The Great Gatsby
Oxford vs. Yale
The
University of Yale is located in Connecticut and is considered one of the most
prominent educational institutions of the United States and the world. As seen
in the novel The Great Gatsby, both Tom Buchanan and Nick Carraway are
graduates of Yale and are doing very well in life. Being a graduate of Yale has
provided much of the accumulated wealth that both of these individuals enjoy.
Nick Carraway, a recent graduate of Yale, works as a bonds salesman on Wall Street;
Tom Buchanan has inherited and accumulated enough wealth that he does not have
to work and spends most of his days sipping lemonade and playing polo.
Oxford University, located in the United Kingdom, is also considered one of the
most prestigious universities world wide. To receive a letter of acceptance from
Oxford University means that a person is one of the top students in the world.
Another way for American students of academic excellence to attend Oxford is through
a Rhodes Scholarship. Many Rhodes Scholars include Bill Bradley and Senator Richard
Lugar. In the The Great Gatsby Jay Gatsby, the newly rich neighbor to
Nick Carraway, was an "Oxford man." In actuality, Gatsby after World War I did
attend Oxford but for only a semester before moving back to the United States.
Jay Gatsby is very proud of his Oxford days and treasures his picture of him and
the future Earl of Doncaster. Gatsby before his WWI experience and brief tenure
at Oxford was a custodian at St. Olaf's College in Minnesota for several weeks.
Oxford and Yale graduates usually have an extra edge in the business world over other graduates from different universities. Graduates from Yale and Oxford are often very competitive with each other to prove that their alma mater is better than the other man's. In The Great Gatsby this conflict between the characters Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby over their college alma maters is present. For example, when Jay and Tom are first introduced to each other and Tom learns Jay is an Oxford man, Tom becomes very defensive and almost confrontational in his speech and tone towards Jay. Tom, a Yale man, is always trying to prove to himself and his friends that he is a better man than the Oxford man, Jay Gatsby. In the closing chapters, Tom becomes infatuated with proving that Jay is not an official Oxford man due to the fact that he did not graduate from Oxford. When Tom confronts Gatsby with this information, Gatsby does not get angry or resent Tom for such pointless digging into his past. In conclusion, by these two men's going to different and very prestigious colleges, there is a natural competitiveness between the two to see who is the better man.
Yale University
Oxford University
Page last up dated on April 27, 1999.
Curator: Steven Massie
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