The Rags-To-Riches Myth

In my American Studies class we've been reading The Great Gatsby, so naturally we've been talking a lot about social status. Throughout the book, a "secret society" is often mentioned that only a select few are a part of. They represent the highest class a person can be and it consists of old-money. That's why Gatsby, as much as he tries, can never become a part of this secret society. He may be able to work hard and obtain as much money as them, but he will remain nouvelle-riche. The biggest difference between the nouvelle-riche and the old-money is that the nouvelle-riche couldn't dream to have the same sort of connections. 

With connections on my mind, I stumbled across a rather fitting post on Humans of New York. Before I get into that, Humans of New York is a blog where a man goes around New York photographing people and asking about their lives. He then posts a picture with a quote from them or a snippet from their conversation together. I come across these posts through Facebook, and now I am going to share one with you. 

I think this man encompasses Gatsby’s struggle of being stuck in the class you start in. In America, we like to believe in the “American Dream” narrative. That classic rags-to-riches story, where all you need is some hard work, perseverance, and a little bit of luck to succeed in life. As convenient as this story may be, I think that this may be an optimistic and naïve mindset. Instead, I think this man represents the American struggle of not being “taken seriously” when you come from a lower social class. We all want to think we can be anything we want to be, but in reality, does it all come down to whom you know instead of what you know?