Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau once wrote, ‘'Money buys everything, except morality and citizens.'’ Many people, especially nowadays, have this notion that the more money they obtain, the happier they’ll be. Of course, that’s not always true. There have been several instances, in literature and this world, where that’s not always the case. There are some differences between F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Lauren Greenfield’s The Queen of Versailles. However, there are similarities in the way wealth was portrayed and how it won’t always lead to true happiness, but could end up causing unhappiness and pain. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Lauren Greenfield’s The Queen of Versailles both portray an obsession with …show more content…
Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Lauren Greenfield’s The Queen of Versailles both illustrate how not everything is attainable by wealth, and that things will not always end well. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby tried to obtain happiness and love using his wealth, and how it in the end it wasn’t enough for them. “He had come such a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close he could hardly fail to grasp it. But what he did not know was that it was already behind him, somewhere in the vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night," (Fitzgerald 180). Gatsby had thought that his wealth was enough to lure Daisy in, but his dream had ultimately eluded his grasp and he had achieved only tragedy. In the Queen of Versailles, the Siegels were obsessed with money. It was their way of showing off, their way of being “happy”. But they relied on it too much and ended up losing a lot of it. “...we were on top of the world, building the largest home in America. Everything was wonderful, no worries in the world.If I remember, you said why am I building that large home? And I think I said, ‘Because I can.’ A lot of things have changed in the last two years. So this is kind of like a reverse of a rags-to-riches story. This is almost like a riches-to-rags story,” (The Queen of Versailles 01:23:21-52). The Siegels were so used to having so much money at their disposal, and being able to do whatever they wanted with it, this became their way of living; they didn’t know how to survive with anything less. But once they stopped receiving the money and much of it was being taken away from them, it was kind of a shock for them and they just couldn’t deal with it properly. At the conclusion, both the Siegels and Gatsby had encountered a situation in which their money was not enough to help them with their cases, and eventually made things
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
“Money is a mechanism for control,” a quote by American author David Korten that thoroughly describes how the many characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby used their wealth to stabilize the control of their lives. This wealth played an important role during its time, the early 20th century, by making a point of dividing certain social classes, putting the false belief that money brings one an absolute happiness, and aiding in the rise and fall of people’s legacy.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby details the tribulations that come with being immensely rich or extremely poor. One such example is the original decision by Daisy to bypass Gatsby and instead get married to Tom. Later on in the book, it is revealed that Daisy was in love with Gatsby and he was in love with her, but they couldn’t get married, primarily because they occupy different social strata (Fitzgerald 151). She instead marries Tom and immediately regrets it. Fitzgerald crafted this situation to make commentary on how money and the need to be around it, can cause people to cut
In, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the characters in the story are shown to have enormous wealth and live in the areas of East and West Egg. Jay Gatsby lives in West Egg, while the Buchanan 's live in East Egg. Although both are rich beyond belief, (the Buchanan 's from old money. Gatsby from new money), both Gatsby and Tom Buchanan reach for more and more from life. This appetite to gain and gain could and did have tremendous repercussions. Not only repercussions to their reputations, but also repercussions to their life with loved ones. By examining Gatsby and Tom in, "The Great Gatsby," and their inability to be content with what they have, one can determine how being unappreciative can lead to consequences such as death, love lost and soiling of reputation
Wealth has often consumed the lives people in the past, corrupting them and causing people to make bad decisions due to this greed. Wealth and greed will continue to take over others’ lives for as long as the human race still exists. The desire for wealth and greed as shown in the The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald by some characters’ intense obsession with money, lavish lifestyles, and their sense of entitlement, ultimately putting other characters in harm’s way.
During the 1920s, many people thought money was the key to happiness. They thought money could only have a positive impact on their lives and keep them content. However, these people neglected to realize the negative effects that wealth would have on both themselves and the large impact that it has on society. Amidst their joy, they were unable to see that and wealth does more harm than it does good. F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, illustrates his perspective on the 1920s. This story takes place on Long Island in the Summer of 1922 and follows the life of narrator Nick Carraway and the many interesting encounters he has with his friends, such as Jay Gatsby as well as Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald is able to convey these negative
In the book “The Great Gatsby” wealth affects the lives of many characters in the book, examples of these characters are; Daisy,Tom, and Gatsby. All these characters either had a dream to become wealthy, bribed people, or just cared about money, not love.Because of their obsession with wealth this led to many problems with other characters, showing the bad traits of others, and overall showing how wealth can almost always have a negative effect on a person.
