Wealth, Happiness, and Disappointment
Wealth, Happiness, and Disappointment
(rough draft) There is an all-too-familiar saying that “money can’t buy happiness”. While this statement is false according to many individuals, a large handful of them believe it to be true. When you think about it though, does money truly buy happiness for a person, or is it all a façade foreshadowing disappointment? Money is a paper mask that covers up happiness like a bandage. It buys temporary happiness, the kind that lasts only a short while, before it begins to crumble. Just because an individual is rich does not mean they are happy. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925), one of the main characters (Gatsby) is portrayed as a very handsome, wealthy man around thirty years of age who has a closet full of nice white dresses. The riches he contains were inherited during his childhood while living in North Dakota to bandage up the fear of not wanting to live in poverty. Fitzgerald molds Gatsby into the ideal man that a lot of others wish to become. Throughout various sections of the novel Gatsby is seen hosting large parties in his mansion and is surrounded my all the luxuries that one could die for. The conversations all revolve around him and he is the envy of most men and women. It seems wonderful, doesn’t it? It almost appears too good to be true. That is exactly what it is. In fact, it’s all one big illusion. Towards the end of the story the reader realizes that there is an implied dark side behind Gatsby’s life. Several truths behind how he obtained his fame and riches are revealed, and they all started from when Gatsby was very young. What Gatsby’s admirers didn’t realize is that he used to be involved in illegal acts such as trading illegal alcohol and penetrating through securities. He did these actions in fear that, if he didn’t take action, he would live a life of poverty. Despite enrolling into a college, he didn’t stay there long and ended up dropping out after a fast two weeks. Another reason
(rough draft) There is an all-too-familiar saying that “money can’t buy happiness”. While this statement is false according to many individuals, a large handful of them believe it to be true. When you think about it though, does money truly buy happiness for a person, or is it all a façade foreshadowing disappointment? Money is a paper mask that covers up happiness like a bandage. It buys temporary happiness, the kind that lasts only a short while, before it begins to crumble. Just because an individual is rich does not mean they are happy. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925), one of the main characters (Gatsby) is portrayed as a very handsome, wealthy man around thirty years of age who has a closet full of nice white dresses. The riches he contains were inherited during his childhood while living in North Dakota to bandage up the fear of not wanting to live in poverty. Fitzgerald molds Gatsby into the ideal man that a lot of others wish to become. Throughout various sections of the novel Gatsby is seen hosting large parties in his mansion and is surrounded my all the luxuries that one could die for. The conversations all revolve around him and he is the envy of most men and women. It seems wonderful, doesn’t it? It almost appears too good to be true. That is exactly what it is. In fact, it’s all one big illusion. Towards the end of the story the reader realizes that there is an implied dark side behind Gatsby’s life. Several truths behind how he obtained his fame and riches are revealed, and they all started from when Gatsby was very young. What Gatsby’s admirers didn’t realize is that he used to be involved in illegal acts such as trading illegal alcohol and penetrating through securities. He did these actions in fear that, if he didn’t take action, he would live a life of poverty. Despite enrolling into a college, he didn’t stay there long and ended up dropping out after a fast two weeks. Another reason