Theme Of Wealth In The Great Gatsby

Money changes people in the Great Gatsby; it shapes their ethics, hopes, and dreams. American culture was changing at during the time the book was written, extravagant shows of fortune become more common. Nick's circle in New York serves as a microcosm for the country during the 1920’s. There was a massive cultural shift where immense fortune was displayed more openly. Materialism and greed became more acceptable during this time then they were before. Although people claim noble virtues guide their actions, in reality, their motivations are selfish. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the characters appear to be guided by love, but their real motivation is greed.

Wealth can develop a unique interpretation upon a person’s life and can impact their future. Wealth can be such a strong impact on someone that can determine whether they’re selfish or a given person. Wealth can definitely be overpowering and misleading, which could portray their true identity. In the historical fiction novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it shows us how misleading wealth can be in a person’s life.

After going through the “Great War,” also known as World War I, soldiers came back home in the middle of prohibition, a time where the almost all recreational alcohol was illegal. Despite the government's intentions to protect the people from alcohol abuse, prohibition forced people to find unorthodox ways of attaining alcohol. Prohibition unofficially made people rich because so people made lots and lots of money making and selling alcohol illegally–bootlegging. This is the setting for the famous novel, The Great Gatsby. In this book, F. Scott Fitzgerald exemplifies the true corrupting nature of wealth and shows just how powerful the desire for money can be through the corruption of the American dream, Gatsby’s dream, and the main characters.

Have you ever wanted to be rich enough to own a monumental and ravishing mansion? Money is thrown around alot in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and there is a lot of talk about money and wealth in the book. Hearing about money at parties and from the interactions between old and newly rich characters is very common in the novel. You also hear about good and corrupt money frequently, but also how the money shaped the people of east and west egg. Money is the root of all evil and shapes people, money is also a “curtain” for the rich to hide behind that shields them from everyday problems.

In general, people are taught to admit to their mistakes and pay a consequence; however, during the Jazz Age, the rich learned to pay off their mishaps by means of deception and wealth.

Shelby Pate Ms. L. Wijntjes ENGL1302.005 09 December 2014 The Importance of Wealth The Great Gatsby was based in the roaring twenties. It was written by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and is a magnificent story of the complex happenings of the lives of Jay Gatsby and Nick Carroway, two men who become star ward friends as their lives entwine together.

The American dream has evolved beyond an established monetary goal, into a hunger for something greater than what we already own. This type of ambition results in a never-ending cycle of pursuit, creating a greater disparity between the rich and the poor man’s vision, status, and wealth. Fitzgerald’s argument in the “Great Gatsby” aids in explaining why and how the American Dream has become more and more distant for the middle and lower class to achieve. Similarly, interviewees believed that the American Dream has become harder for the general public to achieve, while those born into wealth and power can easily reach and or surpass the American Dream. Although the idea of the American Dream did not materialize completely during Fitzgerald’s life, the protestant’s work ethic, a precursor to the Dream existed and Fitzgerald was able to predict the deterioration of the American Dream happening presently.

"Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone . . . just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had". (Fitzgerald,1.) In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is impossible for those with poor backgrounds to be accepted by people from the opposite side of the social scale and achieve the American Dream. The main character Gatsby has worked hard and climb the ladder to richness, but he can never truly be like those who live in the East Egg, even though Gatsby worked hard to earn all the wealth he acquired he still isn't accepted by the East Egg society, due to the way he gained all his wealth .

Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby takes place during the 1920s and demonstrates a ‘gilded age’ of American history. This professes that while it may have looked like things were on an upturn, the true problems that people were facing were hidden behind a “thin coating of gold”, or the wealth, extravagance and prosperity of the upper class. During this time people were eager to increase their wealth and improve status to achieve the American Dream, or what they believed to be true happiness. What they failed to realize was that, no matter how much wealth they accumulated there were still things they still couldn’t have, and problems they couldn’t solve, they were just able to hide these behind the pretense of their money. Wealth is portrayed in two ways in the book, and money is shown not as a path to happiness, but an empty promise that those who struggled to claim it hide their misery behind.

