Final Project Debrief

For my final project I chose consumerism as my 21st Century Great Gatsby since hunger for consumerism has been a continuity in American society since the 1920s. My project included a collage of 21st century consumer goods that are relatable to college students. The background of the collage is a hypnotic spiral because people feel compelled to buy consumer goods that they don’t need. For instance, in The Great Gatsby characters in the novel are drawn to Gatsby because of his modern and luxurious consumer goods such as his mansion, Rolls Royce, and decadent suits.  Gatsby did not buy these items because of practicality, he bought these items in order to impress people (especially Daisy) by signifying his status of wealth.  Owning luxury items signifies to others the status of wealth.  Typical upper-middle class people in West and East Egg allow money and high end brands to influence them, so they can be more like and fit in with the wealthy elite (like Gatsby).  This still remains true today.  People like shopping from high end brands such as Lululemon, Aritzia, Louis Vuitton, Golden Goose, Apple, and even Tesla.  People who have the privilege to be able to afford to buy from many high end brands not only choose to show off their status of wealth, but to also show off their personal identity.  People in the consumer driven world of the 1920s and the people of the consumer driven world of the 2020s both associate their status of wealth with their identity.  Wealthy people take pride in their wealth.  People love wearing luxury brands not only because the quality is higher, but also just because it is a luxury brand.  Wanting to fit in with the wealthy elite is a theme found in The Great Gatsby as well as a continuity in American society.

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