Money In The Great Gatsby

Rick Pitino once said, “I’d learned how much happiness money can bring you, very little.” Just as Fitzgerald tried to stress throughout his novel, money will never make a person fully content in life. Francis Scott Fitzgerald, better known as F. Scott Fitzgerald, was one of the great authors of 20th Century America. He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 24, 1896. Finding success from a young age, he wrote The Great Gatsby at the ripe age of 29. As seen in the book, Gatsby constantly lavished himself with finer material things, trying to fill the void Daisy had left him with. On the other hand, although Daisy had everything and anything money could buy, she was lifeless. Almost every character at some period throughout the book, tried to replace joy with wealth. Money and happiness do not correlate, although one may try to buy their happiness with material things, it is simply not possible.

The desire for social pleasure was rampant in the roaring twenties and in The Great Gatsby. On the surface, Gatsby’s dream appears very materialistic. We’ve just talked about his fancy parties and his flash car. But if Gatsby’s dream was truly material, would he chase after Daisy? If his aim was purely material, he wouldn’t have been such a desperate romantic figure. We’re selling him a bit short here by accusing him of just wanting money. He is unsatisfied with his wealth, and pursues something greater – ‘true love’. Gatsby’s idea of ‘success’ was Daisy. Granted, you and I will agree that Gatsby could have done so much better. In fact, what does Daisy represent? Daisy has a symbolic name, and the way she gleams “in the sunlight” (pg 160) is merely a white façade covering her superficiality. The truth is, she and Tom are “careless people”, they “smash up things…and retreat into their money and carelessness…let other people clean up the mess they’d made” (pg 191). You may think Gatsby’s corrupt. However, clearly Daisy and Tom are the corrupt ones; they think they can do anything and everything, with the social influence and wealth they gained at birth. Daisy exploited Gatsby, his naive desire of “the golden girl” (pg 128), the ‘girl of his dreams’ – or so he believed. Fitzgerald also wanted a girl out of his league; Ginevra (Erbentraut, 2013). Very much like Daisy, Ginevra couldn’t be with Fitzgerald because of she was rich and cool and he

Although the well off and privileged seemed to live glamorous lifestyles, they often would end up in unloving marriages with cheating only in terms of preserving their wealth and status. Nonetheless, those that pursued the American Dream were also led to be disappointed as they soon realized their affluence did nothing to bring them any true happiness and they hid their misery behind their unfolding facades. Furthermore, many came to Gatsby’s parties only to partake in the festivities and drink free liquor, most of them having no clue who Gatsby was other than the rumors they all spread about him. As a result, when Gatsby finally passed only two out of the hundreds of guests that came to his house for his celebrations, Nick and Owl Eyes, attended his funeral. Even Daisy, the one he cared about most didn't bother to show up. Nick, being one of Gatsby’s only friends was infuriated, calling Daisy and Tom, “…Careless people…[that] smashed up things and creatures and then retreated into their money of their vast carelessness”, because he knew that Gatsby took the blame for Daisy’s car accident which in turn got him murdered and she didn't even have the audacity to mourn his

“It is good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good too, to check up once in a while and make sure you haven't lost the things money can't buy” a quote by George Horace Lorimer. This quote is trying to say that money can get you the material things like clothes, a car, and a house. They are good things because they are things that you want and maybe need to survive. However, you also need to make sure you still have the things that you cannot buy with money such as love and happiness. Fitzgerald is trying to say that money cannot buy you everything that you want and he shows this in the novel The Great Gatsby. He shows this by saying money can get you material things, but cannot get you immaterial things. He also states that money cannot make you happy all the time. The last thing he states is just because you have a lot of money does not mean people are going to like you.

Throughout the novel, money ends up being the root of all of Gatsby’s problems. In chapter seven when Gatsby is speaking to Tom, he says, “She never loved you, do you hear? She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved any one except me!” (Fitzgerald 130). Money is the ultimate reason that Gatsby did not end up with the woman he loved. If he would have had money when he was younger, Daisy would have been with him instead of Tom. Daisy was tired of waiting around; she was looking for security, which was something that Tom was able to provide her. In addition to losing love due to money, Gatsby lost many friends for many of the same reasons. The reader is able to get an image of what many of Gatsby’s “friends” are like after his death. In a phone conversation with Nick, Klipspringer shows the audience his true colors: “What I called up about was a pair of shoes I left there. I wonder if it’d be too much trouble to have the butler send them on” (Fitzgerald 169). Klipspringer, like many of Gatsby’s other friends, did not actually care about who Gatsby was as a person. They merely wanted to be acquainted with him because he had a lot of money. When he dies, this is exposed because none of Gatsby’s “friends” even show up to his funeral. Having money has the ability to

