Wealth! Looking back centuries ago to now, wealth has proven consistently to be a powerful adversary in its way to control the lives of everybody. Through the wealth that people have attained either through illegal means or honest means , people all over the world have used their wealth to climb the social ladder, reaching a class level so high that not even the highest level of government can touch. The wealthy people may only make up 1% of the population, but the 1% of the world control everything behind the shadows. The usage of wealth and social class can also be seen in the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Although money, wealth, and social class play a considerable role in The Great Gatsby, the three social influences …show more content…
are still not enough to provide Gatsby and others within the novel what they desire such as true love, a higher social class, or just affection. In the beginning of the novel, Daisy (Nick’s cousin who is a carefree and beautiful girl that is in love with money, ease, and materialistic luxury) desires Tom Buchanan’s (Daisy’s husband, an arrogant and hypocritical bully whose social attitudes are laced with racism and sexism) wholehearted love. Daisy in seen in many instances truly loving Tom and wanting their marriage to work, even when she perceives that Tom is secretly having an affair with some “girl” (which is Myrtle). At one point in the beginning of the novel, Daisy has hit one of her breaking points and wishes upon her daughter her hopes that she will be more happy than Daisy because she is not happy with Tom due to his affair. So although Daisy solely desired Tom’s affection at this point in the novel, she was not able to receive it. “ ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful fool’ ” (Fitzgerald 17). This quote shows how Daisy is not a fool, but is the product of a social environment that does not value intelligence in women. She implies that she is unhappy with her current marriage with Tom, wishing that her daughter would be a “beautiful fool”. She also mentions in a subtle way that Daisy considers herself a fool for marrying Tom because she is not quite happy with the way things are between her husband and herself due to Tom’s affair. A few chapters later, Daisy seems to be confused and desires Gatsby, but prioritizes on his materialistic wealth rather than acknowledging that she loves luxury more than Gatsby.While Gatsby is in disillusioned by the past relationship that he had with Daisy, which can no longer be mended.
After being reconnected with Gatsby and learning about his wealth, Daisy seems to have gotten hooked on Gatsby like a form of drugs. Daisy began “loving” Gatsby and this has caused Gatsby to believe that Daisy truly loves him, without coming to the realization that it is not true love. “He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes. Sometimes too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real. Once he nearly toppled down a flight of stairs” (Fitzgerald 91). Gatsby is the epiphany of true love at this point. The author Fitzgerald uses certain words to describe a descriptive picture of how one would imagine their crush and themselves as being the only ones there, while the world disappears and all he can see is Daisy until he stumbles at least. We can also see that Daisy is in fact in love with materialistic objects based on the way that she reacted to each item in Gatsby’s house. Gatsby is disillusioned primarily in this scene due to the fact that he is reevaluating every single one of his possessions based on what Daisy thought of
it. Another character within the novel who seems to be disillusioned by the idea of love and only desired materialistic things is Myrtle. Myrtle is not happy with her marriage with Wilson because she married him believing that he was a “gentleman”. Therefore, she cheats on Wilson with Tom, who is a “true gentleman”. “ ‘I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,’ she said finally, ‘I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe’ . . . ‘Neither of them can stand the person they’re married to’ ” (Fitzgerald 33 & 34). During the 1920s, to be a gentleman meant to be rich, which is not our modern term of having chivalry. Myrtle was disillusioned by Wilson because he was kind to her, he loved her, and she thought he knew something about breeding. Myrtle hit her breaking point when she discovered that the suit that Wilson wore to marry her was in fact the possession of someone else's. Myrtle then decided to have an affair with Tom because he was a “gentleman” and due to the fact that the two were not able to handle or stand the person that they were married to. Although wealth and social class are a powerful tool, it was not enough to provide these characters what they desired, which was primarily love. Daisy loved materialistic things, Tom just wanted to swing around a bit and have some fun, Gatsby wanted to return to the past and the way things were before, and Myrtle just wanted to climb the social ladder and be with a gentleman. Although the characters knew what they wanted, they were disillusioned with the way to obtain it because most of their goals were seemingly impossible to achieve.
The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald relates to the current event video in a few ways. It applies to the reading of Great Gatsby because of the idea of affluenza; which is a way of saying that somebody was raised wealthy and with privilege, and had no consequences for bad behavior, so they do not know how to act or make the best decisions in the real world. Daisy specifically relates to this because she was raised very wealthy and even married wealthy to keep living her luxurious and privilege filled life. “For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras…” (151). She even got away with killing Myrtle because her and Tom were wealthy enough to just disappear, and
Through his vivid depiction of the valley of the ashes in the acclaimed novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald unveils the truth about 1920s America: economic prosperity did not guarantee happiness and resulted in depreciating conditions for those that were not able to connive their way to the top.
