The Role Of Wealth In The Great Gatsby

There are a lot of people in the world who let money rule and change them. The movie “The Great Gatsby” is a prime example of how money effect people lives. Money plays a part in each of their lives. It may cause people to want what the next person got, be selfish, and be reckless, so it is known for the root of all evil.

In the 1920’s people of the richer culture tend to marry into more wealth. There are good examples of this in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The false love between Daisy and Tom is based off of Tom’s immense amount of money. While, Gatsby’s whole goal is to get Daisy and he uses his wealth to do it.

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.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, through great amalgamations of surreptitious love triangles, illustrates the ingenuity of the upper class toward the common good. For example, in “The Great Gatsby”, Daisy married into the upper class in order to shallowly enjoy the benefits of having money. As a result, she takes on an abrasive personality with her husband and begins to sneak off to other potential love affairs. Furthermore, this theme of disloyalty is spread throughout The Great Gatsby and it is soon realized that wealth is more significant than loyalty as shown through the actions of Myrtle and Daisy, two girls dependent on men for achieving social nobility.

In the novel The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald highlights the extremely wide wealth gap in America, as well as the unfair advantage that the rich have over the poor. Fitzgerald uses the setting and the characters within the novel to comment on the importance of social class and wealth during the 1920’s.

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.

Jay Gatsby is well known for being wealthy, mysterious, and for his extravagant parties. Nobody truly knew his past excluding Nick, Daisy, Tom, and his parents so there would be many speculations about him going around. In reality, Gatsby was not rich since he was born, he did not inherit the money that he had, but he earned it by bootlegging and doing other crimes. His sudden ambition towards becoming wealthy was because of Daisy. He changed all his values and lifestyle to fit into Daisy’s life.

Wealth greatly affects how people are able to live their lives. In The Great Gatsby, wealth is a theme that repeats itself throughout the entire novel. Various characters believe with wealth or because of their wealth they are bond to achieve what they want. Money, affects how the people live their lives. Whether that be the amass of it or lack of it. People from the Valley of Ashes are considered to be lower class citizens, or no money, with individuals living in West Egg considered to be new money, or have earned their money on their own. Residents living in East Egg are old money, having always had money.When people are wealthy, it can affect how they treat others who are wealthy, and people of other classes as well. Individuals from East Egg clearly show no respect of other classes that are not their own. The

At first “The Great Gatsby” seems like a love story between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, but the book is about the greed and wealth that was in the 1920s. Throughout the story the reader can get an idea of this time period, the jazz era, after World War 1 where there was a lot of wealth and excess materials. In “The Great Gatsby”, The author F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates the american dream that anyone can get rich and also the big gap between the rich and poor in the 1920s through setting and symbols.

“Money cannot buy peace of mind. It cannot heal ruptured relationships or build meaning into a life that has none” (-Richard Devos). The main character, Jay Gatsby did not understand this concept very well. Jay Gatsby truly believed that his lavish lifestyle and abundance of money would lead to a happy fulfilling life. Wealth cannot buy happiness, nor can it create it.

The nineteen twenties is an era of excessive wealth and extravagant parties. The American identity has been a part of what makes the United States prosper; however, the cost is people’s morality. Wealth can cause deep rooted problems for people who seek acceptance from society. In the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald mocks people’s idea that the American identity is to obtain as much wealth as possible through his theme that outward appearances can be deceptive.

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.

The common theme of “The American Dream being frequently corrupted by the desire of wealth” continues to physically and mentally blind the counterparts in The Great Gatsby evidently shown in multiple literary devices. Jay Gatsby, the feature of this book, was clearly strongly elaborated on with his overwhelming mansion of revenue. In the scheme of chapter six, using the technique of a flashback, Gatsby disclosed his past. His shallow commentary lead Nick to recall this epiphanal line about his new companion, “He has changed it at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career (91.)” After explaining his role in Dan Cody’s life, Nick realized how Gatsby’s lifestyle drastically changed from living in a North Dakota

Throughout history people have continuously felt the need to validate themselves by the number in their bank account or their status in society. Americans are constantly concerned with what other people think about them. They want to make sure they look the part which means having certain things and maintaining a lifestyle that proclaims their family’s social status. Whether it is adhering to high social standards or splurging on luxurious goods, people were willing to do whatever it took to maintain a high social standing. From 1914 to 1945, American Literature portrayed that Americans’ pursuit of wealth and social status was not only unfulfilling, but also became a barrier that separated people.

The poor man always tempted by money, never to actually reach wealth, until Gatsby. Born in the poorest of the poor families, he grew up with nothing, but made himself rich. With only a mentor and his own drive he managed to land a mansion on the West Egg. Gatsby’s past was a hard time, except right before he was shipped out to war. It was then he met Daisy, he loved her, and intended to marry her on his return. But when he got back, she had gotten married, but Gatsby still felt she loved him. These events before Gatsby’s rise to wealth, led him in his higher class life and to his end.