Time and Place

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

"The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be - will be utterly submerged" (Fitzgerald, 13).

To me, this quote reveals a great amount about American society during the 1920s. So many people at the time were strong racists, and their views affected their everyday lives. Tom Buchanan felt a strong sense of superiority over non-white races, but I also feel like this sense of superiority carried over into his relationships with other Caucasians. For example, Tom seems to look down upon Nick Carraway. This might be the result of a difference in wealth, but nevertheless, looking down on others is something that Tom seems to do quite a bit. Tom insists that whites produced all aspects of civilization. 

Louis Armstrong

As we know, this is far from true. American culture resulted from a melting pot of other cultures. Without the help of other races, the US would not have developed into the diverse and flourishing nation that it was in the 1920s. For example, jazz developed during the 1920s, and some of the most well known musicians, like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, were African Americans. Tom, like many other whites at the time, discriminated against African Americans even though he probably enjoyed the music that they created. I think a lesson we can all take away from this is that every person, no matter their race, contributes an essential piece of culture to civilization.