Materialism And Illusions In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby focuses on the corruption of the American dream during the 1920‘s. For the duration of this time period, the American dream was no longer about hard work and reaching a set goal, it had become materialistic and immoral. Many people that had honest and incorruptible dreams, such as Jay Gatsby, used corrupted pathways to realize their fantasy. People’s carelessness was shown through their actions and speech towards others. Fitzgerald uses characterization and symbolism from different characters and items to convey the corruption of the American dream.

The world is full of powerful forces that control people from all corners of the globe, but one of the most powerful and far-reaching force is money. Money is something that controls multiple people's lives and their decisions, sometimes people revolve their lives around money. Just like in the real world, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, money is a large concept in the book and is a motivator for multiple characters. The Great Gatsby is about Nick as he follows the story of Jay Gatsby and his quest to gain money and uses theses riches to win over his past lover, Daisy. Gatsby is not the only character that uses money to get his way or is materialistic, as multiple

“Money Changes Everything” by Cyndi Lauper illustrates the way people center their desires on material things such as money. The speaker in the song leaves the poor man, solely because he does not have money, for the affluent one: “I’m leaving you tonight…There was one thing we weren’t really thinking of and that’s money” (Lauper 1, 6-7). Like Cyndi Lauper, F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates the way people often center their desires on material things such as money in The Great Gatsby. Daisy falls in love with Gatsby, who is a poor man at the time, and when Gatsby leaves for the war, Daisy marries Tom Buchanan, who is a rich man, because he is “old money,” meaning he will always have the money and status to support Daisy. When Gatsby returns

“‘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 is a very vivid quote written by F. Scott Fitzgerald that helps identify one of the many themes in his book The Great Gatsby. This specific quote speaks of the topic I will be addressing which is money and materialism. This theme takes shape and form in many different ways and through different people throughout the book, and is shown through Fitzgerald’s characters Myrtle, Daisy, and Tom.

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

Everyday people create false realities to live in a world that they want. They lie to themselves and others only to find in the end that they are drowning in the reality of a situation. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, “The Great Gatsby,” the concept of illusion versus reality is a leading cause of the failures and issues that most of the characters face. Their emotions and mentalities ran high in the book leading them into a whirlwind of illusion rather than reality. Their inability to grasp what was not real and what was is ultimately the reason for their downfalls.

Fitzgerald is a distinguished writer in American literary world. Being a spokesperson for the United States in the 1920 s and a member of the lost generation, Fitzgerald outlined "the greatest vain scene and the extravagance" in his book, and at the same time, he clearly saw the era of "all gods all dead, all wars has been finished, all people’s beliefs shaking “. In other words, that was during the special period—the end of the first world war, the unprecedented prosperity of American economy and people's great inanity after the loss of traditional values.

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.

When an author writes a novel he keeps many things in mind. The author will precisely uses word choice, syntax, imagery, and many other literary devices to craft their own piece of art. From F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby a selected passage can reveal all the feature to his piece of art. From this passage things such as syntax and imagery will be discussed. Fitzgerald crafts his ideas through these literary features for the reader.

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.

A few symbolisms in novels are as memorable as the green light in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Shining at the end of Daisy’s dock, it is close enough to be seen, but too far away to be reached. Still, Gatsby, an eternal optimist, stares at it at night, as if it showed him that all his far-away dreams were about to come true. The green light in The Great Gatsby is symbolic of hope, a source of inspiration, and a representation of the American Dream to Gatsby and to the novel’s readers.

F. Scott Fitzgerald uses imagery and symbolism to represent bigger ideas in his stories. For his novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald was able to do something most authors aren’t. He was able to approve of the cover of his book. The cover selected was a painting of a nightly city, being watched over by celestial eyes. The eyes stand out in juxtaposition of the rest of the dark blue sky due to their sickly yellow color as a teal tear travels down from the left. However, a closer look at the eyes in the cover show that they irises are blue, and inside the eyes are two women. The surreal art piece has as much symbolism in it as the pages it protects, especially the eyes in which the painting is named for. The women within the eyes on the cover

" 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

     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

As Bertrand Russell once said, “It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly.” Indeed, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, set during the Roaring 20s, displays the materialism of the characters through their concern to obtain more belongings. The Roaring 20s is considered as one of America’s most prosperous eras, however, Fitzgerald denounces the loss of moral values, the loss of identity, and the deception about achieving a person’s American Dream in addition to the hierarchy ruled by the rich. Thus, in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses characterization and symbols to explore the superficial nature of the Roaring 20’s and in doing so exposes the dangers