Nick and his Experiences of Materialism in "The Great Gatsby"

1434 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: social class theory in the great gatsby

The Great Gatsby shows the ambition of one man's achievement of his goal, the disappointment of failing, and the hopelessness of it. During the era of this novel, which is around the 1920's, America was a country with huge misery, ambition, and lack of humanity values. The novel shows a reflection of this decade, it illustrates the burning passion one man has toward his objective and the different aspects of the American principles. As the sequence of events continues in the story, someone will narrate the singular aspects of it; exposing the idea of the conflicts that will happen among different social levels.

Nick Carraway, the chronicler of this exciting plot, moved out from the Midwest to New York in the early 1920’s, trying to get away from the restricted environment of his times of yore. He wanted to experience a different environment in a refined area with meticulous rules, so he accidently rented a small house near to the mysterious Jay Gatsby and across from his cousin’s house, which will be Daisy Fay Buchanan and her wealthy husband Tom Buchanan. In contrast, in the 1920's the spirit and ambition of the American people soared. Unlike their European counterparts who were trapped in the social class to which they were born, the American people knew that if they worked hard then they could rise to a higher social class. The flappers and the movement of women’s liberation are just two examples of how Americans expressed their social freedom, and it seemed that nothing was impossible to accomplish.

Nick Carraway, having fought in World War I, returned home to begin a career. Like others in his generation, he is restless and has decided to move to New York for him to pursue his career in business. Right after his gradua...

... middle of paper ...

...l in life is an absurd assumption to make, according to Nick. As we can see, he did not believe this at the beginning of the story, since his dream was to go and explore the world and be a wealthy style person. It was after certain time that his mind began to realize the real importance of being a human. Accordingly to my thoughts and experiences, society lies in a simple avariciousness, which is defined as the unreasonably strong desire to obtain and retain wealth. From my experiences throughout my life I have realized that a greater percentage of the population of the world prefers to have wealth instead of living happy. I am not going to negate that having money can sometimes pull you out of deep problems, but we as human beings have to understand that richness is not the ultimate goal of life. Before it we must accomplish our self-esteem and social value goals.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Nick In The Great Gatsby

    1949 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Great Gatsby was one of many creative stories F. Scott Fitzgerald successfully wrote during his era. The 1920’s brought new things to Fitzgerald and his newly wedded wife, but once all the fame and glamour ended so did they. Fitzgerald’s life eventually came crashing down in depression and misery following the 1920’s, and he would never be the same. Fitzgerald became very vulnerable to this era and could not control himself, which came back to haunt him. Fitzgerald wrote the book in first person limited, and used Nick as his narrator to explain the dramatic story which revolved around the life of Jay Gatsby. Nick told of the roaring 1920’s, and how the wealthy people of New York lived and prospered, just like Fitzgerald. Drinking, partying,

    Read More

  • Who Is Fitzgerald Present Nick's Judgment In The Great Gatsby

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first person and uses the vantage point of Nick Caraway. The story is told through the eyes of Nick and all character development is through Nick’s mind. Nick’s values, attitudes, and judgments are the way they are because of Nick’s past. The way Nick was raised reflects his values judgments and Nick is the narrator behind the story, vocalizing how he perceives things that take place in the story. Nick’s judgments of main characters Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby are shaped because of his judgments and values.

    Read More

  • Gatsby Rough Draft

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Roaring Twenties was a time of excitement for the American people, with cities bustling with activity and a large community that appreciated Jazz, thus creating the title the “Jazz Age.” The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald takes place in this magnificent age characterized by Jazz and the popular new dance, the “Charleston.” Through the midst of all this new activity, we follow a character named Jay Gatsby through the eyes of the narrator, Nick Carraway. Fitzgerald’s themes of friendship and The American Dream is seen in The Great Gatsby through Nick and Jay’s companionship and Gatsby’s growth from being a simple farm boy to becoming a wealthy man.

    Read More

  • American Dream Derailed in The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman

    1490 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, is not necessarily looking to live the dream but to become successful in business. After World War I, Nick decides to move to Long Island, New York, better known as the “West Egg”. He rents a cottage and ends up living next door to the extravagantly wealthy and mysterious Jay Gatsby. In the twenties, people trying to become successful by hard work were obsessed with their social class statuses....

    Read More

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great Gatsby is a symbolic novel of the disintegration of the American dream in an era of extraordinary prosperity and material excess. On the surface, we see that it is a story about the love between a man and a woman but the overall theme is the collapse of the American dream in society. We find that every character in their own way is searching for their American dream but as a result, their desire for wealth and pleasure, caused them to find themselves lost in the corruption of the aristocrat society.

    Read More

  • The American Dream in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    The 1920’s was a time of great change to both the country lived in as well as the goals and ambitions that were sought after by the average person. During this time, priorities shifted from family and religion to success and spontaneous living. The American dream, itself, changed into a self centered and ongoing personal goal that was the leading priority in most people’s lives. This new age of carelessness and naivety encompasses much of what this earlier period is remembered for. In addition, this revolution transformed many of the great writers and authors of the time as well as their various works. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, perfectly symbolizes many emergent trends of the 1920’s. More importantly the character of Jay Gatsby is depicted as a man amongst his American dream and the trials he faces in the pursuit of its complete achievement. His drive for acquiring the girl of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan, through gaining status and wealth shows many aspects of the authors view on the American dream. Through this, one can hope to disassemble the complex picture that is Fitzgerald’s view of this through the novel. Fitzgerald believes, through his experiences during the 1920’s, that only fractions of the American Dream are attainable, and he demonstrates this through three distinct images in The Great Gastby.

    Read More

  • The Effect of Materialism in The Great Gatsby

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    Materialism has a negative influence on the characters in the novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. “The most terrible thing about materialism even more terrible than its proneness to violence, is its boredom, from which sex, alcohol, drugs, all devices for putting out the accusing light of reason and suppressing the unrealizable aspirations of love, offers a prospect of deliverance.” This quote, stated by Malcolm Muggeridge, says that people get bored with the things that they have when they get new things all of the time. When they get bored with these things, they turn to stuff like sex, alcohol, and drugs. In The Great Gatsby, Myrtle, Daisy, and Gatsby are greatly influenced by money, and material things. The negative influence that materialism has on these characters is shown throughout the entire novel.

    Read More

  • Significance Of The Mafia In The Great Gatsby

    1736 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Great Gatsby is an American novel of hope and longing, and is one of the very few novels in which “American history finds its figurative form (Churchwell 292).” Gatsby’s “greatness” involves his idealism and optimism for the world, making him a dreamer of sorts. Yet, although the foreground of Fitzgerald’s novel is packed with the sophisticated lives of the rich and the vibrant colors of the Jazz Age, the background consists of the Meyer Wolfsheims, the Rosy Rosenthals, the Al Capones, and others in the vicious hunt for money and the easy life. Both worlds share the universal desire for the right “business gonnegtion,” and where the two worlds meet at the borders, these “gonnegtions” are continually negotiated and followed (James E. Miller). Gatsby was a character meant to fall at the hands of the man meant to be a reality check to the disillusions of the era.

    Read More

  • Jay Gatsby's Dream

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    Like many Americans still believe today, Gatsby believed that material things alone constitutes the American Dream. The story itself, and the main figure, are tragic, and it is precisely the fantastic vulgarity of the scene which adds to the excellence of Gatsby’s soul its finest qualities, and to his tragic fate its sharpest edge. Gatsby is betrayed to the reader gradually, and with such tenderness, which in the end makes his tragedy a deeply moving one. Finally, before his death, Gatsby becomes disillusioned. His inner life of dreams loses its power and he finds himself alone in the emptiness of a purely material universe.

    Read More

  • Social and Moral Values in Relation to the Downfall of Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    ‘The Great Gatsby’ is social satire commentary of America which reveals its collapse from a nation of infinite hope and opportunity to a place of moral destitution and corruption during the Jazz Age. It concentrates on people of a certain class, time and place, the individual attitudes of those people and their inner desires which cause conflict to the conventional values, defined by the society they live in. Gatsby is unwilling to combine his desires with the moral values of society and instead made his money in underhanded schemes, illegal activities, and by hurting many people to achieve the illusion of his perfect dream.

    Read More

  • Decencies In The Great Gatsby

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    This quotation, by Nick, is about society and class. It demonstrates the fact that public’s perspective is formed in the way that all they value is money. Nick believes that money is not the only thing that matters in the world; however, there is “a sense of the fundamental decencies,” which is honesty and acceptable behaviour that must be valued. He mentions that humans are born with different moral values and the innate sense of behaving ethically. Additionally, it can be concluded that possessing these characteristics is what organizes

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Nick In The Great Gatsby

    1898 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Nick Carraway’s narration throughout the novel, he is observant of the characters who long for the American Dream, yet doesn’t judge too quickly. However, his “dream” has little connection to wealth, unlike other characters. It’s more of his morals and mental values that consist of loyalty, equality, and friendship that no other characters possess. His mental value of his friends has “infinite hope” (Page 2). Nick doesn’t jump to conclusion, leaving leeway for his hope to be upheld by the character. For instance, at Gatsby’s party, Nick hears rumors about Gatsby, nevertheless assumes he is, but he still remains not entirely trustworthy of him. But sometimes Nick has such a high hope that leads to disappointment. Even Nick is a little

    Read More

  • A Critical Review of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

    1545 Words  | 4 Pages

    In conclusion, The Great Gatsby is a morally and historically enlightening classic about the moral decline in the 1920s. F. Scott Fitzgerald fabricated brilliant symbolic allusions in every line of writing. The book never loses meaning, for it comes from an unforgettable, real time period in American society. It is recommended for a person of any age, race, or gender who is interested in understanding a peculiar part of what the modern world has become. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby truly captures the essence of American literature.

    Read More

  • Free Great Gatsby Essays: Reflection of an Era

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the 1920's America was a country of great ambition, despair and disappointment. The novel The Great Gatsby is a reflection of this decade, it illustrates the burning passion one man has toward his "American Dream" and the different aspects of the dream. Fitzgerald's work is a reflection of America during his lifetime. The Great Gatsby shows the ambition of one man's reach for his "American Dream," the disappointment of losing this dream and the despair of his loss.

    Read More

  • The Pursuit of Wealth, Power, and Pleasure in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hugh Hefner once said, “I looked back on the roaring Twenties, with its jazz, 'Great Gatsby' and the pre-Code films as a party I had somehow managed to miss.” The parties of the Roaring Twenties were used to symbolize wealth and power in a society that was focused more on materialism and gossip than the important things in life, like family, security, and friends. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan as the epitome of the era. The reader sees these characters acting selfishly and trying to meddle with others’ lives. On the other hand, Nick Carraway, the narrator, acts more to help others and act honestly. Initially the reader sees Carraway’s views towards Jay Gatsby as negative as Gatsby’s actions are perceived as being like the Buchanan’s. As the novel moves forward, the reader notices a change in Carraway’s attitude towards Gatsby. Carraway sees Gatsby for whom he truly is, and that is a loving person who only became rich to win Daisy’s heart. But in this the reader also sees how corrupt and hurtful Gatsby’s actions were to the love of his life. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy reveals that just as Gatsby’s dream of wooing Daisy is corrupted by illegalities and dishonesty, the “American Dream” of friendship and individualism has disintegrated into the simple pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.

    Read More

More about Nick and his Experiences of Materialism in "The Great Gatsby"

Open Document