Wealth In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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People often confuse the two synonymous terms of being rich and being wealthy, as both involve having an abundance of money. The main difference between the two is knowledge–wealthy people know how to make money, while rich people only have money. When one analyzes and dissects the two terms, it is easily determined that rich people are solely driven by money and wealthy people are fueled by their ambition, passion, purpose, and dreams. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's short stories, Fitzgerald evaluates the perception of wealth and what is truly meant by the term through the development of his characters. In Fitzgerald’s “The Rich Boy,” a pompous young man, Anson Hunter, strives to search for something that will be of true value to him. Hunter’s …show more content…

Percy Washington reveals that his father has “a diamond as big as the Ritz-Carlton Hotel” (Fitzgerald 2). The diamond manipulates the family and brainwashes their values. Deranged acts occur in the household as Braddock Washington captures and kills those who threaten the anonymity and seclusion of their private paradise. Moreover, Percy’s grandfather lies to the enslaved men who digs for him, telling them that the stones were rhinestones and that the South had won the Civil War. The enslaved men never find out about the abolishment of slavery and thus continues to work for the family. Braddock Washington personifies excess personifies excess through his attachment to his property and his inability to cash in on his greatest asset, the biggest diamond in the world. The irony lies in the fact that if he made this known, it would devalue this and every other diamond. Braddock attempts to bribe God before his death, “God had His price, of course. God was made in man’s image, so it had been said: He must have His price” (Fitzgerald 23). Wealth is usually accommodated by happiness, relaxation, and fulfillment. Although the Washingtons surround themselves with opulence and luxury, there is no true wealth and value in the Washington household as seen in the character development of Braddock Washington and his

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