The Great Gatsby : Wealth And Happiness

The source of true happiness will never be money. Jay Gatsby worked tirelessly for years, just to attain the wealth he believed would complete his life. He became a huge success, and was even thought to be superior to others. Sadly, this turned out to be all in vain, because it did nothing but cause the desire in him to grow. “His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was…” (Fitzgerald, 110). This goes to show that ever since Daisy had left, he was

Something that everyone strives for in life is to be happy. People strive to achieve this state of being and everyone has a different way of finding it. In The Great Gatsby the rich appear to believe that filling their lives with materialistic treasures is the only way to attain true happiness. The rich continue to live their lives and hope to fill the void inside of them with wealth. Nick realizes as he spends more time with the upper class that you can’t buy happiness because of the upper class’ lack of ambition, Gatsby’s lack of happiness from winning over Daisy, and the superficiality of the upper class.

The Great Gatsby is a book that almost proves the phrase “Money can’t buy happiness”

Furthermore, Wealth can make someone feel determined. Gatsby was determined to get Daisy, and the only way to get Daisy was to become wealthy. To represent Gatsby’s interception of becoming wealthy, this quote symbolizes his determination and beginning to a happier life; “To Young Gatz, resting on his oars and looking up at the railed deck, that yacht represented all the beauty and glamour in the world” (100). This quote accurately describes Gatsby’s desires for wealth and his material items. The yacht, which belonged to Dan Cody, was the embodiment of wealth and fortune Gatsby was not familiar with. He lived a low life of poverty, and this was his goal that he wanted to reach. Dan took Gatsby with him and adopted him in a way, which gave Gatsby his start to fortune. Once Gatsby gained all of his fortune, he practically had all of the beauty and glamour in the world. Nevertheless, it always comes back to his lack of true beauty and love. He could never regain Daisy, his true love, and the beauty that he could never purchase.

What makes people happy in most countries is when they gain more wealth. These values are still true today and as true in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, which is held in the 1920’s. Most Americans think that wealth and happiness are synonymous with each other. This belief will continue to fuel an economy and marketplace that persuades consumers into buying products that will provide them “happiness”. Wealth and human happiness have reached an equilibrium in the view of an enormously capitalistic society, contrary to the beliefs of social progressives who believe happiness comes from the heart. Gatsby’s generation of the 20's were the age of a market that was primarily fueled off of the neediness of the average consumer. The same values are present today because our need for flashy products stem from the free market economy in this country. Consumers believe that they need all the things that businesses are attempting to sell to them.

Throughout the modern era, society’s views on money’s effect on a person’s emotions have drastically changed. Many people believed that the more money a person has, the more satisfied he or she will be. However, due to recent conclusions made by writers and case studies, money has proven to not be responsible for a person’s contentment. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Daisy and Gatsby’s wealth ultimately shows the reader that money does not equal happiness.

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.

He starts out as a poor boy from North Dakota, Gatsby at this time is working for his money, he is a clam digger and salmon fisher in lake Superior, he also works as a janitor when he attends college. He returns back to lake Superior where he meets Dan Cody and he takes him in, letting him work on his boat. Gatsby was supposed to inherit money from him, however that never happened and he became poor again. He does eventually become rich again but not without compromising his morals. Before, Gatsby did what any normal person would do, he worked hard for his money doing everyday jobs, but after, he got his money through illegal drug stores and bootlegging. He is called out by Tom who says, “I found out what your ‘drug stores’ were… he and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drug stores… and sold grain alcohol over the counter.” (141). In this indirect characterization you can see how far Gatsby went in changing his morals to become rich. Instead of sticking to his morals and working regular jobs like he did before, his demand for money corrupted his morals and he turned to bootlegging, forever changing his morals and who he was as a person. The richest and happiest man is the one who sets the joy and happiness of others in the center of his

As novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald, in his book, “The Great Gatsby”, writes about the escapades of the ridiculously wealthy in the twenties. And about how our innate obsession only leaves us empty inside. Fitzgerald’s purpose, is to portray wealth in a negative light. Because money cannot buy everything in life. Money can purchase material goods, but not happiness.

Long lost love, extravagant parties, secret lives, and mysterious deaths, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is driven by the power and importance of wealth. Fitzgerald wrote this novel in the 1920’s, a time where wealth distinguished those from the rest, and throughout The Great Gatsby one can see many similar parallels from the the book, to the environment and values during the 1920’s. Almost every character through the novel displays the idea and mentality that money is the power in the world, and that money really does buy happiness. Although Fitzgerald's novel generally seems like a mysterious, love story the book is driven by the idea and importance of wealth.

Money, commonly associated with happiness and success, is deceiving because it doesn 't necessarily breed enjoyment at all. Lorraine Hansberry 's A Raisin in the Sun and F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby examine the difference between wealth and appreciation of life. Lorraine Hansberry explains this with Walter, a negro father in a poor family who seeks more money than is realistic to bring happiness into the family. Fitzgerald uses the character Jay Gatsby to show that wealth doesn 't imply success or happiness. Both characters occupy strikingly different roles in their stories, yet decently portray money 's impact on life. In The Great Gatsby and Raisin in the Sun, wealth is made to seem as the key to happiness, but, in essence,

People have a general conception that having more wealth creates more happiness within a person's life. This theory is disproved through F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Daisy’s melancholy personality and regret after leaving Gatsby and marrying Tom for money demonstrates that wealth does not buy love nor fulfillment in life proving that some people value financial security over love.

Gatsby 's wealth seems almost infinite, he is elegant and flashy with his spending for gatsby money must grow on trees. “On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before” (Fitzgerald). I can only imagine living life like Gatsby it 's almost like a dream. They say money doesn 't bring happiness but with the amount of wealth gatsby acquires it seems like he doesn 't have a care in the world.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel of The Great Gatsby, he creates an artificial world where each character’s sole purpose in life is money, and the essence of desire is wealth. It is clear within the text that the characters feel as if they are totally limited by the amount of money they make, therefore, their view of being satisfied and achieving in life is depicted against their financial status. Poverty limits decision and action. The novel is set in the 1920’s when the newly founded ‘American Dream’ was being strived for, the idea that if one worked hard, they would ‘reap’ the rewards, no matter their

Money is generally presented as a symbol for stability and happiness, however The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald contradicts this idea. Throughout the novel, Jay Gatsby is known for his unimaginable formation of wealth and has the innate capability to achieve his dreams, however he does not realize that his dreams are above him due to the heavy corruption present in the 1920’s. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald presents money as an antagonist since wealth is the primary stimulant in the characters’ motivations, relationships, and happiness.