Theme Of Money In The Great Gatsby

“The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the vast social difference between the old aristocrats, the new self-made rich and the poor. He vividly interprets the social stratification during the roaring twenties as each group has their own problems to deal with. Old Money, who have fortunes dating from the 19th century, have built up powerful and influential social connections, and tend to hide their wealth and superiority behind a veneer of civility. The New Money made their fortunes in the 1920s boom and therefore have no social connections and tend to overcompensate for this lack with lavish displays of wealth. As usual, the No Money gets overlooked by the struggle at the top, leaving them forgotten or ignored. Such is exemplified by Jay Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan. Their ambitions distinctly represent their class in which Fitzgerald implies strongly about.

The novel The Great Gatsby, is very effective in showing how social and moral values of Americans declined and became less strict in the 1920’s. F. Scott Fitzgerald gets this theme across to the reader by using symbols and characters such as the Valley of Ashes, Jay Gatsby’s parties, and Gatsby’s life in general. This book shows the lifestyle of the wealthy in the 1920’s which was very carefree and extravagant. The story and analysis of the lives of these wealthy young men and women, along with a number of symbols in the novel, demonstrate the lack of moral values during this time period.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby provides the reader with a unique outlook on the life of the newly rich. Gatsby is an enigma and a subject of great curiosity, furthermore, he is content with a lot in life until he strives too hard. His obsession with wealth, his lonely life and his delusion allow the reader to sympathize with him.

Money and Corruption in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby During the time in our country's history called the roaring twenties, society had a new obsession, money. Just shortly after the great depression, people's focus now fell on wealth and success in the economic realm. Many Americans would stop at nothing to become rich and money was the new factor in separation of classes within society. Wealth was a direct reflection of how successful a person really was and now became what many people strived to be, to be rich. Wealth became the new stable in the "American dream" that people yearned and chased after all their lives.

The Great Gatsby set in the glistening and glittering world of wealth and glamour of 1920s Jazz Age in America. However, the story of the poor boy who tried to fulfill the American Dream of living a richer and fuller life ends in Gatsby’s demise. One of the reasons for the tragedy is the corrupting influence of greed on Gatsby. As soon as Gatsby starts to see money as means of transforming his fantasy of winning Daisy’s love into reality, his dream turns into illusion. However, other characters of the novel are also affected by greed. On closer inspection it turns out that almost every individual in the novel is covetous of something other people have. In this view, the meaning of greed in the novel may be varied The greed is universally seen as desire for material things. However, in recent studies the definition of “greed” has come to include sexual greed and greed as idolatry, understood as fascination with a deity or a certain image (Rosner 2007, p. 7). The extended definition of greed provides valuable framework for research on The Great Gatsby because the objects of characters’ desires can be material, such as money and possessions, or less tangible, such as love or relationship.

In ‘The Great Gatsby’ Fitzgerald criticises the increase of consumerism in the 1920s and the abandonment of the original American Dream , highlighting that the increased focus on wealth and the social class associated with it has negative effects on relationships and the poorest sections of society. The concept of wealth being used as a measure of success and worth is also explored by Plath in ‘The Bell Jar’. Similarly, she draws attention to the superficial nature of this material American Dream which has extended into the 1960s, but highlights that gender determines people’s worth in society as well as class.

Within the text The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald analyzes the importance of wealth within the early twentieth century in America, which allows the reader to understand the perspectives of different social status. Moreover, he proves the importance of wealth through presenting characters that are influenced by social status. Concurrently, Fitzgerald identifies how a person’s social status shapes one’s personality and motives.

In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald portrays three different social classes. The old money is represented by Tom and Daisy Buchanan. The old money families have had their wealth passed down and have built up powerful and influential connections. They usually try to hide their wealth. The new money is Jay Gatsby. The new money classes have made their fortunes with their hard work and determination. This class is a result of the 1920’s boom and because of this have very few to none connection. Because of this they tend to make up for this with over-the-top ways to show off their wealth. For example Gatsby’s house is a physical symbol of Gatsby's love for Daisy. Gatsby used his new money to make a place that he matched the houses of the old money that Daisy lives in. Through this action, it shows the developing rivalry between the old and new money in the struggle between Gatsby and Tom over Daisy. Gatsby's mansion can symbolize two themes of the novel. Gatsby’s house can also represent the greatness and emptiness of the 1920s. Gatsby lives in his house all alone and then fills his house weekly with parties. Also the no money class is represented by George and Myrtle Wilson. This class gets overlooked by the struggle at the top. This l...

F. Scott Fitzgerald uses The Great Gatsby in order to display the wretchedness of upper-class society in the United States. The time period, the 1920s, was an age of new opulence and wealth for many Americans. As there is an abundance of wealth today, there are many parallels between the behavior of the wealthy in the novel and the behavior of today’s rich. Fitzgerald displays the moral emptiness and lack of personal ethics and responsibility that is evident today throughout the book. He also examines the interactions between social classes and the supposed noblesse oblige of the upper class. The idea of the American dream and the prevalence of materialism are also scrutinized. All of these social issues spoken about in The Great Gatsby are relevant in modern society. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses this novel as an indictment of a corrupt American culture that is still present today.

Money is essential for survival; it can bring happiness, despair, or corruption. It rules our daily lives, is preferred in large amounts, and separates us into different social classes. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is a perfect example of this since the class structure within the novel, portrays how money or the need for it can cause corruption in all the different social classes. This is shown through the three distinct classes: old money represented by the Buchanan’s and their self-centered, racist nature, new money represented by Gatsby and his mysterious, illegal ways, and a class that can be called no money represented by the Wilson’s and their attempts at attaining wealth. Each class in their own troubled way displays corruption in this masterpiece.