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Role Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

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Jay Gatsby is a man with many dynamic qualities that are illustrated through his close ties to his past desires. Within the masterfully crafted Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the past to play a major role in Gatsby’s disillusionment. While the book only highlights a sliver of Gatsby’s life, Fitzgerald’s stunning writing allows the reader to recognize the crucial relationship between the protagonist and his past through his pining for Daisy, materialistic values and his desire to achieve the American dream. Gatsby’s infatuation with Daisy Buchanan is greatly altered by past events, as seen repeatedly throughout the novel. Fitzgerald uses a scene five years previous to the story to illustrate the beginnings of Gatsby’s obsession. As …show more content…

However, Gatsby’s desire for success and to lead a prosperous life can be seen as early as his childhood with his “schedule” for success written on the back of his book. One of Gatsby’s more positive qualities, as Fitzgerald subtly includes, is his drive and passion, and the past serves as a backbone for what he wishes to achieve. While such ambition can be a positive trait, Gatsby’s crass materialism reflects poorly on his character. The fact that he purchased a grand house just to live near Daisy and that he no doubt spent millions of dollars in attempt to see her at one of his parties makes Gatsby seem shallow and extremely naive. Fitzgerald includes his nice shirts and large parties to emphasize his lust for wealth and success, desires that can be traced back to the success he saw in Dan Cody, the future he saw in Daisy and the potential he saw in himself. Fitzgerald most clearly uses this obsession with money and material to serve as an aspect of social satire seen in the book with the “Jazz Age” and the morals and obsessions that came with it. However, Fitzgerald also uses this to further characterize Gatsby as a man infatuated with his past - his ulterior motive, the meaning behind his mad materialism is Daisy, an emblem of his

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