Essay about Wealth in The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby shows the dehumanizing nature of wealth by creating a contrast between the rich and the poor. The point of this contrast is to illustrate the class struggle that was occurring in the country when Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby. The comparison between rich and poor is first developed in the beginning of the book when Tom and Nick are driving to New York. Fitzgerald further elaborates on the gross differences between rich and poor when Gatsby manages to avoid a speeding ticket. Fitzgerald also uses popular songs from the time period, “Aint’t We Got Fun”, to build his case of the class struggle between the rich and the poor. Fitzgerald uses The Great Gatsby to try and illustrate the issues that were facing the poor

"I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth" (Fitzgerald 7), as stated by Nick, shows that, in The Great Gatsby, class determines the value of a person’s identity. Even between the rich, those with old money are more respected than those with new money, since there is a history of wealth associated to those with old money. Wealth holds great priority in society, since it provides more opportunities. However, while it provides more opportunities, the characters in The Great Gatsby shows the negative aspects of money. In the book The Great Gatsby, it is seen that rich people are powerful,

To what extent does Gatsby’s wealth, and all the luxuries that it provides, affect his ability to achieve what he deserves? Gatsby’s wealth in “The Great Gatsby” By F. Scott Fitzgerald does truly affect what he really wants and that is Daisy. When you have a lot of money like Gatsby it is hard to live your life in peace, everyone wants to know what you're doing, where you are, and they criticize people with money a lot more than people with none. If you make your money how the “Bootlegger” Jay Gatz did some people get suspicious and if they don't like you certain people are gonna try to come after your wealth, like how Tom started to question Gatsby when Tom knew he was seeing Daisy. This shows that his wealth is going causing problems

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby was born into a life of poverty and as he grew up he became more aware of the possibility of a better life. He created fantasies that he was too good for his modest life and that his parents weren’t his own. When he met Daisy, a pretty upper class girl, his life revolved around her and he became obsessed with her carefree lifestyle. Gatsby’s desire to become good enough for Daisy and her parents is what motivates him to become a wealthy, immoral person who is perceived as being sophisticated.

Gatsby does not realize that Daisy also represents the corruption that comes along with wealth. "Her voice is full of money, he suddenly said. That was it. I'd never understood it before. It was full of money--that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it. . . . High in a white Palace the King's daughter, the golden girl" (127). Gatsby becomes obsessed with Daisy and her voice that promised riches, but he does not realize that money was the only thing she offered. After listening to Tom, Nick describes Daisy and Tom as careless people who "smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made" (188). Daisy lets Gatsby take the blame for Myrtle’s death and shows no concern over Gatsby’s death showing her carelessness with people’s lives. Tom and Daisy’s actions indicate the corrupting effects that wealth can have on someone. They focus too much on appearance and materialism and ignore other people’s feelings and lives.

Because of his family’s money, Tom has always had the ability to control his life, which caused him to become a control freak. We see this when he talks of “profound” books that claim the white race is superior to all other races and if they do not watch out, the “other races will have control of things,” (Fitzgerald 13). The way he speaks of the other races is as if they are mentally and physically unable to contribute to society. Additionally, Tom Buchanan is such a hypocrite when it comes to Daisy having a relationship with Gatsby. He says shortly after meeting Gatsby, “I wonder where in the devil he met Daisy. By God, I may be old fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me,” (Fitzgerald 103). Despite being the one who runs around meeting sketchy girls all the time, having a full on affair with Myrtle, Tom does not like the idea of Daisy being with anyone else because it means that he has lost control of her. Thus, in his desire for control which came about because of his privileged upbringing, Tom is extremely hypocritical, which shows the corrupt nature of wealth. Both Tom and Daisy exist in the Great Gatsby as examples of the corrupting nature of money, which is exemplified through the whole

