Preview

Money In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
445 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Money In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald
Most people want to believe that money will buy you happiness, but Gatsby is a great example of how this is not the case. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby and Daisy becomes careless people because they believe that money will protect them forever. Gatsby went well out of his way to make money just to get the attention of Daisy. The desire for money drives all of the characters in The Great Gatsby to make poor choices that will come back to hurt their relationships and ruin their lives.

Gatsby, himself, became a bootlegger and his wealth was mostly based on breaking the law. Tom calls Gatsby out on this while they are in a hotel fighting about who Daisy really loves. As Mary Jo Tate mentioned in an article, “... Tom speculates that Gatsby is a bootlegger” (Tate). Several times in the book, it talks about wild parties at Gatsby’s house, while church bells ring in the distance. Many people at these parties admired Gatsby for his great wealth. In the end, Gatsby’s wealth comes back to ruin and eventually end his life.
…show more content…
Daisy in the earlier part of her life, was attracted to Gatsby. She eventually decided to leave him, because he didn’t have enough money to please her. However, after she met Gatsby again, she wanted to leave her husband because of the great wealth Gatsby had achieved. As Harold Bloom mentioned in his article, “Daisy is impressed with the things Gatsby has amassed” (Bloom). Daisy’s hesitation on whether she loved Gatsby or Tom more led her to be unhappy, which eventually ended with her killing Myrtle. Like Gatsby, her pursuit of wealth led to her ruin and the ruin

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby, the only thing that matters in the 1920’s is how lavish the parties are, and how having so much money is not enough. Gatsby has all the money in the world, has lavish parties all in hope that, Daisy will come back. Money is used as a lure in the novel, to try and bring Daisy back. Money destroys the characters, money destroys their lives, and the novel shows how wealth corrupts them in the end. Fitzgerald shows through the characters relationships, how greed was demonstrated in the 1920’s.…

