Masculinity in The Great Gatsby Novel

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Masculinity in "The Great Gatsby" Novel
Introduction
Masculinity is the act of being strong, tough and in great possession of power. Masculinity aspect is mainly associated with the male gender, and is mostly depicted by their roles as the head of family, wealth accumulation and their roles at workplace. Men masculinity is mainly measured or defined by their wealth, occupation and work. A man is therefore considered masculine if he can sufficiently get enough money to support himself and the family. However, if he has small income which can barely support his family, then he is considered as less masculine. Masculinity is the act possessing power over and above another being. Masculinity definition is mostly associated with the male gender and is mainly aimed at undermining the female gender. The opposite of masculinity is feminism. However, in my case I wish to define masculinity differently to refer to the eminent accumulation of wealth which has consequently led to the emergence of social classes. Immediately after the World War I, there were a lot of economic changes which immensely saw the increase of the stock market and national wealth as well. The book however seeks to analyze the economic implication to the young generation who participated in the war and who were disillusioned by the brutal carnage and social immorality of the early 20th century. The era involved greedy scramble for wealth and can be observed by the clash between the old and the new money or differently put, the aristocrats and the self-made rich. This paper will therefore seek to analyze the style of masculinity as featured in the novel, "The Great Gatsby" by Fitzgerald.
Tom and Gatsby are however portrayed as masculine since they were able to accumulate a lot of wealth. However, Tom was arrogant and proud because of his wealth masculinity, and this can be seen through the way he treats his mistress Myrtle. The author portrayed Tom as a dangerous and aggressive man who attained whatever he needed in life. He was however known for his careless behaviors like hitting a woman and also ignoring his child. His life revolved around money and he was known to undermine those who lacked money (Fitzgerald 12). He always boasted his ability, and Myrtle also vividly praised him of being the perfect man a woman can get. The way Myrtle praised him enables us to identify his power and manliness, all which were brought by the mas...