The theme of money not only plays a huge role in the Great Gatsby but it is also a major force behind the motivation of the characters. Many of the wealthy characters seem to share the belief that money has the power to buy happiness, yet they each differ on what will bring them happiness for some its love, or others acting careless or selfish and to others it is just a perfect life.
During the time in our country's history called the roaring twenties, society had a new obsession, money. Just shortly after the great depression, people's focus now fell on wealth and success in the economic realm. Many Americans would stop at nothing to become rich and money was the new factor in separation of classes within society. Wealth was a direct reflection of how successful a person really was and now became what many people strived to be, to be rich. Wealth became the new stable in the "American dream" that people yearned and chased after all their lives. In the novel entitled the great Gatsby, the ideals of the so
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.
‘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
Romance, love, and destiny. Connections are formed like bridges built of various things; love, trust, money, fate. Some bridges are stronger than others and some bridges connect people who perhaps shouldn’t be connected. The movie “The Great Gatsby” better expresses the romantic relationships and connections between characters. Between Tom and Daisy, whose relationship may have more to do with survival than love, with Myrtle and Tom, the bridge between them connecting two souls searching for something more in life. And then there are bridges like the one between Jordan and Nick, filled with lies and a bridge not often travelled, and if you’re lucky you come across a bridge like Gatsby and Daisy's, which is made of love but filled with obstacles. These bridges play a key part in the story and the movie most definitely does a better job at expressing these connections between characters.
Although it is the repercussions of their deceptive fantasies that Gatsby and Lester fall victim to, it was their continued search for love that leads them to these. Love is the principal value in The Great Gatsby and is illustrated best by the contrast of Gatsby’s idealized romantic love for Daisy with Daisy’s “love” for wealth and status, a love which is common to the majority of their irresponsible society. F Scott Fitzgerald emphasizes Gatsby’s “romantic readiness” through this contrast as well as Gatsby’s fall from grace that results in him becoming lost in “the colossal vitality of his illusions” (pg. 92). Daisy characterizes the power of a love of money in the Great Gatsby and is used by Fitzgerald in condemning Gatsby’s hedonistic society as well as his own. However it is the absence of love –rather than the presence- that is most prominent in American
Being famous and having money is every kid’s dream. Throwing money around like it grows there is an endless amount is everyone's dream. As many may be the solution to numerous issues, it does not solve the problems of the heart. Since many people do not understand this concept, it is the worst pain, the aching of the heart. This lesson is what Jay Gatsby should learn, how his whole life he thought he could win over a girl with all his money and expensive shirts. In The Great Gatsby by Scott F. Fitzgerald, diction displays how money cannot buy happiness and is not the solution of the heart.
In his song “All Falls Down,” mildly talented musician Kanye West emotionally raps, “We buy our way out of jail, but we can’t buy freedom.” Criticizing how those that are wealthy are able to control the world around them with their money, able to use it to get even “out of jail,” West asserts that such a reliance on wealth is ultimately restricting, as it cannot buy intangible things such as “freedom.” In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the titular character, Jay Gatsby surrounds himself with wealth and extravagance in order to leave his previous life of dullness and banality and pursue an unrealistic and fragile love with Daisy. Though he is able to assume a new, affluent identity, he is ultimately unsuccessful in love, as his wealth disconnects him from reality, preventing him from realizing the impossibility of his goal. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, maintains a sort of obsession with Gatsby, becoming sucked into his extravagant and wealthy lifestyle. However, by doing so, he begins to see the world in a new yet almost fantastical light, where even he is unable to comprehend the consequences of his actions and mannerisms. Under this, Fitzgerald contends that wealth and materialism are crutches that ultimately serve to skew and misrepresent surrounding reality.