"Greed, as distinguished from honest reward for labor, leads to corruption. To fatten oneself on it is to be compromised."(Lathbury 64). Several characters in The Great Gatsby struggle with their obsessions with wealth. Their lives depend upon their money and what it can do for them. These obsessions lead to greed, and to the corruption of relationships and lives. In F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby, the obsession with wealth leads to issues for many characters.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel about a rich socialite, Jay Gatsby, who tries to win back his love, Daisy Buchannan. Nick Caraway, Daisy’s cousin, is the narrator who brings the reader through the time of the roaring twenties to tell the story of Jay Gatsby. The 1974 film of The Great Gatsby, directed by Jack Clayton, follows the detailed storyline closely by mirroring it, but also adds and takes away some aspects of the story. There are many comparisons that can be made as well as contrasts through the actor, scenery, music, and script choices for the film.

‘The Great Gatsby’ novel by F. Scott Fitzgeralds is a novel that has symbolic life lessons that have shaped my values and realities of life. This novel is about Nick Carraway, the narrator, that tells the story of Jay Gatsby a millionaire purposing the American Dream at the cost of losing himself. A key quote in the novel demonstrated the reality of wealth doesn’t define a person. But consumes them was illustrated when Carraway first saw Gatsby. “I could have sworn he was

The world is full of powerful forces that control people from all corners of the globe, but one of the most powerful and far-reaching force is money. Money is something that controls multiple people's lives and their decisions, sometimes people revolve their lives around money. Just like in the real world, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, money is a large concept in the book and is a motivator for multiple characters. The Great Gatsby is about Nick as he follows the story of Jay Gatsby and his quest to gain money and uses theses riches to win over his past lover, Daisy. Gatsby is not the only character that uses money to get his way or is materialistic, as multiple

In The Great Gatsby, wealth can be distinguished from class; it is possible to achieve great wealth without being accepted into the élite class, as evidenced by Jay Gatsby’s experience. Jay Gatsby was part of the new rich, the millionaires that popped up over night in the 1920s. His money could not buy him into the society of old money, the aristocratic money. The life of ease and luxury that Tom and others enjoy is contrasted sharply with the stranglehold of poverty containing Myrtle and George Wilson or the life from which Jay Gatsby emerges. Wealth is what separates Gatsby from his love, as he notes of Daisy that "her voice is full of money."(Fitzgerald 127).

Daisy’s greed Gatsby can arguable be called the hero of the story, he too is afflicted with greed, perhaps the most of any of the characters. Fitzgerald, at first, manages to hide this trait of Gatsby beneath a romantic image of a young, wealthy, love struck man who gives grand parties and is well-liked. However, Jay Gatsby’s image changes as we learn more of the

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, money plays a large role in the character’s lives. Money is used to change their appearances throughout the novel. All the characters use their money in a different way. Gatsby attempts to use his money to win back his one true love, Daisy. Myrtle Wilson uses money she does not have to change her appearance towards others. But others are used to having wealth, and they are experienced in the ways of being rich. These people include Tom and Daisy Buchanan. The narrator, Nick Caraway, moves east searching for wealth, but never achieves that goal. The entire novel is filled with wealth and riches, but is money to be seen as a

First, the community’s attitude toward money and obsession with money was prominent. Throughout the book, “One of the main themes of The Great Gatsby is the attitude of its characters- . . . -toward money” (Gross 149). The book highlighted the amount of money each character had and their social status in the community because of their wealth or lack of wealth. Many characters and the entire community dreamed of becoming rich to make themselves worthy of higher social statuses. Palladino once said, “The idea was that anyone could become a millionaire regardless of one's background” (Palladino 31). The community’s interest in wealth and what was believed about money was depicted many times. For example, “Most of these fellas will cheat you every time. All they think of is money. . . ” (Fitzgerald 31). This quote shows that many people were focused on the amount of money they could

Gatsby is a common man who had the ambition to achieve a big dream. Part of Gatsby’s dream was wealth, which is the idea that each person desires to achieve within their lifespan through their hard work. Gatsby is not born into wealth nor privileges. He was a farm boy from North Dakota with no education or money, Nick states “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people — his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all” (Fitzgerald 98). Some of Gatsby’s many achievements were becoming a war