How would people change when they have lots of money? Some people might live the same as before, but lots of them would start a different life. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald reflects the reality of owning great fortune in 1920s by forming characters like Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom. Each of them displays a certain characteristic that a rich people might obtain. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald expresses the idea that fortune robs people’s conscience by presenting Daisy’s marriage, the transition from Gatz to Gatsby, and Daisy and Tom’s carelessness.

In life everyone strives to get rich, but is having an abundance of money always good? Sometimes people use Money for personal benefits, sometimes it's for the benefit of others but at times people with money use it to create their social status. In The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald the idea of wealth is seen throughout. Jay Gatsby who lives next door to Nick Carraway; the Narrator of the story, wants to be with his dream girl Daisy. Gatsby is wealthy and throws parties to impress Daisy, Daisy however is married to another man Tom Buchanan. Throughout the story the people with money use it to create their social status. In The Great Gatsby F.Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism to convey, wealth causes people to assert themselves over others.

Is money everything, does happiness revolve around money? The harder and more difficult a job the more money you get, does money make you happy, do you need money to be happy. If you are in need of money, the more difficult and moral hurting the job the more money you will get from the job, Money doesn't buy happiness. When looking for a job people tend to look for the higher paying jobs these jobs are usually difficult, hard, moral killing jobs to get more money.

Desiring the Unobtainable “No one ought even to desert a woman after throwing her a heap of gold in her distress! He ought to love her forever! You are young, only twenty-one, and kind and upright and fine. You'll ask me how a woman can take money from a man. Oh, God, isn't it natural to share everything with the one we owe all our happiness to?

"Her voice is full of money," he said suddenly. "That was it. I'd never understood before. It was full of money – that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it… high in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl…" (Fitzgerald 99). Money's is such a big influence in the novel that you can tell even by Daisy's voice that she grew up with money. If you grow up with money, it is apparent in the way you act. This is how people are able to distinguish Gatsby from the others. The others have the money and the knowledge while Gatsby only has the money. Gatsby still isn't on the same social level as Daisy. Peter L. Hays says, "There is, of course, a social gap between him and Daisy." Daisy is still above Gatsby despite Gatsby's new wealth. Because of this gap, Daisy would never choose Gatsby over Tom. The American dream is unattainable in the novel because even though Gatsby has the wealth, he is still ridiculed and it isn't

The 1920s are often portrayed as a fantastic time to be alive, and with the rich upper class, money appeared to be spilling out of their ears. In this era, the main goals that were to be achieved were monetary glory, and rising in social status. After a rough wartime, those coming back were ready to strike with their big business ventures, and nothing would get in their way. In fact, for most of those who were aspiring to such big things, crossing the line into illegal practices was not even a reason to hesitate. As soon as people realized that an abundance of money could be made in such ‘easy’ ways, they became unstoppable.

What would you do with a hundred dollars? Would you invest it to earn more money? Would you spend it on things you “need”? F. Scott Fitzgerald incorporated money and materialistic items in his novel The Great Gatsby. Two main characters in the plot, Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby, are fairly wealthy, but they were forced to make something of themselves since they didn’t grow up wealthy.

When reading The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby shows how on the outside a person could have everything in the world and be rich, but on the inside they have nothing. Throughout the book, The Great Gatsby different levels of wealth are portrayed in all characters, whether it be through parties, fancy cars, or clothes. For example Gatsby has spent most of his life designing his well known money empire that he has greatly relied on. This affects him in the future when he meets his long lost love Daisy.

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

Being famous and having money is every kid’s dream. Throwing money around like it grows there is an endless amount is everyone's dream. As many may be the solution to numerous issues, it does not solve the problems of the heart. Since many people do not understand this concept, it is the worst pain, the aching of the heart. This lesson is what Jay Gatsby should learn, how his whole life he thought he could win over a girl with all his money and expensive shirts. In The Great Gatsby by Scott F. Fitzgerald, diction displays how money cannot buy happiness and is not the solution of the heart.