Old Money In The Great Gatsby

Even though old money and new money are to different ways of obtaining wealth, old money and new money are important in the Great Gatsby because money was used to show how important someone was and with money you could achieve the American Dream. Money is a very important symbol in the Great Gatsby, there was always something in the book that you could refer back to having money. There was two different ways that Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby obtained their wealth. Tom inherited his money which they called back in the day as old money. Jay Gatsby gained his wealth in a different way which was called new money; he obtained it by making it on his own not having it inherited to him. Each of them had their differences and they did not respect each

other in the ways they had gotten their wealth throughout the book. Also, there is a difference in money today compared to the money back in the 1920’s that the author Fitzgerald wrote the book about.
In the Great Gatsby money is a sign of power and importance in society. If you did not have money you were not important and the only way to become someone you had to have money. In the book Gatsby talks about how he waited till he made something of himself before he could go back to Daisy (Fitzgerald). Just from that example you can see that money to him and many other people in the book if you had money you were something. Also, the American Dream described by Gatsby was you have to obtain money then you will have reached the American Dream (Fitzgerald). The American Dream was very important and money was a big part of someone achieving that dream. The reason the American Dream was so important to people is America has just ended World War 1 in 1918, and the Great Depression would hit in 1929. People needed hope so they believed in the American Dream which to must people they would not achieve that dream (Gilderlehrman). There was only a small amount of people that made that dream come true. Another example from the book is that if a certain person had no money they were not treated the same as someone that did (Fitzgerald). When Nick arrived he was nothing and they treated him like nothing, until Gatsby found out that he was related to Daisy. If Nick would have achieved the American Dream before he came to New York he would have been known and Gatsby might have invited him to his parties without knowing Daisy. The American Dream was all about having money and materials, unlike how it was supposed to be which is equality (ovtg.de). It shows throughout the book that money was over everything and no one felt safe without it. The book explains the American Dream how it was about money and materialism (Novel guide). There was two different ways that people obtain the American Dream, they could obtain it one by inheriting the money which can be called old money. The other way was working for that money and bootlegging if that person had to if they wanted to obtain the American Dream (Fitzgerald). Both are two different ways that someone can have the American Dream, old money is the easiest one to obtain, they did not have to work that money they inherited it.
The characters that got their wealth was Tom and Daisy they got their money from inheriting it called old money. The old money that Tom if gives a personality as seen in this quote said by Tom, "I've got a nice place here," he said, his eyes flashing about restlessly.
Turning me around by one arm, he moved a broad flat hand along the front vista, including in its sweep a sunken Italian garden, a half-acre of deep, pungent roses, and a snub-nosed motor-boat that bumped the tide offshore. "It belonged to Demaine, the oil man." He turned me around again, politely and abruptly. (Fitzgerald 7) Tom got the place from Demaine he did not have to work for that it was given to him. Another quote shows that he does not respect bootleggers as he describes Gatsby said by Tom, "I found out what your 'drug-stores' were." He turned to us and spoke rapidly. "He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That's one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn't far wrong." said Gatsby politely. "I guess your friend Walter Chase wasn't too proud to come in on it." (Fitzgerald 133) Tom wants to make Gatsby look bad on the way he got his money, because Tom’s way is not bootlegging, which he looks down upon. Tom thinks he is doing the right by not bootlegging but he has his faults by the way he has gotten his money. He thinks his is something special by this quote, “The Carraways are something of a clan, and we have a tradition that we're descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch, but the actual founder of my line was my grandfather's brother, who came here in fifty-one, sent a substitute to the Civil War, and started the wholesale hardware business that my father carries on to-day. (Fitzgerald 3) That shows you what he thinks of his old money that he has inherited. It made him a cruel man and not having much respect for anyone. The money has gotten to him because he has a mistress named Myrtle Wilson (Fitzgerald). Now, if he thinks he is so much better than everyone else he would not have cheated on his wife. So by him having old money does not make him any better than Gatsby because he bootlegs his money. Another way we know that Tom has old money is because he lives in East egg in New York City, that’s where the people that have gotten wealth live (Novel guide). At the time people that had old money tend to live in East egg instead of living in West egg. Gatsby lived in West egg and had used different ways to get is wealth unlike Tom that had been giving it to him.
Gatsby had wealth that people of the time would call it as being new money.

New money is someone that had come from a lower social class and could not obtain certain items or luxuries, because they could not afford them (dictionary). This category Gatsby is unlike Tom that got his money from old money. We can see from this quote he was making his money in a honest way until he started bootlegging by saying this, "Oh, I've been in several things," he corrected himself. "I was in the drug business and then I was in the oil business. But I'm not in either one now."(Fitzgerald 90) this quote shows that he did make his money by doing those things before bootlegging his wealth first taught to him by Dan Cody and then he started to do it with his friend named Wolfsheim (Fitzgerald). This is how Gatsby got to be rich unlike Tom who got his money from inheriting it. Bootlegging is the process of selling alcohol illegally which was called prohibition in the 1920’s (Mark Thorton). If there was no prohibition Gatsby might have had to find a different way to all his wealth that he had called from it. Also, how Gatsby go his money and the people he associated with that helped him get all his money you can see from this quote, “Meyer Wolfsheim? No, he’s a gambler.” “He’s the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919.” Nick responds by thinking this, “The idea staggered me. I remembered, of course, that the World's Series had been fixed in 1919, but if I had thought of it at all I

