Article below:
DIANE MCWHORTER
Downwardly Mobile in Birmingham
Published:
June 12, 2005
The part of Birmingham, Ala., I grew up
in was so class-conscious that a boyfriend broke up with me in ninth grade
because my telephone exchange was not the socially obligatory 871 or 879. My
lapse in standing was the misfortune of being from the nouveau pauvre side of what passed for
an elegant family there in the Pittsburgh of the South.
Here is the visual image: My father, a
downwardly mobile rogue, is putting in his annual appearance at the Mountain
Brook Club, the snootiest of Birmingham's highly competitive country clubs,
where his parents (Harvard Law, Wellesley) were charter members. As a club
regular myself, I claw the rocks of terminal shame at these family gatherings,
especially in the 1970's, when Papa shows up wearing a brown double-knit suit
with tan top-stitching. But suave comrades from his suburban youth come by to
shake hands, as if he had never left their silver midst. Joe, the colossal
bartender, leaves his post to stare into my father's grinning face and clamp
him in a bear hug. That is the most shocking greeting of all, because Birmingham
is also known as the Johannesburg of America, the national bastion of
apartheid. And one of the markers of my father's class rebellion is that he is
so "outspoken" against members of Joe's race that he actually uses
the N-word, which is verboten among polite southerners except when they are out
of earshot of the children.
This
scene is the perfect representation of how incoherent yet pervasive class is in
America, built on a rickety foundation and decorated with trompe l'oeils that
deceive us into thinking that we all do live in one big mansion. Social
mobility is real, and goes in both directions, but no one loses track. And
there is one class whose indifferent exclusivity remains perpetual: white.
The link leads to the website, but not the article.
ReplyDeleteDrats. I'll try again...
ReplyDeleteThe author says that her boyfriend broke up her because her area code wasn't good enough for him. It is like Daisy's parents making her stop seeing Gatsby, because of his social class. Unlike Gatsby, the author's father started out with money and was in the upper class. He went down classes and Gatsby started out with nothing and went up classes. This shows that some people still judge other people based on their social class.
ReplyDeleteThe story states that the girl was broken up simply because of the area code that she had. Similarly, Daisy also ended things with Gatsby because he didn't meet the 'requirement' of having money. Her life, revolved around social class and wasn't only in her love life; her family found it appropriate to join a very "snooty" country club. It talks about how the girls family wanted to fit into the and belong to the club because rich family and famous people were members there. Daisy didn't 100% love Tom and followed through with it because it was considered the norm, and the right thing to do. They treat the lower class poorly simply because they think that they are so much better than them.
ReplyDeleteThe story has its similarities with "The Great Gatsby." If one does not meet the social class requirement, one is rejected. Even if they do have the possibility of having a true love, its possibilities are put to an end at the moment who cannot meet another's social status requirement. The girl being broken up with represents that shallowness of people in the world who are so deeply concerned with material things and social class. For example, Gatsby's shirts make Daisy admire him in awe. But for what? Some shirts! The American society's fascination in material things has been alive for as long as we know it, and few things have changed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Will.I think that the stories has different outcomes in this story but similar to "the great gasby" daisy is 100 percent didn't like tom, because at the end of the movies and book she comes over to tom and starts flirting with him...like she did with Gasby to snoop over there perfection. Gatsby has ambition and i think Gatsby is great guy
ReplyDeletePeople often judge others on their social status and from what background they come from. In "The Great Gatsby", Gatsby lied about his background so that Daisy thought he was worthy of her. Gatsby was ashamed of his background and makes up a fake background to make himself seem of importance. Similarly, the East Egg looks down upon the West Egg because the people that live there have new money, whereas the East Egg has old money. Supposedly, the people of the East Egg are sophisticated. Class is definitely determined by income, education, wealth and occupation, but we as a society need to overlook that and rather focus on character.
ReplyDeleteThis story shos how these ideas about class still exist in America. This is the world that Gatsby wanted to be a part of. He built his life and his "history" so that he could tell people he came from "upper class". Gatsby built his life aroud this illusion. While this false history and personna helped him become rich, it also was a part of his downfall.
ReplyDeleteThe article states that classes not only exist but they are also based off of racial tensions. Not only do these tensions judge who we are b behavior and education but also by the type of people we can affiliate with which is shown by the narrator by her boyfriend breaking up with her due to the difference in area codes. This social pressure exists in the Great Gatsby by Daisy being forced to end things with Gatsby due to the difference in the social class and the standards placed on them.
ReplyDeleteThis shows a real connection between social classes in The Great Gatsby and in real life. Although we would not like to think of our culture as being "classed", we do tend to look at things that way. Just think of our first reaction to people. "he's poor" or "he looks rich".
ReplyDelete