There’s no point in denying it, we all love money and want lots of it. We yearn to be like the richest people in the world, who have so much money they can do whatever they want. Maybe some of us even want to be the richest person in the world, at this moment the richest man in the world is Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. He has a net worth of 90.6 billion dollars, something none of us will ever experience, but can dream about. But dreams pertaining to money can only get us so far. Money is a theme consistently expressed throughout two novels, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Fitzgerald’s novel considers money largely through the eyes of a very wealthy man who flourishes in life, whose name is Gatsby. On the other hand, Steinbeck’s novel describes the story of two men, who have little money and no accomplishments to boast about whatsoever. The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men show that great success and quality of life is determined by who you know, and how much money you have.

Wealth can give us short-lived pleasure but will lead to our destruction in the end. This theme is heavily induced in Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. This book tells the tale of Nick Carraway telling his story about moving to New York. Nick meets many affluent, amiable and lofty people and gets intertwined in their lives. Nick befriends Jay Gatsby, who is one of the most flamboyant people Nick knows. Gatsby’s wealth is derived from his lost love Daisy Buchanan, whom he is determined will love him more due to his exceptional fortune. However, the wealth of Gatsby and many other in the book ultimately leads to their demise in the end, showing how wealth can’t give us everything we want.

In the Great Gatsby, the main character Nicks moves to New York to learn about the bond business. He moves to a rich district in the state, where people tend to show off their wealth and social status. Nick’s neighbor Gatsby does this especially, because he throws major parties every Saturday to display his riches. The real reason Gatsby does this is because he is attempting to gain the attention of Daisy whom Gatsby is in love with. Daisy, who is married to Tom who is wealthy himself, lives a comfortable life but in reality she is not happy. Gatsby, with the help of Nick, tries to win Daisy with his money instead of his heart. Fitzgerald utilizes his characters through the text the Great Gatsby and using their perspective to demonstrate how the love of money brings people to believe that they’re happy.

F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby takes place during the 1920s and demonstrates a “gilded age” of American history. This professes that while it may have looked like things were on an upturn, the true problems that people were facing were hidden behind a “thin coating of gold”, or the wealth, extravagance and prosperity of the upper class. During this time people were eager to increase their wealth and improve status to achieve the American Dream, or what they believed to be true happiness. What they failed to realize was that, no matter how much wealth they accumulated there were some things they still could not have, and some problems that could not be solved, they were just able to hide these issues behind the pretense of their money. Wealth is portrayed in two different ways in The Great Gatsby with the division of “old” and “new” money, and money is shown not as a path to happiness, but an empty promise that those who struggled to claim it hide their misery behind.

Society operates around money, which leads many to believe that great amounts of money and happiness go hand in hand. However, great amounts of money actually lead to an increase in feelings of distress and isolation. Money in respect to one’s happiness are the petals of a Helleborus flower. The Helleborus has a fascinating ability to grow in harsh winter conditions, but its opalescent petals are how the flower is identified. Money overshadows the genuine characteristics that define an individual and replaces it with a false image of happiness. Great amounts of money does not bring someone closer to their paradise, but pushes them away from the beautiful and joyous world they were once a part of. Seen in present-day celebrity G-Dragon, “The Great Gatsby”, and “Lottery Ticket”, great amounts of wealth does not bring happiness, but instead introduces isolation and sorrow.

The thought of money over happiness plays a major factor in the novel The Great Gatsby, Richard M. DeVos says that "Money cannot buy peace of mind. It cannot heal ruptured relationships, or build meaning into a life that has none." This is something that almost every character in the book faces over whether or not they would like money or happiness. The Great Gatsby was by F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Growing up Fitzgerald was always ambitious and excited to learn, and when he was fifteen years old his parent sent him to a prestigious Catholic school where he met many people who were very interested in his writing skills. After high school, he went to Princeton University in dreams of becoming a writer, while he was there he was in many different clubs and one of them even got him put on academic probation. Fitzgerald decided to drop out and join the U.S. Army, but he was afraid he would die in WW One so he wrote a novel and the leaders like it so much they commissioned him as a second lieutenant where he would make sure that everyone was obeying. While there he fell in love with a girl named Zelda Sayre, who was soon to be his wife. Many years after that in 1924 Fitzgerald moved to France and composed “The Great Gatsby”, and in 1925 it was published.