Examples Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald created a masterpiece with a multitude of themes that are prevalent throughout the entirety of The Great Gatsby. The one that shines brighter than the rest is that money and materialism leads to Corruption. Fitzgerald uses many symbols to connect this major theme with the overall tone and characters of the story. Without money the story wouldn’t have started back when Gatsby met Daisy. Without materialism Gatsby wouldn’t have been able to throw the parties to attract Daisy. This major theme is prevalent throughout every chapter of the book.

In The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby’s clothing symbolizes Gatsby's wealth and desperate desire to live his ideal life. When Gatsby met Daisy for the first time in years, he arrives “... in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie....” (Fitzgerald 89). The colors of “silver” and “gold” of the shirt and tie display Gatsby’s wealth. Gatsby is showing off his wealth in an effort to gain Daisy’s approval, considering Daisy is the main part of his dream, and he does so by parading his wealth. Gatsby expresses his wealth with other clothing pieces as well, he shows Daisy his “shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel” (Fitzgerald 97). It is clear that Gatsby is trying to boast his wealth

Using Daisy and Gatsby as illustrations, he implies that the world of the Roaring Twenties was really corrupt, careless, and harmful and that the American Dream is unreachable and unrealistic. Fitzgerald, through Nick Carraway, depicts the wealthy as having a “quality of distortion…beyond [the] eyes’ power of correction” (176). Fitzgerald expends his full opinion of America’s elite through Nick’s disillusionment with Daisy and Tom Buchanan, calling them “careless people….[smashing] up things and creatures and then [retreating] back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together” (179). Basically, Fitzgerald accuses them of being destructive, selfish, and careless, assuming they have the right to be such things because of their wealth and social status. They’re just as destructive and corrupt as anyone else—if not more so—but they have the option to retreat and “let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald, 179) because of their financial and social status. With Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows the unreality of the American Dream. Gatsby “had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it”—but “it was already behind him” (Fitzgerald, 180). Though Gatsby planned his future around his dream of Daisy, he died still living in the past. Fitzgerald asserts that the same outcome is destined for all who chase the American Dream. Although it seems so close that they can hardly fail to grasp it, the dream eludes them, receding year by year. They convince themselves that tomorrow they’ll “run faster, stretch out [their] arms father…and one fine morning” they’ll finally seize it—but they really never do (Fitzgerald, 180). Fitzgerald says it’s like “boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”

material items and they think money can solve anything. Nick described them as "careless people, Tom, and Daisy, they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” (Fitzgerald 170). Fitzgerald portrayed what money could do to a person, like make them selfish. Daisy knew that she was this kind of person especially when she went to visit Gatsby's house and saw all of his clothes. Fitzgerald represented her love for material things when Daisy said, "They're such beautiful shirts, she sobbed, her muffled in the folds. It makes me sad because I've never seen such beautiful shirts." (Fitzgerald 92). Daisy is crying of the fact that she could have been with Gatsby but she would rather have the security of money and material things than be with him. The shirt is a material symbol of Gatsby's success a new rich man. Fitzgerald set out Daisy to be a sweet innocent girl who is Gatsby's long lost love but she's a girl who is corrupted by the fact that she needs money to be secure.

However, Gatsby is not old money like Daisy, and does not see the difference between him and her. Gatsby’s bigger purchases like his car and his house are both very flashy and ostentatious, which is not the way of old money. Gatsby's car is bright yellow and makes a statement, unlike Tom, Daisy’s husband’s car, which is blue. The fact that Gatsby’s car is yellow also proves that he does not see the difference between old money and new money. Gold and it's display is one of the strongest differences between old money and new money that creates the division of classiness and flashiness. Clearly, Gatsby misinterprets the meaning of the color yellow and equivalates it with gold, which leads him to lie he is old money when in fact he is new money.

The colors gold and yellow are one of the clearest examples of misleading appearances. Gatsby flaunts his “new money” by throwing massive parties hoping to attract Daisy’s attention so she will come back to him. However, Gatsby is not old money like Daisy, and does not see the difference between him and her. Gatsby’s bigger purchases like his car and his house are both very flashy and ostentatious, which is not the way of “old money”. Gatsby's car is bright yellow and makes a statement, unlike Tom, Daisy’s husband’s car, which is blue. The fact that Gatsby’s car is also yellow proves that the does not see the difference between “old money” and “new money”. Gold and it's display is one of the strongest differences between old money and new money that creates the division of classiness and flashiness. Gold is a pure,

The second character representation of money and materialism in the novel The Great Gatsby is shown through Daisy Buchanan. This is not only shown through the quote that began this essay in which she stated that she hoped her daughter will be beautiful fool, but also through the flashback into her wedding day with Tom. “‘I’m glad it’s a girl and I hope she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool’”. This quote represents the theme materialism and money because Daisy recognizes that she is miserable by saying that she hopes that her daughter is a beautiful fool because then she will be too ignorant to see that her life's in ruins (as Daisy’s is) and that all she will see is the money that can give her comfort. This quote also shows that Daisy will not leave Tom even after she

“He took out a pile of shorts and began throwing them, one by one before us, shorts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel which lost their fold as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray. While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher -- shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange with monograms of Indian blue” (Fitzgerald 92). Gatsby is flaunting of his wealth and luxurious materialistic items believing that is the only way to gain Daisy back and make it how it was five years ago. Gatsby starts as a poor farmer boy, but throughout the years he desires to be more and have more. To him, Daisy is someone he loves, but this love is based on materialistic objects and status, causing Gtabsy to focus and base his actions on money and wealth.

