Type Of Money In The Great Gatsby

Types Of Money

Everywhere around the world, there are people who have been wealthy for centuries, and the wealth can run extremely far back in their families, and other people who are new to wealth. This is shown in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tom Buchanan and Daisy were born rich, so they are “old money”, but James Gatz (Jay Gatsby) was born very poor, so he had to work to acquire his wealth, so he is “new money”. You would think these characters have quite similar lives since they’re rich no matter how they got their money. Just like the old $20 and the new $20, you would think they both worth the same, but no, this is not always the case. There are some people who give lots of respect to the old $20 and can spend

It was very different than the West Egg, where most of the “new money” people lived. People in East Egg, spend their wealth differently than new money, whether it is clothes or parties. Tom Buchanan was one of the people who was labeled as “old money”. Tom was respected for various reasons, but the major reason was all of his family were rich. Even though most people like Tom don’t advertise their money, they are still well known above all classes. “Now, don’t think my opinion on these matters is final; he seemed to stay, just because I’m stronger and more of a man than you are” (Fitzgerald 7) In this quote, Nick was describing Tom’s personality. Tom’s wealth made Nick feel better than the lower class. That showed that Tom’s wealth was very inspiring for most people, therefore he was well

Gatsby’s family weren’t like Tom’s family, they were very poor, and they had to work to earn his wealth. Unlike Tom he had to sell illegal alcohol to get his wealth. However people of East Egg were against and were questioning his wealth. "About Gatsby! No, I haven’t. I said I’d been making a small investigation of his past."And you found he was an Oxford man, said Jordan helpfully. An Oxford man! He was incredulous. Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit. Nevertheless he’s an Oxford man. Oxford, New Mexico, snorted Tom contemptuously, or something like that. Listen, Tom. If you’re such a snob, why did you invite him to lunch?" demanded Jordan crossley. "Daisy invited him; she knew him before we were married – God knows where!”. (Fitzgerald 122) This shows how Gatsby was educated, but people cannot believe that he went from being the poorest kid, to the richest man in west egg and so people started asking questions, so they wanted to investigate and see if he was telling the truth. people with “Old money” and people with “New money” are different, having said that they still have something in