Wealth And Status In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Social class heavily influences the differences in people’s lifestyle. It is responsible for determining the living conditions and reputations of individuals growing up. The importance of wealth and social status is irrelevant to any character when they ultimately lose themselves in exchange for materialistic items and interests. The lack of passion in one’s character creates a contrast between an individual who lives with purpose and sincerity to someone who leads an empty life as they seek for excitement. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he emphasizes this behaviour on the central characters, consisting of Jay Gatsby, Daisy and Tom Buchanan as they all heavily rely on wealth and status as a means to live everyday.
Fitzgerald focuses

on the behaviour of the upper class as he uses wealth in order to convey their attempts to be accepted amongst others. He creates a society based on taking advantage of others in order to convey how social class ultimately affects the character and their personality. Gatsby illustrates this behaviour as he throws “large parties” (Fitzgerald 50) where people show up uninvited as it becomes a typical gathering every weekend. The narrator, Nick Carraway, indicates how he “had actually been invited” (45) which highlights how although Gatsby seems to be popular and well received by the public, they are only present to enjoy the festive atmosphere rather than to acquaint with Gatsby. In contrast, because the public never had the opportunity to connect with Gatsby, this led to his demise of having no one attend his funeral. Nick makes an attempt to find all of those who had associations with Gatsby but eventually loses hope as he “wanted to go into the room where he lay and reassure him: ‘I’ll get somebody for you, Gatsby… Just trust me and I’ll get somebody for you-’” (156). Although Gatsby seems to be acquainted with many people, his tendency to display his wealth and status inhibits him from creating proper relationships. Fitzgerald highlights how living a materialistic life within an upper class society ultimately degrades the value of having personal relationships.
In comparison to Gatsby’s attempts to fit in, Daisy represents another part of the upper class as she is already born wealthy. This is significant as it demonstrates how there is no obligation of trying to impress others by flaunting her wealth and how people ultimately approach her because of her wealth. As Gatsby perseveres to reunite with Daisy, he attempts to have Nick set them up because “he wants her to see his house” (77) when Nick’s “house is right next door” (77). This illustrates how Daisy’s materialistic lifestyle, convinces Gatsby to rely entirely on his wealth and materialistic possessions to win Daisy’s heart back. Daisy implies how she is only willing to associate herself with others who are of the same social class and that she is easily impressed with money. Also, Daisy grew up in an environment where men and riches easily came to her. This illustrates how she was never required to work for anything her whole life so she spends her time trying to find excitement, such as her affair with Gatsby, to ease her boredom. Gatsby is no exception to her charm as “it excited him, too, that many men had already loved Daisy – it increased her value in his eyes” (141), which Fitzgerald indicates how not only is she a part of the upper class, but she also symbolizes wealth because men feel wealthy being acquainted with her. This shows how social class has alienated her from society as her lack of depth as a character creates her disconnection from her personality.
Furthermore, the concept of wealth and social class is used as a symbol for power and superiority.

Similar to Gatsby and Daisy, Tom uses his wealth and status as a safety net to carry out his desires. Tom becomes an accomplice for Gatsby’s death when he convinces Wilson that it was Gatsby who had killed Myrtle. He states that Gatsby “had it coming to him” (190) as if that justified for his actions, and that because he was displeased with Gatsby for having an affair with Daisy he could easily defy the law and get him killed. Moreover, Tom embodies the trait of being spoiled due to his status and wealth. He believes that he had his “share of suffering, when I went to give up that flat” (190) for his affair with Myrtle, even though it is not justified for committing adultery. He sincerely believes that he is right in executing his plans to get Gatsby killed because Gatsby had defied him. Fitzgerald indicates how people from the upper class are able to escape from the law and start anew because they have the money and status to do so. Lastly, Nick supports this idea when he makes a final revelation about Tom and Daisy. He believes that “they were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (170). This statement specifies how meaningless Tom and Daisy’s lives are because they live without a purpose in life. They create mischief to ease their boredom because they are not required to work for a better life thus, in the aftermath of any disaster, they choose to retreat back to their safety net consisting of money and high social status to escape. This illustrates how in the midst of social status and wealth, the conscience of an individual can be negatively

influenced.
Overall, the concept of social status and wealth has shown the degradation of Gatsby, Daisy and Tom’s characters. There is a disconnection between man and conscience when goals and moral obligations are subsided for wealth and the upper class.