would have thought of it as a thing that merely happened, the end of some inevitable chain. It never occurred to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people – with the single-mindedness of a burglar blowing a safe.”(Fitzgerald 73). From these quotes you can see that Gatsby was doing the wrong things to obtain his so called American dream and his new money. The thing was back then you could get away with that kind of stuff because money was very powerful, police could not stop the illegal consume of alcohol. Many bootleggers just like Gatsby and Wolfsheim could have bribed the police, even leading officials (ovtg.de). That shows you how it easy it was to sell illegal alcohol without getting caught, so it was somewhat easy for Gatsby to gain his wealth with the help of Wolfsheim. So if it was not for the United States banning of alcohol Gatsby might have had to find a different way of making his money. Gatsby’s way of making money was not as accepted as Tom’s way of making it but both of them still had the so called American dream.
Through the whole book it talks about or hints at the difference between Tom’s money which is the old money and Gatsby money which is old money.

Now, Tom’s money is from generations of his wealthy family, which had been passed on to him. Gatsby money is self-made wealth; he acquired his money by doing something for it. In the book they both show there wealth in different ways Tom does not show it as much as Gatsby. The wealth does make Tom thinking he is better than everyone by saying, “Now don’t think my opinion on these matters is final,” he seemed to say, “just because I’m a stronger and more of men than you are.”(Fitzgerald 7) It is showing that he thinks he is more important and knows more because he has money than the other people. Tom is very arrogant with his money and he lets better know about it in many ways. Even though Tom thought he was better than everyone he did not get his money by doing the things Gatsby has done. Jay Gatsby liked to show off his money by throwing big parties and having many cars (Fitzgerald). He wanted people to know that he had money and liked to entertain hoping one day Daisy would come to his party. Another reason that shows that Gatsby liked to show off his money is he threw those parties which added to the carelessness of the time with money (Novel guide). If Gatsby did not want people to know about his wealth he would not have had parties every week. Another quote that adds to Gatsby’s carelessness is, “Every Friday five crates of

oranges and lemons arrived from a fruiterer in New York every Monday these same oranges and lemons left hos backdoor in a pyramid to pulp less halves.” (Fitzgerald 39-40) These shows how careless Gatsby was and how corrupted the American Dream was. The way Gatsby got his money and the way he just threw it away every week but by bootlegging never losing any of it. They both were careless with their money Tom buys his mistress Myrtle anything she wants, whenever she wants it. Gatsby also does the same thing he buys whatever he wants whenever he wants it. It shows us how careless people were with their money unlike today when everyone seems to be keeping and saving it.
Money today is a lot different than it was back then, the way we spend our money today is different from back in the 1920’s. Back in the 1920’s there was a lot new discoveries and inventions, also almost every man was involved with investing in something (History.com). That shows you how much America was changing and how many people invested in something which means they could become rich with one product or idea. Another thing is America had extra money that they used to spend on appliances but the most important product they bought was the model T car. The car only cost two hundred and sixty dollars back in 1924 (History.com). In today’s money that it would be thirteen thousand seven hundred and thirteen dollars that shows you how much inflation has increased. The American Dream is still alive today even if it might be a little different then what it was back then. The Dream today can be described as having a home, a good job, and money to live on later in life (wallstcheatsheet.com). That shows that people today can still achieve the American Dream. Also, technology is changing and the advancements are greater than the ones back in the 1920 so there are more chances for people to invest in that to make money. Just like back then there was opportunity that Americans had to become wealthy they do not have a problem with inequality they believe if you work for it anyone can become rich (Huffingtonpost.com). It shows you that money might change but the will to become rich has not people will become wealthy if they work hard enough for it just like it the Great Gatsby How Jay Gatsby worked for what he wanted. Jay Gatsby might have had prohibition on his side which it might have added to ways people could obtain money since alcohol was illegal at the time, so it was easy to make money just like Jay Gatsby had done to get most of his wealth. Today you cannot make money the money they did back then by selling alcohol since it is not illegal to sell it. The reason money has changed is because of the demand for stuff is different than what it was back then. The technology and the resources to make certain things have become more of a demand which has increased the inflation of money. That is the money today compared to money back in the 1920’s.
There are many differences of old money versus new money in the Great Gatsby and that fueled the book. It added to the characters and the theme of the book and it showed us what people did with their money throughout. Another thing that money showed us is the characters motives in obtaining the money that they had. Without money being a big theme in the book it would not have gotten its point across and it would have not been known in the book that it was a major theme. Throughout the book the old money was explained with Tom as being the character that had that inherited money. Gatsby had the new money and it told us how he got his money, the ways he had to get his money. There was always tension between people that had old money and new money. There might have been many differences between it but both had achieved the American Dream of that time period by having wealth that they could use to spend on what they wanted. Also, money and the American Dream had changed from back in the 1920’s people had different desires on what they want to spend their money on.