" We are living in a material world." This famous line in one of Madonna's songs entitled "Material Girl" will never outgrow itself. Ever since the beginnings of monetary means, the main focus of living is getting more money and to be as successful as possible. This became a huge issue during the 1920's. In this era, people made money from the stock market, illegal bootlegging and so forth. With these people hitting the jackpot, this then created a new rank called `new money'. This rank, however, never overpowered `old money' the most wealthiest, well-known and respected class. The possession of material wealth however, can't bring true happiness. Love is an important factor in this equation; when you don't have love, it is hard to say

Gatsby believes that in order to achieve the past love with Daisy he first must show her that similar to Tom her husband he also has that important social standing. To show this high social class or imitation of the high social class Fitzgerald uses props such as books and clothing. For example in chapter three at the party that Nick attends the owl-eyed man said "See!" he cried triumphantly. "It's a bona-fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella's a regular Belasco. It's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too - didn't cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?" (p.30). The fact that Gatsby has spend money on all of these books that he has not even cut open to read shows that he desires this idea of social power and believes that to come about the American Dream he must first fit in with the upper class or old money. He shows daisy how wealthy he is by throwing his shirts all around the room. He does this in chapter four. This shows how much he longs for her approval. After Gatsby shows Daisy the shirts she starts to weep at their beauty, this shows how much social statues can effect someone.

Gatsby’s love for Daisy propels his materialism, which leads to his ultimate downfall. Gatsby uses his words and specious actions to prove to Daisy that he is rich so she will love him by giving Daisy a tour of his house. Exploring Gatsby’s house is when Gatsby is careful to point out to Daisy his lavish possessions that are present in his many extravagant rooms: “We went upstairs, through period bedrooms swathed in rose and lavender silk and vivid with new flowers, through dressing-rooms and poolrooms, and bathrooms, with sunken baths” (91). After strolling through Gatsby’s house, Gatsby takes Daisy up to his closet and begins to boast about his expensive clothes so that Daisy realizes that Gatsby is rich, and, “He took out a pile of shirts, and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray” (92). Daisy’s desire and obsession with materialistic things is also evident because after she sees all of these shirts, she begins crying because of

Fitzgerald places much emphasis on the longing Jay Gatsby, who symbolizes one of the main characteristics of the American dream: everlasting hope. Gatsby's desire to win Daisy's love is his version of the old American dream: an incredible goal and a constant search for the opportunity to reach this goal. This is shown when Gatsby is first introduced into the novel. It is late at night and we find him "with his hands in his pockets… out to determine what share was his of our local heavens." While Nick continues to watch Gatsby's movements he says: "he [Gatsby] stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock" (21-22). The green light that Gatsby reaches out for symbolizes his longing; his longing for Daisy, for money, for acceptance and no matter how much he has, he never feels complete. This green light is part of the American Dream. It symbolizes our constant searching for a way to reach that goal just of in the distance, as Nick described it, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year

The Great Gatsby does not offer a definition of love, or a contrast between love and romance. Rather it suggests that what people believe to be love is normally only a dream. America in the 1920s was a country where moral values were slowly crumbling and Americans soon only had one dream and objective to achieve, success. Distorted love is one theme in the novel The Great Gatsby, present among all of the characters relationships; Daisy and Tom, Tom and Myrtle, Daisy and Gatsby, and Wilson and Myrtle, though Myrtle does not return the love. This distortion illustrates that it is not love that leads several characters to death, but lust and the materialistic possessions that really drive the characters to their lonely

Scott Fitzgerald’s use of characterization and symbolism in The Great Gatsby denounces the superficial nature of the Roaring 20s and by doing so demonstrates the threat of materialism. First, through Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s wealth and lack of hard work to achieve their status exposes their lack of purpose. As a result, they attempt to occupy their boredom through their lavish lifestyle, but instead creates problems that they are immune to and exhibits their power-hungry personalities. Thus, good hearted people such as Gatsby is forced into becoming a materialistic man in order to achieve his American Dream of acquiring Daisy. Nonetheless, Gatsby’s disregard and sacrifice towards his identity and moral values only creates a fake representation of himself. In this manner, the use of the color yellow to decorate one’s self only represents that they are not the real deal and that they will never attain the gold, which symbolizes real wealth and prosperity. This sets a boundary between the old rich, the new money, and the lower class who will never be able to integrate within the gold-standard club. In this way, Fitzgerald denounces that on the surface the Roaring 20s is a synonym to prosperity, however beneath this cover, the American Dream has lost its values due to people’s lack of integrity, dignity, and

     America has been labeled "The land of opportunity," a place where it is possible to accomplish anything and everything. This state of mind is known as "The American Dream." The American Dream provides a sense of hope and faith that looks forward to the fulfillment of human wishes and desires. This dream, however, originates from a desire for spiritual and material improvement. Unfortunately, the acquisition of material has been tied together with happiness in America. Although "The American Dream" can be thought of as a positive motivation, it often causes people to strive for material perfection, rather than a spiritual one. This has