    • 240 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Daisy’s soon proves to not just be promiscuous, but also extremely careless. Gatsby even said, “She only married you because I was poor” (137). The fact that Daisy left Gatsby and married Tom just for his money shows that she is careless about Toms feelings and takes advantage of him for only his wealth. Even when Daisy and Gatsby get into a car accident and hit poor Myrtle. A couple days after this accident, Nick finds out that “she and tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them” (172). Daisy is obviously not concerned with the horrible thing she has done and takes off with her…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gatsby went to war that's what separated gatsby and daisy. Some say ahe became rich because he is a family member of kaiser. “Pg.33 chapter 2 well they say he's a nephew or cousin of kaiser wilhelm's.That's where all his money comes from.” Gatsby gets his money from his family when they all died the money went to him some don't believe him. In chapter 6 it reveals the truth of how gatsby got his money. This all happened when tom and gatsby started arguing tom found out who he really is and how he got rich. “Pg 134 chapter 6 i found out what your “drug stores “ were. He turned to us and spoke rapidly. He and this wolfshiem bought up a lot of side street drug stores here and in chicago and sold grain alcohol over the…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Can money buy happiness? This age old question is a recurring theme in the novel The Great Gatsby. Throughout the novel we see that wealth creates loneliness, isolation and corruption in people. Through the examination of the main character’s behaviours present in The Great Gatsby, it is clear that wealth negatively impacts people.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Money can symbolize certain statuses in the world. In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays these views of money among the characters in the novel. Wealth and money becomes an issue as the novel progress, once you begin to analyze each character.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Neither one of them is happy in the relationship but instead maintain the image for others and their child. This can be exemplified by Tom's flaunting of his affair when he knows Daisy will do nothing to reprimand him. Furthermore the main reason Daisy married Tom, is because of his inherited wealth. We observe this when she lies crying on the floor before her wedding, clutching Gatsby's letter and Tom's necklace and instead of cancelling the wedding, she continues with it as if nothing had happened. In this instance we can see how shallow Daisy is, in that she sacrifices her own happiness and the love of Gatsby by marrying Tom for his money. As well as this we notice, in their relationship, the foolishness of Daisy. This can be identified in the "hulking" incident in which Daisy teases Tom. Thus Daisy can be described as silly, foolish and…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gatsby used his wealth to throw parties so he could try to get Daisy’s attention and impress her. He did end up impressing her. However, because Daisy was married to her husband Tom she could not be with Gatsby. Tom found out about Daisy’s affair and confronted Gatsby. Gatsby insisted that Daisy never loved Tom but Daisy could not deny her love for her husband. It showed that Gatsby was extremely naive to believe that Daisy would love him to a certain extent as to say that she never loved her own husband. Gatsby believed that he could easily win her back simply by showing up with his wealth, but he was wrong.…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Money is the top priority in Daisy’s life. “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (22). Here she suggests that women need to be foolish in that era, which is cruel to women and requires women to be just satisfied with money, which is the only thing can prove them and give them happiness. So for money, Daisy chooses being a fool and accepts her fate to marry Tom. In the town’s meeting, Daisy claims that she loves Gatsby now but she loves Tom once too (126). Gatsby has money now not in the past. Daisy completely tells everyone everything she cares is…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jay works hard to become rich because of the dream he has of being with a wealthy girl named Daisy. He knows that he can not be with her if he is poor, and the only way to drastically transform social classes is to commit acts that are not legal. While it is never confirmed in the novel, it is believed that Gatsby earns his money bootlegging during prohibition. This was a time when alcohol was illegal and people would pay more than normal to have this valuable drink. Gatsby is always on his house phone suggesting something devious is going on. “Only the very rich could afford single lines, a necessity for Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, since they are both engaged in illicit affairs and cannot risk having neighbors eavesdrop on their conversations” (Coleman). Gatsby made sure that only he knew what was going on. While trying to get Daisy back, he never tells her how he made his fortune meaning it is not something he is proud of. What shows is that Gatsby is a “poor guy who would do anything to become rich” (Beuka). Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as a magnificent self-made man, but we do have to take into the fact that he is a criminal and he did not earn his way to the upper class legitimately. Gatsby is in fact a sweet and well mannered man, but he purges his morals to achieve his dream in becoming…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He fell in love with her as a young man and spends several years trying to make in to high society. Daisy comes from a wealthy family and she could never marry anyone below her. Gatsby knows this and has dedicated his entire life to becoming a successful and wealthy man to gain Daisy's acceptance. He throws lavish and expensive parties to see if Daisy will come to one of them. He buys an extravagant mansion across the river from Daisy's house just to be near her. When he finally is reunited with Daisy, it's as if they had never been separated and their love is still alive. Gatsby sees Daisy as he wants to see her: beautiful, innocent, and perfect. But in reality, Daisy has changed. She is now a wife and mother. At the end of the story Gatsby finally sees the true Daisy. He realizes that "her voice is full of money." Daisy is materialistic, fake, and not the kind of woman he wants her to be. Daisy was driving Gatsby's car when she hits and kills Myrtle. To protect Daisy and his dream, Gatsby does not turn Daisy in. Myrtle's husband kills Gatsby because he assumed it was Gatsby who hit his wife. Gatsby's demise comes from his destructive dream for Daisy's…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Daisy has always been given everything she wanted in life and never had to think about reality. Then came the crashing reality that she was just like everybody else when she hit Myrtle with Gatsby's car. She was stupid to get behind the wheel while she was upset, and then she didn't even stop when she hit Myrtle. Also, Daisy basically just played games with Gatsby. His whole life had been trying to impress her because he wanted to be with her so bad. Daisy knew she could never be with him but let him believe his fantasy could be real. A big reason she ever became close with Gatsby at all was just to get back at Tom for his affair, she is too oblivious to think that she could be breaking Gatsby's heart. Also Daisy is flakey and child-like. When Nick, Daisy, Jordan, and Gatsby were all sitting in the Buchanan's house and Daisy's daughter came in she asked her daughter " How do you like mother's friends? Do you think they're pretty?" For someone to be asking a child that is plainly outrageous and is no more mature that that child themselves. All that Daisy does in this book is make a fool of herself every time she…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After Daisy hit and killed Myrtle she didn’t face the consequences, she was going to let Gatsby take the fall and forget about it. “‘She’ll be all right to-morrow,’ he said presently” (Fitzgerald 144). Daisy hides behind people so she doesn’t get in trouble. After the accident she hid behind Gatsby, but then left with Tom. Daisy is selfish and irresponsible.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Money is always the center of attention for extremely rich people to extremely poor people and everyone in the middle. For a woman like Daisy from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, money is the center of her world and she doesn’t know anything other than money. But this essay is not about money; it is about Daisy and how she is the ultimate reason Gatsby is murdered. Yes, she didn’t pull the trigger, but she committed the acts that led up to his being fatally shot and her love of money leads to Gatsby’s downfall.…

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How Is Gatsby Selfish

    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Daisy initially fell in love with Gatsby’s newfound riches than Gatsby himself. As soon as she discovered his wealth she falls back in love with him, completely disregarding her own husband. Daisy was too caught up in the wealth and attention she received from Gatsby that she even declared, “why - how could I love him [Tom] - possibly? … ‘I never loved him” (126). Buchanan is so infatuated with Gatsby's lifestyle that she announced she never loved Tom and only married him because Jay was at war. Daisy’s husband had the wealth to support her and gave her some attention, but she detached from him the moment a richer man came along, who gave her the attention she desired. Therefore Daisy’s craving for more riches causes her to cheat on her husband for the man who is supplying superior funds and…

    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After years of burying his feelings and waiting, he explodes in a rampage of rage and jealousy. Gatsby hates how his dream is being crushed because of this, something so cruel to him. In Gatsby’s eyes, Daisy’s love for him was being ripped away by Tom Buchanan. Gatsby genuinely thinks that Tom Buchanan is the reason Dasy doesn't love him the way he loves her, and that's how he snaps. “She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except for me!” (Fitzgerald 137). After the years that Gatsby labored saving his money, he thought that Daisy would wait for him. He believed that she would stay, because their love was pure. Daisy did not wait. She could not wait that long, and so she eventually just married Tom Buchanan. She married Tom not for love but for greed. Gatsby eventually realizes that the dream he had was never going to come true, and he is so incredibly jealous of the life Tom has with his Daisy. Gatsby just wanted to be perfect, to be content in his own little world. That is not how things work out for Gatsby, however. Things only seem to crumble even…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays