Role Of Materialization In The Great Gatsby

It is often said that the American Dream only refers to the accumulation of wealth and having a perfect life. However, it is also a well-known fact that this growth of wealth, usually comes with personal problems. One of the most important causes of these problems is the materialization of the personal relationships, a process in which someone develops a value system in regards to his/her social status. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald does an excellent job portraying the materialization of the most important characters, in which wealth plays a major role in the lost of humanity, compassion, and love of the characters.

One of the first things the reader learns is Tom and Daisy’s relationship, but most importantly, how Tom

At the beginning of the novel, Gatsby is known for his mysterious and his gigantic parties, where everyone in East and West Egg were dying to attend. “People were not invited- they went there….Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all…”(41) Parties were full of people and his house packed of incredibly rich people, businessmen, and artists. At the end of the novel, in contrast, not a single person of this enormous crowd goes to Gatsby’s funeral or is even willing to go. “...it grew upon me that I was responsible, because no else was interested- interested, I mean, with that intense personal interest to which every one has some vague right at the end.” (164) Jay Gatsby was famous among the New York citizens, but after his death the casual and hedonist entertainment he represented, both as a person and as a provider, goes away. And with that, the many friends and acquaintances go away as well, with no room for compassion. “The minister glanced several times at this watch, so I took him aside and asked him to wait for half an hour. But it wasn’t any use. Nobody