The first and most obvious group Fitzgerald attacks is the rich. For many of those of modest means, the rich seem to be unified by their money. They are basically surrounded with the mindset of being wealthy. However, Fitzgerald reveals this is not the case. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presents two distinct types of wealthy people. First, there are people like the Buchanans and Jordan Baker who were born into wealth. Their families have had money for many generations; they are "old money." As portrayed in the novel, the "old money" people don't have to work and they spend their time amusing themselves with whatever takes their fancy. Daisy, Tom, Jordan, and the distinct social class they represent are perhaps the story's most elitist group, imposing distinctions on the other people of wealth (like Gatsby) based
The 1920’s were known to many as a period of change and rebirth. It was a period of history known for lavish parties and extravagant lifestyles. When F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, he created an illusion for readers to decipher and interpret on their own. This allusion contributes to the varied ideas and opinions of the novel. Despite the fact that a majority of the novel can be interpreted so differently, there is one central theme that is portrayed endlessly throughout the novel: wealth. Wealth was looked upon as a deciphering factor between social classes which ultimately led to a distinct gap in the categories of society. Many thought that wealth led to an invitation into society inhibited with wealth and
The culture and society of the 1920s greatly emphasized the division between old money and new money which was presented in The Great Gatsby. The society affected many components of The Great Gatsby. Immigrants from various nations left many americans jobless. New wealth and old wealth had a major gap than others recognized. The novel showed the gap between the Buchanan’s and Gatsby in assorted ways. The wealth described the social status of many of the individuals. The wealth helped a few individuals but proved to be a disaster for others.
"Wealth is the slave of a wise man. The master of a fool." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca. The Great Gatsby tells the story of a man who came from nothing in order to achieve everything for the love of his life. However, during the 1920s, that everything was basically wealth. Wealth was one of the American Dreams, means to achieve prosperity through hard work. In the Great Gatsby, wealth appears to be a central theme, and it had been evident in the relation between Daisy and Tom, Myrtle and Tom, as well as the enigma Jay Gatsby.
In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it shows that money can corrupt a person’s life. The novel’s main characters attain a life of luxury that they never want to leave. They allow the pursuit of money to control their every move. The main character, Jay Gatsby, tries to improve himself with his original dream. Nevertheless, after meeting with Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby became obsessed with earning enough money to win her over. Gatsby lies and tries to impersonate a person who has old money rather than new money. Gatsby, Daisy, and Myrtle demonstrate that the American Dream dead in Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates that money and class status is a much stronger bond than love as seen through the marriages of Tom and Daisy and Myrtle and George. Despite Daisy’s constant complaints about Tom and his adultery, they somehow end the novel more united than ever before. Their marriage is oddly more stable that Myrtle and George’s marriage because they can retreat to their money and status, as Tom and Daisy’s marriage guarantees continued membership in the ultra rich world. Although Gatsby showed extreme infatuation for Daisy, it is a class division that separates the two and ensures Daisy’s marriage to Tom, who is from the same class as she is.
From the fast cars, cabarets,extravagant parties,and luxury of the 1920’s, it brought excitement and life back to the United States after World War I. Sadly this lifestyle of comfort and amusement did not last long. The 1920’s was like one of Gatsby’s party in the novel The Great Gatsby. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s parties were filled with wealthy, happy people, and luxurious items.It was as if at the party, the guest were in their own little world. Once all the guest had left, everyone had went back to reality, and faced their problems. The part where everyone left Gatsby’s party was like the hidden cryptic messages the 1920’s hid underneath all the wealth. Although the 1920’s was a
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.
The characters’ lives in the novel The Great Gatsby revolve around the desire for social status, and wealth. The characters believe money will give them happiness which was proven to be wrong. The illusion of happiness and correlation to wealth led to the characters downfall. The four characters Gatsby, Tom, Daisy, and Myrtle assume that wealth will give them happiness. They live their lives to achieve happiness but their wealth ultimately leaves them lonely or dead. The characters in the novel are blinded by wealth and proved to create distress and sadness instead.
Most people believe that money doesn’t buy happiness or do something that makes you happy. In the time of the 1920’s money and material wealth are all anybody cared about. In his book The Great Gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates that in spite of this popular belief, money and material wealth won’t buy long-term happiness.
Socioeconomics are the study of the economic activity and how it could be influenced by society. The idea that the economy has the ability to be improved by society was called social progress. The Great Gatsby had a lot of social progress shown through how the main characters, Nick Carraway, Jordan Baker, Jay Gatz, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson, all lived in their Long Island houses. Part of that social progress was beneficial to their economy and some had been harmful to it too. Socioeconomics in The Great Gatsby are illustrated through different interactions between the characters like Daisy & Gatsby, Myrtle & Tom, Nick & Jordan, in addition to the places they called home.
Karl Marx, author of The Communist Manifesto, theorized that people think and behave based on economic factors. Marx contemplated that people with large amounts of wealth and in the upper social class influenced and controlled those of the lower classes. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, these Marxist issues are very prevalent, as the book is focused on this greed and hierarchy of the upper class. Even though Fitzgerald may not have meant for it to be, The Great Gatsby is a commentary and warning of excess and the dangerous influence of the upper class.
‘The Great Gatsby’, composed by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a powerful display of symbolism and allows the reader to a deeper understanding of social status and wealth. Social status and wealth are an important part of the narrative and the 1920’s. By utilizing the symbolic significance of colours and the Valley of Ashes to enhance and depict the crevice between the diverse social levels in New York. The author has skilfully incorporated many references to the colours when referring to Gatsby and Daisy in order to show how the characters display their wealth. So too does the narrative focus on wealth as means of the characters desires to achieve their dreams, by creating distinct social classes which includes old money, new money, and no money.