Examples Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

As the postwar economy roars into life, America seems quite well off. However, beneath the wealth and luxury, the situation and atmosphere is not as pleasant as it appears. Mainly through the perspective of Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald condemns the Jazz Age America, deeming the people living in this higher wealth bracket as grossly materialistic, careless, and morally vacuous—everything is not are perfect as it seems.
The Great Gatsby expresses disapproval of the rampant materialism in the upper class culture and society through Nick’s intuitive, if not at times harsh, criticisms of the world around him. While describing Tom Buchanan and his habits, Nick mentions Tom’s enormous wealth; however, Nick says “Tom’s freedom

with money was a matter for reproach” (6). Even before the bulk of the novel, Nick immediately presents his strong aversion to the upper class’ fiscal looseness and monetary flamboyance. Later, at George Wilson’s garage in the Valley of Ashes, Tom learns that George and his wife Myrtle plan to leave New York.

Nick says that Tom feels the “hot whips of panic [as he notices that] his wife and mistress were slipping precipitately from his control” (132). Such was the general philosophy in the Jazz Age; Tom sees the women in his life as merely objects of possession and control, not to mention that he has at the very least one intimate relation too many. Fitzgerald presents his distaste towards and the symbolic failure of this quasi-polygamy through the death of Myrtle—a direct consequence of Tom’s relationship juggle. After the emotional rollercoaster of reunion and death, a disgusted Nick decides to leave the East; however, Nick manages to run into Tom on the street. Nick “[can’t] forgive him or like him” (190), as Tom is a symbol of gross materialism throughout the novel. Nick’s dislike towards Tom both at the beginning and the end encapsulates Fitzgerald’s denouncement of America’s materialistic society. Moreover, Anonymous aptly calls this materialistic society one that is “fatally contaminated with money” (Anon.). Prior to his departure, Nick goes to see Gatsby’s house once again. Looking at the rundown building, Nick calls Gatsby’s grand mansion “a huge

incoherent failure of a house” (191). Ironically, after all the attention and flow of guests, Gatsby’s gargantuan mansion is forever deemed a failure and the symbol of wealth and materialism that was the party hub of Greater New York is in ruins. Again, Anonymous manages to sum the idea perfectly, suggesting the “tale of idealism [is] rendered pathetic and ultimately destroyed”, leaving a world “corrupted into random appetite” and materialistic demands. Fitzgerald presents the degradation of the partying icon to express his disdain towards the wealth-centric society of Jazz Age America and through Nick’s commentary, Fitzgerald conveys his criticism of the materialistic nature of the 1920s America.
Fitzgerald also condemns the vast carelessness and moral vacuity of the Roaring Twenties in The Great Gatsby.

In Chapter 2, Nick calls the area between the Eggs and New York the Valley of Ashes. The valley is full of industrial complexes, “ash-grey men... [and] spasms of bleak dust” (24). Compared to the “fresh, green breast of the new world” (192) that the Dutch sailors once saw, the land is now destroyed, full of ash and depressed working-class men. Fitzgerald’s juxtaposition of a valley of ash with the lavish lifestyle of New York and the Eggs serves as an ominous admonition of the cost of the blatant careless luxury of the upper class and what has been taken from the lower classes and the natural environment to fuel the fire of their insatiable greed. Throughout the novel, cars have been subject to incredible degrees of negligence. When driving with Nick, Jordan nearly mows down a construction worker. Nick is horrified at and protests Jordan’s driving, but Jordan retorts, “I am careful” (62). Jordan’s carelessness when driving a giant metal behemoth and her indifference to others’ safety is a clear example of the carelessness of the upper class. Later, Tom, Jordan, and Nick encounter the scene of the fatal crash. Tom excitedly exclaims, “Wreck!... That’s good. Wilson will have a little business at last” (146). Rather than worry about any potentially endangered lives or the suffering that would thereby follow, Tom shows his primary instinct of “money first”; he lacks even

the most defining characteristics of humans: grief towards the dead and sympathy for the agonized. The incredibly satiric and mildly hyperbolic tone of how Fitzgerald presents Tom strongly indicates Fitzgerald’s criticism of the lack of care and morals in the postwar economic boom. Soon after the trio sees Myrtle’s lifeless body, Nick wants to return home, but Jordan tries to invite him in and have another get-together. Nick says that he “had enough of all of them for one day, and suddenly that included Jordan too” (151), finally seeing Jordan for the symbolically indifferent, careless, and morally vacuous woman she is. Nick’s departure from the East is thus symbolic of Fitzgerald’s indignation towards the careless upperclassmen. Through his satire, Fitzgerald strongly condemns the large degree of negligence and immorality of the 1920s America.
Through the perspective of Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald condemns the Jazz Age America and its values—or lack thereof. The gross materialism, carelessness, and lack of moral conscience is presented as the dominant culture of society, phasing out the romantically idealistic fantasy that is Gatsby’s life goal. As Gatsby is killed off, away goes that last bit romantic idealism with him, leaving only the degenerate, money-driven, and environmentally blind society behind. Yet little did this society know at the time, Fate was about to catch up and the Great Depression would serve as a much-needed wake-up call.