Role Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

Today America is a consumeristic society, but this very American idea of materialism started and changed American Lifestyle 1920’s after the great war, with industry exploding and new innovations such as credit, shopping malls, refrigerator, vacuum cleaners, and radio. These inventions were the “must have” items that everyone was now required to own. But this idea of needing more and not worrying about the consequences, led to the Great Depression, one of the hardest economic times in American history. This idea of mass consumerism and materialism is also apparent in The Great Gatsby. Where Gatsby’s position in society is based off of his wealth. Gatsby's need for more, the need for Daisy Buchanan result in his decline and ultimately his

They wanted the freedom to concentrate on their own affairs. They also wanted to be able to enjoy the pleasures of life” (12). American society wanted to live a carefree life, and they did. With lavish parties, speakeasies, and household inventions like the vacuum cleaner that allowed more time for leisure activities. With the invention of credit people could buy more, and this buy now pay later mentality became the norm of the time, and still is a prevalent ideology today. Yancey humorously explained credit by saying “‘One more payment and the furniture is ours’ to which she replies, ‘Good. Then we can throw it out and get some new stuff’” (18). But this goal of carefreeness and isolation led to the ignorance of issues. Glickman describes how “Rather than attacking political and corporate corruption, Americans bought Model-T’s; rather than cleaning up slums, they purchased a vast array of new, brand name consumables” (16). This is similar to The Great Gatsby where the Valley of Ashes is a negative result of the massive amount of consumption. But the Valley goes unnoticed, it just is a something there in the backround ignored by high class society. The Valley is just more of an annoyance that the main characters in Gatsby ignored. This ignorance of issues was a direct result of focusing on the

What defines it? Is it once you reach a goal? Is it once you can afford a certain car? Is it once you make ‘x’ amount? In today's society most people base success on material items. It may be because today we are still a very consumerist society where in order to be ‘popular’ or high class you need the latest and greatest even when the newest ‘thing doesn't provide a feasible advantage. This culture is similar in The Great Gatsby where the more important thing than character is wealth, Illustrated by when Tom first meets Gatsby he inquires about Gatsby's wealth. Showing that Tom’s view on people are based on their wealth and not who they really are. But the ideology of material based success hasn’t changed for hundreds of years. This comments on the fact that in our hyper connected society more people more often see examples of wealth and ‘success’ through celebrities that provoke the idea of a materialistic society. This brings up the questions about if being a materialistic society will have negative effects now or in the