Values In The Great Gatsby

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The 1920’s, better known as the “Roaring 20’s” was a time full of joy and wealth where almost everyone was focused on money. The book The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald adequately demonstrates the life of the upper class during the 1920’s by giving us a glimpse of their lavish lifestyle, showing us the best and worst of them. The best being their massive houses, glamorous cars, and elegant clothing; and their worst being their low morals and selfish attitudes.Throughout the novel, we can catch a glimpse the lavish lifestyle of the main characters such as Daisy, Tom, Gatsby, and Nick who is the narrator. Regardless of Nick’s wealth, his ‘American Dream’ was unfulfilled because in pursuit of becoming a successful bondsman, Nick moved to West Egg and learned that sometimes to become wealthy people go against their morals, which is something he did not want to do. Nick Carraway is originally from the Midwest and his initial ‘American Dream’ was becoming a successful bondsman. Like many others from the Midwest, Nick has what people call “Midwestern Values” which include being friendly, valuing family, and being …show more content…

When Nick moved to West Egg he didn’t let wealth get to him since he declined Gatsby’s job offer even though it could have helped him make more money. After Nick arranged Gatsby’s meeting with Daisy, Gatsby proposed a job offer to Nick in hopes that “it wouldn’t take up much of [his] time and [it would help him] pick up a nice bit of [extra] money” (Fitzgerald 83). Nick’s schedule was busy and he could have easily accepted Gatsby’s job offer to be able to have more free time and earn more money, but Nick declined it. Nick felt offended when Gatsby proposed a job offer to him after he arranged Gatsby’s meeting with Daisy. Nick declined the job offer because aside from knowing about Gatsby’s involvement in illegal activities he didn’t want to owe Gatsby anything later in

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