Desire for Wealth Leads to Downfall in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, captures a fine description of how life was in America during the Jazz Age. The Jazz Age signaled an end to traditional American values and a movement towards new ones. The purpose of The Great Gatsby was to show how traditional American values were abandoned and how the pursuit and desire for wealth could lead to the downfall of one’s dreams and goals in life. Happiness obtained from money is only an illusion, money has the power to corrupt and obscure one’s mind and lead one down the path of failure and misery. By using symbolism, imagery, and character personalities and traits, F. Scott Fitzgerald manipulates language to fulfill the purpose of The Great Gatsby.
First of all, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many pieces of symbolism throughout The Great Gatsby. Three examples of symbolism are the valley of ashes, the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, and Daisy’s voice full of money. Fitzgerald uses these three examples to depict the desire for money and its effects on people during the Jazz Age. Fitzgerald states in The Great Gatsby, “This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens…and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight” (23). This eerie and gloomy description of the “valley of ashes” symbolizes the deterioration of moral and social values in America. Wealth is on the top of everyone’s list and they are abandoning a social culture and leaving in to perish in ruins. Another example of symbolism would be the green light on the dock. Nick Carraway states in In the Great Gatsby, “…he [Gatsby] stretc...

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...ay asked Gatsby, “Was Daisy driving?” (143). Gatsby responds with, “Yes, but of course I’ll say I was” (143). This shows yet another example of how Gatsby would do anything for wealth or Daisy. This leads to Gatsby’s demise, “The chauffeur…heard the shots… It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete” (161-162). This just shows that when one puts wealth above all other purposes, it could lead to one’s death.
In conclusion, the purpose of the Great Gatsby was to show how traditional American values were abandoned and how the pursuit and desire for wealth could lead to the downfall of one’s dreams and goals in life. F. Scott Fitzgerald was able to use symbolism, imagery, and character development to establish and fulfill the purpose of The Great Gatsby.

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