made out to be as
important as it is, the real important things like love and friendship will be seen as less
valuable by a great majority of the population. However I know I will always feel that a
lot of character is far more valuable than a lot of money.