Hollowness of the Upperclass
No matter when or where you have lived, social classes are something that
everyone is categorized in. Some people are wealthier than others, however just
because you have money does not mean that you have everything in the world.
Some people search for money while others strive for meaning. What I have come to
realize in many social circumstances is how hollow those of the higher class really
are.
At the start of “A White Heron,” you meet an Ornithologist who approaches
Sylvia as she is returning back to her grandmother’s farm. Though Sylvia is hesitant
of the young man whom she does not even know, her grandmother ends up seeing
them from a distance out front of her home. The grandmother then welcomes the
young man over and finds out a little bit as to why he was around the area. The
young man informs Sylvia and her grandmother that he is on the hunt for a white
heron which he has been following and wants to kill the creature in order to add it
into his vast collection of stuffed birds.
The next day him and Sylvia go out to find the bird however they have no
luck at all. They then return after dark, however on the morning after Sylvia gets up
early and goes on the hunt for the heron alone. Eventually she gets to the top of a
giant tree, and while she watches the sun rising, she witnesses the heron and finds
its nest. Sylvia has never thought she would experience such a beautiful sight with
this amazing creature. Soon she returns home, and her grandmother and the young
man knew that something was up by the look on her face. He was hoping to hear
that she had found the heron, however Sylvia decides to keep quiet and goes along
with her daily routine. Though Sylvia could have gotten money just by telling the
ornithologist where the bird was, she knew that life isn’t just about the money but
more so about satisfaction. In this case what satisfied her was knowing where the
heron is, and keeping it a secret to her self.
Sort of like the difference of social class in “A White Heron”, there is also a
social class role in “The Great Gatsby.” In “The Great Gatsby” for the most part the
geography of the novel is split up in two, East Egg and West Egg. East Egg basically
represented old money, while West Egg represented the newly rich. By old money, it
merely means that money is old to those people, since they have been born into
