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Examples Of Greed In The Great Gatsby

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Money has a powerful ability: to spark an eager obsession in many people. Money is seen to most as a way to advance oneself, not only in the confidence that they hold within but to gain a higher standing in the society around them. For some, the need for money is something they can live this way forever, but for many their greediness only ends with total destruction. The portrayed characters of Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald are no exception to this greed and need for power in society and money. James Gatz was a simple and plain young man. He was, just as his names sounds, poor and ordinary. His goal in life was to become opposite of what he is perceived to me.. He knew that he was above his plain and simple life, “so he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end” (98). He invented a man that people would respect, a man that people would see as wealthy and a man that could do and become anything. …show more content…

With power obtained by money, a reputation means everything to the beholder. And to lose this power could be detrimental. This reputation holds certain standards that one shall be raised to. Tom Buchanan, a man with pockets filled with old money has become accustomed to these requirements and to marry a women below his social class does not agree with his morals. “...See,...It’s really his wife that’s keeping them apart. She’s Catholic, and they don’t believe in divorce (33);” an excuse used for Tom to justify his affair and keep his power in society. His wife and his mistress are both mistreated by him, from bruised fingers to broken noses. He sees these women as powerless, and to many women “... the best thing a girl can be in this world, [is] a beautiful little fool” trying to avoid the conflicts and hardships associated with society

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