Why Is Money Important In The Great Gatsby

​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,

An example of this is Jay Gatsby himself and the way he makes his money. Due to the influences of Dan Cody, Jay Gatsby becomes obsessed with money and chases after it for his entire life. This necessity for the fame and riches of money leads Gatsby into the world of illegal bootlegging, where, “he and Wolfsheim brought up a lot of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter”(133). This illustration of the negative impacts of money in the 1920s shows how pursuing something, such as wealth, can lead one into a life of criminal activity and corruption. It can even affect someone like Gatsby, who during his early years is just a young man with a dream, but who turns later into a criminal who has made millions through illegal business dealings. Another instance of the negative impacts of money is manifested through Fitzgerald’s depiction of Tom and Daisy. At first, Nick, the narrator, portrays Daisy as someone who is kind and always helpful. But, at the end of the novel, when Nick exposes Tom ratted Jay and Daisy followed suit, Nick said they, “ were careless people… they smashed up things or creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness…”(179). This quote about the Buchanans explains how both Tom and Daisy are essentially careless people. Fitzgerald uses them to portray the stereotype that those who have a lot of wealth are careless and not sympathetic towards others. The Buchanans think their wealth is able to shield them from the harms and problems of society, so they are egotistical and never gain an understanding of what it is like to not be rich. Fitzgerald's development of the plotline in this way highlights the negative impacts of money on

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.

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 final few chapters we finally get to see Gatsby’s true colors. We see that Gatsby is expressing love towards Daisy when they all decide to go to New York for the day. Tom becomes suspicious and accuses Gatsby of having an affair with his wife and also being a bootlegger. Gatsby tells Tom that he and Daisy love one another and that they are going to be together like they once were in the past. Gatsby was wrong and Daisy ends up staying with Tom. Myrtle Wilson is then ran over by Daisy but Gatsby says that he will take the blame and ends up getting shot. At the beginning of this novel we thought that Gatsby was a well liked, popular guy, but it turns out that no one shows up to attend his funeral.

His cousin Daisy and her husband Tom "smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness… and let other people clean up the mess they had made..." (Fitzgerald 179). This is apparent in multiple scenes for each character. Tom is shown to have had an affair with the mechanic’s wife Myrtle, and even kept a secret apartment to hide it all away. For Daisy, she not only acts selfish and forsakes Gatsby for Tom, but she also starts to have an affair behind Tom’s back for Gatsby later. This whole cheating and dishonest relationship eventually leads to tension between the group, and to Daisy’s murder of Tom’s mistress Myrtle. This event then leads to the angry widowed mechanic to seek vengeance, and killing Gatsby. The reason Gatsby died, is because Daisy did not want to admit to her actions, and let others suffer for it. Furthermore, neither Daisy nor Tom arrive at Gatsby’s funeral, and instead flee back to Chicago, leaving others to clean up after themselves. As for Jordan Baker, Nick’s semi-love interest, she is revealed to have hidden corruptions of her own. Iwas a during a moment where Nick was monologuing about his pride in Jordan that he learns “At her first big golf tournament there was ... a suggestion that she had moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round. The thing

Throughout the book of The Great Gatsby you see just about every character use love or money as a motivator and you might even see a character or two using both as a motivator. Whether they use the love for the money or the money to gain love, F. Scott Fitzgerald did an excellent job with highlighting the love and money as motivation. Myrtle is a great example, or James Gatz, mostly known for as Gatsby. A lot of characters went the extra mile for the love of their life and the others went another way with lies and infidelity. If characters did not use love and money for an motivator, the book would not have went the way it did and the story would not have its meaning either.

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 called American dream became skewed, as a result

    Near the beginning of George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara, Mr. Undershaft exclaims in retort of another's question, "well, I am a millionaire, and that is my religion" (Shaw 103). Many people look toward the heavens in search of the power to enable them to live in the world. Others, like Shaw's Mr. Undershaft, look toward more earthly subjects to obtain their power and symbolize their status. Often these subjects, such as money, wealth, or physical beauty and ability, give their owners an overbearing sense of power and ability in all of that they do. Some people become so obsessed with their materialistic power that it becomes their religion and leads them in everything that they do. In

Money plays a big role in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which is set in the 1920's and how it is used can be for good, but other reasons are not smart and irresponsible. The character in the book are rich however with money comes responsibility and the sense that a person can not do anything they want without consequences. Even today people with money want to do whatever they want without consequences, but eventually they run out money and are put in debt. History shows in the 1920's this was the case that people were put in great debt because of all the money they spent. These decisions will end up causing The Great Depression in the 1930's. We see money being used in a bad way in The Great Gatsby when men buy their wives pearl

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

Money does have value but you do not need money to be happy. Gatsby spends an extreme amount of money on parties that he does not even seem to enjoy. Gatsby does this because he seems to be “new money” because he wants everyone to know how wealthy he is. Money can make people hateful, careless, and heartless. Tom and daisy were both all of those things.

As human beings, what takes priority in life? Is it money? Money often drives people’s behavior. People don’t realize that it’s not necessary to be wealthy to enjoy life and live happily. Many of the characters portrayed in The Great Gatsby, displayed their desire for money throughout the book. Each character had a different outlook on money, but they each had something in common, they all wanted to acquire more. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the characters’ and community’s obsession, perception, and attitude toward money was prevalent.

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.

Daisy then left with Gatsby to his house. On their way to the house, they hit Myrtle with a Gatsby’s car and drove off. Daisy then settles her differences with Tom and they get back together, leaving Gatsby alone and ignites his downfall: