Why Is Money Important In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby

Wealth plays an enormous factor in today's day to day life. Having money greatly impacts how someone looks at you, both good and bad. Working for money can display that the person was not born with what they have, they earned it. However their are some people who are born with money, and this can make another person who worked to earn their money very agitated.In F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby characters range from rich living in the West Egg or poor living in The Valley Of ashes.

Old money in The Great Gatsby clearly has to upper hand all throughout the. First beginning with Nick who never waved his money around. Then going to Tom Buchanan, who clearly was not afraid to show what his parts gave him. Later Daisy

Buchanan, Tom’s wife, come into the picture who is also old money with her, “...Voice full of money”. More towards the end of the book Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s mistress, is introduced however she is not of old money. Myrtle is neither old or new money, she lives in The Valley of Ashes where the less fortunate live.
In the very beginning of The Great Gatsby Nick opens talking about a life lesson his dad gave him when he was young. He said, “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”
( Fitzgerald page 1).

This quote is purely talking about the advantages of having old money, or money that has been passed down to someone instead of earned. Although Nick has money he does not flaunt it around like the other characters in the book. Nick watches from the sideline as Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby tried to get through life, and the love triangle between them. Throughout the book Nick begins to become tired of how “ They were careless people…” (Fitzgerald page ) he talked about how they did not mind spending money, or how they acted because they could easily cover it up with money. Nick did not want this type of lifestyle, so he looked for some with the same morals as him, Jordan Baker was a perfect fit. Jordan Baker,a professional golfer, of old money was almost exactly like Nick in the way they put their morals towards money. However later on in the book Jordan’s thoughts about money and wealth began to change. She started to get careless with her money, which was Nick’s biggest pet peeve, so Nick left everyone and went back

home.
Tom Buchanan a “brute of a man” (Fitzgerald page ) who lives in a massive mansion on West Egg.

He hands out money like it is nothing. He buys anything for Daisy, and Myrtle, the two girls he is dating. He bought Daisy a long pearl necklace worth thousands, which Daisy soon rips off not caring at all about the price. Myrtle wanted a puppy so when they are at their apartment they can have a pet. At first Tom was unsure, but when they saw the puppies he said to buy it and get ten more as well. Later on in the week Tom and Myrtle are at a party when Myrtle said,"Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai –– "(fitzgerald ) Tom then reacts by, “Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand” Tom’s actions show that money really does have power. If Tom was not from old money everyone would not have been okay with Tom breaking her

nose.
Gatsby, the main focus of the book, does not appear until later on. He is of new money, he works for what he has, and is infatuated with Daisy Buchanan, Tom’s wife.Although Gatsby worked for his money he too does not mind flaunting his money. He buys a huge mansion right across the bay from Daisy in the East Egg. This shows that he is not a millionaire, but he is not broke either.
Money is an amazing thing to have, when in the right hands. The concept of having achieving a large amount of money corrupts a person’s mind into only think about the idea of being rich. However working for money makes the person proud, but some become so proud that they are awful to the people around them. Money being passed down to a person from family wealth can make the person become lazy, and uncaring what they spend it on or how much they spend.