Preview

Why Is Money Important In The Great Gatsby

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
681 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Is Money Important In The Great Gatsby
Sai Mummalaneni
Mrs. Rickard
American Literature/ Composition
30 June 2015
Money as a Symbol for Success The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a story that uses money as its main symbol. Some of the characters in the book are rich and own large houses; most of the characters that are rich live in East Egg but Jay Gatsby lives in West Egg. Money plays a major role in The Great Gatsby as most of the characters live to make money and get rich. Nick Carraway would be a great example of a character that wants to get rich; he moved from the Midwest to West Egg next to Gatsby’s house. George Wilson is similar to Nick in that he also works very hard to make money; he owns an auto shop at the edge of the valley of ashes. Money is important to all of these characters because they all want to be rich someday. Money in today’s society is also very important for people to live because it can get you anything you want. For example, you need money to get the basic needs for human life such as food, shelter, and clothes. Money is the want for most of the characters in the book; most of the characters talk about money a lot. Nick in the quote, “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice…haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had,” (Fitzgerald 3) is talking about if you are not begging anyone for money, it would be easier to be
…show more content…
Myrtle and George Wilson are the characters that don’t have money. George Wilson owns an auto shop near the valley of ashes and he works very hard to make money for the family. When George found out that his wife Myrtle was cheating on him, he believes that the only way to keep her happy was to make some money quickly and runaway with this wife. Myrtle was happy being with Tom Buchannan; Tom’s money brought her happiness. With less money George lost Myrtle to Tom and with more money Myrtle couldn’t leave

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Throughout Of Mice and Men the theme of money was found. One example would be when George and Lennie explained their idea of the house to Candy. The entire situation revolved around having enough money to make their dream come true. An example of this would be when candy was figuring out the amount of money he had .“An’ they give me two hunderd an’ fifty dollars ’cause I los’ my hand. An’ I got fifty more saved up right in the bank, right now. Tha’s…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The cross between old money and new presents an enormous role in the way characters are portrayed in The Great Gatsby. Old money is referring to those who have a history of wealth running in their family that has been passed down through generations and onto them. New money refers to those who have made their own fortune out of nothing within their own generation. In the novel, The Great Gatsby written by Scott Fitzgerald, Tom Buchanan is an example of old money and Jay Gatsby is an example of new. This book is largely focused on America's obsession with wealth and social status. Though they may seem the same, Fitzgerald uses lots of imagery in order to further prove the major differences between having old money and new.…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Money in the world of the Great Gatsby is a bad thing and it negatively influences everyone in the book. Throughout the book, we see its negative influences and it corruptive powers. There are examples of this being true throughout the book. From how it destroyed Gatsby to even how its ability to desensitize the rich from their ethics and morale code.…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the allusion of Midas, JP Morgan, and Maecenas to reveal Nick's attitude towards money; making money is an important part of Nick's life. The allusion is significant because all the men the author uses were wealthy in different time periods. The author does not literally mean that Nick will find the secrets these men knew, but more about how to make money. This gives insight on Nick's character, that he must work hard to become wealthy, unlike the Buchanans, by buying books about banking and…

    • 94 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows that money isn't a problem. Gatsby likes to have big parties he is having a specific party to invite Daisy the girl he likes. He invites random people he doesn't know all he wants is to talk to daisy. Gatsby is a very wealthy person he shows through his lifestyle described by nick. Nick describes Gatsby's lifestyle when he states his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus because bearing parties to and from the city.…

    • 369 Words
    • 2 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

    Jeff Benzos said “I don’t think wealth actually changes people”. To me, this quotation means…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After WWI. there was an influx of economic growth. This lead to an overwhelming amount of "new money" people. Nonetheless, old money looked down upon these new money people much like they did with no money people. With this, an inference is made that old money believes they are intellectually, morally, and socially superior to everyone. However, this belief in old money is an egregious outlook that American society had at the time. Everyone is driven and corrupted by the same forces. No one class of people can be distinguished as a higher-caliber of persons as any other. Moreover, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows an exceptional understanding of this fact in the Great Gatsby. In his book, he alludes to the stereotype that old money is believed to be…

    • 137 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Money is no issue to most of the characters in The Great Gatsby because whether it is from inheritance, polo playing, or suspicious means, they are very wealthy. However, with great wealth comes great responsibility. Apparently nobody from the early 1920s got the memo. Throughout the story we constantly see examples of these absurdly privileged people use their status to justify reckless and childish behavior.…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald makes the point that money is the root of all evil. For example, when Myrtle got ran over by Gatsby’s car (137), supposedly since Gatsby’s car is really fancy, Myrtle was ran over by “wealth,” which is what she wanted throughout the story. Everyone wants money in The Great Gatsby. They would do anything to get it, like…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Daisy is a great example of how greed can obstruct your judgement and morality. The fact that in the story, Daisy says "Rich girls don't marry poor guys" and "You don't have enough money for me to marry you", tells us that she is all about monetary gain, even if it's at the cost of true love. Even when Gatsby, the man she said those things to, shows back up in her life with a new-found wealth that he obtained solely so he could obtain Daisy's love, she turns him down and stays married to a man stuck in the ways of the "old…

    • 105 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald illustrates the destructions and immorality, caused by the unrestrained pursuit of wealth, through the symbolism of the village of ashes and Gatsby’s feelings for Daisy.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Great Gatsby we are introduced to Gatsby. Gatsby is in the upper class, and he is considered “new money”. In The Great Gatsby the society’s “new money” is people that earn their money and aren’t born with it. Gatsby is thought to have gotten his money from bootlegging, so he got his money illegally. Gatsby is a unique character because his dream is completely different than everyone else in the story. As we see in the story Gatsby said, “Here’s lot of clippings about you.” (Fitzgerald 93);…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To start off, money in the U.S. is perceived as the currency of the soul. It makes the world go round. Lapham writes, “They had been so ‘deflected by the pursuit of money’ that they could turn ‘in no other direction.’. In my opinion, Americans kill and go great distances in order to obtain money. Money drags along the perks of respect, power, and wealth. Comparing our notion of Money and Class in America, we can compare it to the decline of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby. The whole book revolved around what money can get you. For the Gatsby himself, it got him many lavishing parties and some respect. However, it did not buy Daisy’s affection because having money does not mean having class. This is to prove that other nation’s values and dreams are well rounded unlike that of the Americans. Countries like Europe and Asia balance their desire of wealth against the claims of human spirit. Soviet countries honor the holding of political power. In France, a richman is just a richman, nobody grants him the respect just because he has riches.…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gatsby

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald the theme that is exhibited the utmost is “money does not buy happiness” Characters that will best exhibit the prosperity shown in story are Gatsby, Daisy, and Nick. Examples from the book help show how these people demonstrate how wealth will not make you happy as a main theme throughout the story.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays