Great Gatsby Selfish

In this day and age, money is such an important asset to have. One needs money to take care of them self and live on this earth. In the Great Gatsby, by Thomas F. Fitzgerald, having a large sum of money just isn’t enough. In this novel, money symbolizes a social evil and it corrupts people with wealth and ultimately destroys their life. Desire is an unavoidable instinct of human nature. This instinctive behavior will continue whether or not the person fulfills their initial desire. Our desires are proportionate to the possessions we own and accumulate over time. In the Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby follows his dreams of becoming wealthy and succeeds. He is able to buy anything money can buy. His desire of Daisy causes him to spend tremendous

The wealthy class was growing rapidly and in many characters in The Great Gatsby were a part of this boom. In the novel, many characters are wealthy because in the 1920s many people in America were wealthy. Daisy and Tom inherited their wealth from wealthy families. Nick also came from a wealthy family although he tried to make his own wealth in New York City by selling bonds. Gatsby got his big break when he invested his money and took advantage of prohibition by selling illegal alcohol. The roaring twenties carried everyone to wealth and prosperity with its increasing stock prices. Although this time period seemed exciting, money can’t buy

Throughout The Great Gatsby it is very easy to recognize how the time period affected the author 's point of view, one of the motifs that is affected by the time period is materialism. During the 1920’s the view of money shifted from a common commodity to a necessity that is only available to the gifted, or to criminals. A race for money caused people to move to cities, spend more time at their jobs, and overall become less human ("The Roaring Twenties"). A materialist society quickly ensued, which F. Scott Fitzgerald points to in The Great Gatsby. “My house looks well, doesn’t it?” (89). Gatsby seeks the approval of Tom and Daisy for his over-emasculate house. He is actively attempting to buy his way into a social class and a way of life. Gatsby believes that money can buy him love in the form of Daisy, the same way that 1920’s city-workers believed that money could buy them happiness. George Wilson believes money can

New money was looked down upon by people who had old money and is shown through that description of these two places. The first person that Nick describes is Tom Buchanan, “Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward” (7).He also describes Gatsby a little while later when he is coming over to Nick’s because his long lost love (Daisy), who is Tom’s wife, is coming over for tea. “Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in. He was pale, and there were dark signs of sleeplessness beneath his eyes” (84). Nick’s description of Tom automatically makes the reader feel like they don’t like him. He’s arrogant and by his description doesn’t seem very nice. This is the difference between the new rich and the old rich. Tom doesn’t show it off in clothing or material things but more in his attitude, he thinks he’s better than everyone and dominant. Gatsby, on the other hand, doesn’t have that kind of attitude. Rather he wears things to show off his wealth. He is wearing gold and silver to display that he is wealthy. The author uses imagery to help the reader understand the two worlds Nick is dealing with.

Music, liquor, and gold, everything you need to make a great party. And, that’s what it was, the roaring twenties, it was a never ending party of financial gain and materialism. However, there were some who viewed it to be a gilded age. They were the Lost Generation, Fitzgerald among them. After the Great War they viewed society as rotten from the inside, gilded gold while systematic problems broiled underneath. This social breakdown masked by wealth and success is nowhere better seen than in Fitzgerald’s greatest work, The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby, if anything, is excellent at exemplifying many moral shortfalls, anywhere from adultery and deceit to bootlegging and murder. The most natural and the most vile of human actions coupled with flawed and disillusioned characters constructs a perfect stage for society to crumble. Gradually, Fitzgerald takes us on a depressing journey while we watch the breakdown of modern, civil institutions.

Money, just like anything else, can be new and old. Some people in our country have been wealthy for centuries, and the wealth of their bloodline can go extremely far back in time. However, the attitude of people who have what is considered “Old Money” in contrast to the people who have “New Money” can be quite different. This is shown in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In TGG Tom and Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker all reside in East Egg, New York and are considered “Old Money” while Jay Gatsby who lives in West Egg, New York is considered “New Money”. The people who are depicted as “new money” are materialistic and egotistical; while people who are labeled “old money” are

He shows this by stating, “…it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor’s lawn… all for eighty dollars a month” (Fitzgerald, 5). Fitzgerald is saying that Nick has a house that is good enough for him and only him. He has a nice view and he does not have to pay a lot that all these other millionaires have to pay. So just because you do not have a lot of money does not mean you are happy with the life you have. Not everyone has to be wealthy to live a life they are happy with. It also shows with Gatsby using his wealth to make Daisy happy. Before he was not wealthy when he first met Daisy, but then he tries to become wealthy to get Daisy back and make her happy, instead of doing things for himself. Even though Daisy did not want him, he still tried caring for her and trying to look out for her. If you know someone does not want to be with you, it does not make you

There are many themes in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby in which many people can relate to today. Fitzgerald demonstrates a lot of themes that have to humanity and its many flaws. One of the major themes in Fitzgerald’s book is the theme of selfishness and its negative effects on the characters and the people around them. According to the Oxford Dictionary, selfishness is “lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one’s own personal profit or pleasure.” In more simple terms, it is when a person puts his or her own needs in before others. There are many characters in this book that depict this characteristic through the story.

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.

In the Great Gatsby Characters are classified as either Old money or New money. People Known as Old money have had wealthy in their families a long time. Those known as New money have recently become wealthy.Both are in the same class of wealth but spend their money differently. In the novel The Great Gatsby the author F.Scot Fitzgerald uses the theme of wealth to potray the way different social classes behave.

Fitzgerald does a wonderful job of creating various characters with diverse morals and beliefs. One characteristic that seems to be in every soul in that book is want. All of the characters have let money and other inanimate objects control the life they live. In a quote by Gatsby he talks about how everything about Daisy makes her seems rich, even down to her voice. "She's got an indiscreet voice," I remarked. "It's full of——" I hesitated. "Her voice is full of money," he said suddenly” (Fitzgerald 129). This quote shows that characters in this book have already been corrupted by money. They are so

Everybody strives to earn it, those little green things in your wallet. Green is associated with good and happiness; above all, things of desire. Nevertheless, it doesn’t truly make you happy with your life and most importantly, yourself. In the fictitious novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the characters who have money at their disposal are constantly looking for something else to fulfill their longing to have a meaningful life. Despite it’s problem-solving reputation, money isn’t what it’s chalked up to be, the characters with excessive money aren’t sincerely happy with their lives. Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, and Jordan Baker and never satisfied with their m0ney. Fitzgerald’s characters never seem to connect their feeling of never being satisfied with their infinitesimal amount of happiness.

Jay Gatsby is completely incapable of loving another person, no matter how much he may want to. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main character, Jay Gatsby is portrayed as an exceedingly wealthy individual who is willing to give it all away in return for Daisy Buchanan’s eternal love. Although at some point before being sent to war, Gatsby truly did love Daisy, upon returning home he simply loved the idea of her. All of his wealth is a disguise he puts over himself to hide his poverty-stricken childhood. Jay Gatsby doesn’t love Daisy, instead he is in love with her as an object because he is extremely selfish and is unable to compromise and settle down to a modest life.

Jay Gatsby is an imperfect, flawed man who entangles himself in criminal activity and materialistic ideals; however, his devotion to his American Dream and to the success of the future makes him a great man.

Jay Gatsby, formally known as James Gatz was a poor man that rose up to become rich in search of his love for Daisy. Daisy was the reason he he drove to become rich. Although Jay became rich by becoming a bootlegger in prohibition, he did it with Daisy in mind. When “James Gatz” was drafted for the war, he was ripped apart from Daisy, and she promised to wait for his until after the war. In approximately 1918, James went to Oxford University for a short period before traveling back to the states to find Daisy married to Tom Jay was an incredible person, he voluntarily took Nick under his wing and treated him with respect and trusted him. Jay lived a very lonely end of his life in a big home, alone, waiting for Daisy to wander into one of his