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there's been one too many "classic books suck" threads by weird yuppie checkmarks lately and I believe literature has its context and all sorts of complicated things, but here's my specific hat in the ring as an English teacher
the underlying message of the great gatsby is that excess capitalism leads to ignorant world views such as racism and classism to the detriment to the colored lower class and shows how laws are only really laws to those who can't afford the consequences.
in chapter 1 tom reveals he's a horrible racist and while this bothers nick, he has the privilege of not having to directly deal with it because of his privilege.
literature isn't just stories and if they suck or not it's fucking LESSONS and CONTEXT and I seriously wish people had better media literacy. I can only hope that I'm drilling this shit into my students' heads because sometimes that's just necessary.
