Wealth In The Great Gatsby

Gatsby wishes to lure Daisy back to him, using the appeal of his wealth and

Because Gatsby is standing alone, searching for the elusive Daisy, he is shown to not be content. He finds no joy in having all these people here if he cannot find his Daisy. He views Daisy as the person that will bring him to an even higher social class, because even though he is rich, he still remembers the social value Daisy encompasses because of her abundance of lovers. Ultimately he wants to swell his ego, to tame the wild beast, because Daisy wasn’t settled down before with any one man. Even though she is now married, he still views her with the same awe of when he first laid eyes on her at camp, even remarking that “‘Her voice is full of money’”(127) in reference to his percieved value of her when they first met. Quintessentially, Gatsby has narcissism flowing through his veins because he is attempting to recreate a past to soothe his remorse from when he initially left Daisy to fight in the war.

After the war, Gatsby’s only goal was to posses enough wealth to bring Daisy back. He acquired millions of dollars from businesses he did. “Gatsby bough this house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (78). His love for Daisy was the only thing that made him the man he was. He was intelligent, rich and even famous, all because of her. He threw big parties were many celebrities went and were thousands of dollars were spent in liquor and food just to call Daisy’s attention. “I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night…” (79), recalled Jordan, Gatsby’s friend, one night. All that Gatsby possessed was only and exclusively to show Daisy he could give her the life she wanted.

​Nick Caraway moves from Minnesota to the West Egg neighborhood on Long Island to pursue a career in the bond industry. He lives in a tiny house wedged between large, expansive mansions. His neighbor, Jay Gatsby, is a well todo man with a mysterious past. Everyone in town knows Mr. Gatsby for his huge wild parties, but no one is quite sure where he has acquired his wealth. Across from Gatsby’s mansion, Nick’s cousin Daisy lives with her husband Tom Buchanan. Daisy and Tom have a complex relationship where neither of them are happy, but they will not separate even though both have been unfaithful. Tom has a mistress in the city whom is not unbeknownst to Daisy. Gatsby and Daisy have a romantic history from when Gatsby was in the army. This is the motivation behind Gatsby’s desire to acquire all his wealth. Gatsby throws his parties in an attempt to get Daisy’s attention, but Daisy is completely unaware that he is her neighbor until Nick brings them together. Though Nick is not a considerably wealthy man himself, his relationship to the Buchanans, and now Gatsby, are enough to keep him relevant in the social circles of East Egg and West Egg. Nick’s connection to Daisy also makes him highly attractive to Gatsby as all he wants is some form of an interaction with Daisy and involving himself with Nick is an easy way for Gatsby to make his way into Daisy’s life again. Money is power in the Great Gatsby, as it influences everyone’s status, aspirations,

It’s as if Gatsby would give up parts of his dream just to be with Daisy and by attempting to do this he loses sight of reality. Even though he seems lost, his sheer determination to get what he wants is

He wants to marry Daisy and he is so determined that not even her husband can stop him. Winning her love is the only thing Gatsby cares about. He tries many times to win her over but fails. However, he is so determined that he never gives up. “‘She’ll be alright tomorrow,’ he said presently. ‘I’m just going to wait here and see if he tries to bother her about that unpleasantness this afternoon.’” Gatsby wouldn’t leave her alone even after he knew he had lost her. Both men have immense determination to get through their struggles.

Gatsby meets Daisy when he was a young military officer. He is just a poor guy. Daisy, also a brilliant and pretty girl just as a fairy, has the most romantic days with Gatsby. Obviously, Daisy impressed herself into Gatsby’s heart during that time. It seems that they deeply love each other, but actually, she is in love less with Gatsby the man, than with the Gatsby’s successful image. To some extent, she falls in love with the wealth of Gatsby. Clearly remember that Gatsby makes the famous remark to Nick before they moved to the New York,” her voice is full of money”.

