Cars

Cars are among the most prevalent commodities in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and are used throughout the book as symbols for wealth and class. A Marxist lens examines the role of commodity fetishism and conspicuous consumption in turning these cars into symbols, and how cars demonstrate that class divisions still exist despite the American Dream theoretically allowing anyone to make money and so change their class.

Cars are, in essence, tools for transporting people from one place to another. In Fitzgerald’s novel, however, they are greatly fetishized. Gatsby’s car is covered in “triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes” (Fitzgerald, 64) and has a “labyrinth of wind-shields that [mirror] a dozen suns” (Fitzgerald, 64). These extra accessories are not necessary for the car to function – they instead serve to demonstrate Gatsby’s wealth. In this way, the cars in the novel become symbols of one’s wealth and class, and Gatsby’s car, sumptuous in comparison to Nick’s “old Dodge” (Fitzgerald, 3), demonstrates his strong financial position.

Gatsby's opulent car

Since cars have become fetishized into symbols of station, the acquisition of cars also becomes less about needing to use the commodity than about demonstrating wealth. Thus the cars are examples of conspicuous consumption – the purchase of commodities in order to impress others. This is shown when Gatsby boasts about his car to Nick, saying “it’s pretty, isn’t it, old sport?” (Fitzgerald, 64).

Tom's elegant coupé

In The Great Gatsby, cars also represent differences in social status. Gatsby’s car, despite its lavishness, is also described as “swollen” and “monstrous” (Fitzgerald, 64). Tom even qualifies it to be a “circus wagon” (Fitzgerald, 121). Gatsby’s car lacks the elegance of Tom’s coupé, and this shows that, despite their similar economic status, the nouveau riche (proletarians who made money) and the old money (those who were born into wealth) still have a social divide. This divide is seen most clearly when Gatsby accepts Mrs. Sloane’s invitation to dinner, not realizing that the Sloanes, and especially Mr. Sloane, don’t really want him there. As a self-made rich, Gatsby lacks the social graces of the old money and so does not respond appropriately to social cues. From a Marxist point of view, this shows that there still exist class differences between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, despite the American Dream allowing anyone to achieve wealth.

In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, commodity fetishism and conspicuous consumption transform cars into symbols of status, and the differences between the cars of the wealthy serve to indicate the existence of a social divide between the nouveau riche, like Gatsby, and the old money, like Tom.