Examples Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

“The Ills of Materialism in The Great Gatsby”

Money, status, and power. These words epitomize the American Dream that people of the 1920s sought to make a reality. In a time of economic prosperity and “unrestrained materialism,” being successful and wealthy was an aspiration that many awestruck people pursued at all costs (Keshmiri 1). Indeed, many people lost sight of the fact that their personal journey that they undertook to achieve the American Dream was as important as reaching the ultimate objective. In other words, people forgot that the ends never justify the means. F. Scott Fitzgerald was mindful of the potential for the moral and social decay that could result from the ruthless quest for wealth and material objects. F. Scott

Jay Gatsby was born James Gatz to poor parents in the midwest. When he is a soldier in World War I, he meets Daisy Fay and falls in love with her. However, to his dismay, while he is stationed overseas, Daisy marries the well-to-do Tom Buchanan. Thereafter, Gatsby makes it his life’s mission to reunite with Daisy and to rekindle the flames of their relationship. To win Daisy back, Gatsby determines that he must find an expedient means to allow him to mirror her husband’s wealth. (Kazin 31). Consequently, he reinvents himself as a wealthy person and turns to a life of crime to acquire his fortune (Kazin 31). He forms a partnership with Meyer Wolfsheim, a known criminal, although the exact nature of their relationship remains unclear (Bloom 15). However, it can be inferred that their business dealings involve criminal activities, such as bootlegging liquor and the illegal sale of bearer bonds (Bloom 15). Gatsby’s new life becomes so inextricably bound between criminal activities and materialism that he can no longer distinguish the difference between right and wrong (Keshmiri 3): “‘Meyer Wolfsheim? No, he’s a gambler.’ Gatsby hesitated, then added coolly: ‘He’s the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919. . . . They can’t get him, old sport. He’s a smart man’” (Fitzgerald 74). In this situation, Gatsby is unable to

Having married a wealthy man, Daisy possesses all of the finer things in life. Nevertheless, these fine material objects are unable to conceal her shallow and superficial nature (Cowley 20). Not only is her affluence powerless to hide these negative qualities but, in actuality, it accentuates Daisy’s artificial nature by highlighting the importance that she puts on meaningless things such as fancy parties and fashion. She pettily judges people and objects by their material value (Bewley 23). When Daisy observes Gatsby’s cache of fine shirts, she is impressed by this grand demonstration of materialism: “‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such -- such beautiful shirts before’” (Fitzgerald 93-94). Daisy’s admiration for these trivial objects shows that she is consumed by the materialism of the era, and that she values the love of money over true love (Bewley 23-24). For this reason, Daisy is unwilling to divorce her well-established and influential husband to marry Gatsby. Her decision to remain committed to Tom does not stem from any moral righteousness or recognition of the sanctity of marriage. In fact, Daisy has demonstrated her disregard for higher moral principles by her dishonorable action of