Exploring Identity and Ethnicity in The Great Gatsby: A Reflection of 1920s Societal Dynamics

Authors

  • Abdalaziz Jomah Alfawearh

    Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of English Language and Translation, Amman Arab University, Amman 11953, Jordan
  • Ahmad Mohd Alkouri

    Faculty of Art, Department of English Language and Literature, Ajloun National University, Ajloun 26810, Jordan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i2.8161
Received: 2 December 2024 | Revised: 20 January 2025 | Accepted: 23 January 2025 | Published Online: 19 February 2025

Abstract

This paper explores the notion of identity and its manifestations in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, focusing on social context, ethnicity, and racism as main components for identity formation in American society in the 1900s. To support this observation, a focus is made on identity formation, ethnicity, and social acceptance in an elite, racially categorized society that the characters have experienced. The portrayal of American identity within its complexity indicates to several hidden manifestations of societal, cultural and ethnic complexities. This paper employs analytical, inductive, and deductive approaches to compose the analysis. The analysis critiques characters' physical characteristics and prejudiced attitudes, feeding a culture of racism, social belonging, and prejudicial morality. Identity in The Great Gatsby interacts environmentally, demonstrating how identification sets social roles regarding stratification, ethnicity, and acceptance. The analysis examines how forces generate identity prejudice through discriminatory practices and how the characters respond to those forces by emphasizing their cultural and social context. Ethnic and racial prejudices are deeply embedded in the narrative, reflecting biases of American identity in the 1920s. Also, the analysis reveals how fragmented American identity when American Dream conquered the entire critiques about the novel. Finally, this study concludes with valuable insights into identity's complexity, emphasizing moral, social, ethnic, and racial factors shaping American identity in Fitzgerald's work.

Keywords:

The Great Gatsby; Identity; Ethnicity; Cultural Prejudices; Social Hierarchy; Racism

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How to Cite

Alfawearh, A. J., & Alkouri , A. M. (2025). Exploring Identity and Ethnicity in The Great Gatsby: A Reflection of 1920s Societal Dynamics. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(2), 717–726. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i2.8161

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 2 (February 2025): In Progress

Article Type

Article

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Copyright © 2025 Abdalaziz Jomah Alfawearh, Ahmad Mohd Alkouri

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.