Wealth is the average picture of the good life. Many in this world stride to become wealthy and live a luxurious life. Being wealthy determines a certain lifestyle considering the way you live and even where you live. If you were to look up wealth in a dictionary it would say wealth is an abundance of money. Gatsby the main character of the book The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald just so happens to be living the wealthy lifestyle. In the book it shows many different types of lifestyles during this era. Another character that goes by the name Tom Buchanon lives on a large property. They describe his home as “more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion…” (Fitzgerald 6). Which at this time is rare to own. His house is large and elegant he had a large inheritance of money that he used for the “look” of his family. Then to see the other side of the world there was a place called the “valley of ashes” that has no wealth at all this is where Wilson and Myrtle lived. It was explained as “....a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys….” (Fitzgerald 23). This is how Fitzgerald describes the poor side of town. The valley of ashes is the dirty and poor industrial zone back then. There were many ties between the different groups back then of West Egg and East Egg.

When Gatsby first met Daisy, he was merely a poor boy with dreams much bigger than his wallet. Daisy was everything he could have possibly dreamed of: rich, beautiful and powerful. As his love for her grew, so did his ambition to give her whatever he could. When Gatsby acquired a lot of money by a chance encounter with a sailor, his first thought was of his heart. He had left it with Daisy. But, as seen in the book, love that is given yet not returned is poisonous. Although Daisy loved Gatsby, she was too obsessed with the American Dream to ever truly give him her heart. No matter how much Gatsby tried, part of Daisy would always belong to Tom and to

Regarding Gatsby, it is his lack of emotional satisfaction that shapes his obsession and greed toward Daisy. Gatsby’s goal is to regain his former romantic relationship he shares with Daisy, as he truly believes that it is possible to repeat the past (Fitzgerald 110). In fact, during the last five years, he builds himself a facade through illegal means to impress Daisy. Nevertheless, his greed for the exclusivity of Daisy backfires. Daisy says that “ ‘[he] [wants] too much!’... ‘[she] [loves] [him] now--- isn’t that enough?’ ” (132). When Gatsby asks Daisy to affirm that she only loves him, she could not confirm the statement truthfully, thus reducing Gatsby’s efforts throughout the years to naught. Gatsby’s commitment for Daisy’s affection is the very cause of Daisy’s rejection.

While wealth can be quite alluring, the power associated with it can also shape one's opinions, morals, and overall humanity. Wealth is a significant factor in determining one's position in society, thus the eagerness to obtain more is correlated with the wish to hold a higher status. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, relates to this pursuit of riches and the social hierarchy attached to it. The story takes place during the height of the roaring 1920’s in New York City. Each character represents an economic sphere and has their own ambition for wealth; however, these characters, whether they fail or succeed, lose their humanity in the process. Fitzgerald utilizes the characters Gatsby, Myrtle, and Daisy to demonstrate that the desire for wealth leads to a process of dehumanization, in which morals and identity are displaced.

Is your life revolved around how much money you have, what you can buy, or what you look like? In The Great Gatsby, the lives of the characters are revolved around the importance of money and the materials they own. Tom and Daisy Buchanan are two very important people that let their money control their lives, such as Daisy marrying Tom solely for is money so that she will be provided for her entire life. Gatsby is a prime example of all the wrong reasons of wanting to accomplish the American dream. He wanted to impress Daisy, so he lied and cheated his way to the top in order to prove to her that he was worth it, and now that he has money, he allowed it to take control of him and his true purpose. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald allows the

Gatsby explains how he wants to rekindle his relationship with Daisy and he is desperate to repeat what they once had. He wants it to seem as if the past had not happened and that Daisy never married Tom. If he could go back he would but he cannot so he will do anything and everything it takes to get Daisy back and fulfil the perfect picture he has in his head. This shows Gatsby’s love for Daisy because he is willing to do anything to win her back.

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.

Gatsby dedicates his entire life to Daisy. He accumulates his fortune, throws extravagant parties every weekend, moves his entire live to West Egg, and distorted utopia that is liable to collapse at any moment all in the hopes of wooing Daisy (Fitzgerald 46). Daisy’s main reason for choosing Tom over Gatsby was because “ (Gatsby) ...was poor and she was tired of waiting” (Fitzgerald 130). Gatsby believed that Daisy would only notice him if every aspect of his life reputable and “In order to be reputable, it must be wasteful” (Veblen 11). Gatsby does everything in his power to become a suitable husband for Daisy, but attempts to control his fate ultimately conquer him in