Fitzgerald's Use Of Material Items In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald created a masterpiece with a multitude of themes that are prevalent throughout the entirety of The Great Gatsby. The one that shines brighter than the rest is that money and materialism leads to Corruption. Fitzgerald uses many symbols to connect this major theme with the overall tone and characters of the story. Without money the story wouldn’t have started back when Gatsby met Daisy. Without materialism Gatsby wouldn’t have been able to throw the parties to attract Daisy. This major theme is prevalent throughout every chapter of the book.

In the beginning of the rising action, Fitzgerald intermingles the motifs of materialism and illusions. Nick Carraway first get’s introduced to the wealthy people of West Egg by going to visit his cousin Daisy, and her husband Tom Buchanan for dinner. Everything about the house was lavish and elaborate, and everything was going well until dinner. Tom’s mistress started calling during supper and it was challenging “to put this fifth guest’s shrill metallic urgency out of mind.” Nick quickly realizes when dinner continues on like normal, that Tom and Daisy’s marriage is built on lies. Nick has the pleasure of meeting this mistress a few days later. On the way to the apartment, Myrtle decides she wants what Tom has, and proceeds to ask “I [Myrtle]

Daisy’s superficiality and ephemeral qualities are achieved largely by Fitzgerald’s use of diction in Daisy’s conversations and descriptions of her physical characteristics. Much of Daisy’s dialogue is utterly devoid of substance, is often repetitive and its sole purpose for inclusion in the text is to demonstrate her, and indeed the upper classes’ lack of direction and purpose in life, and the resultant restlessness that originates from a life of inactivity and ease that; qualities that are perfectly encapsulated in the line on page 17; “‘Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.’”. Fitzgerald constantly undermines the character of Daisy to demonstrate that she is the unworthy object of Gatsby’s dream, as is the social class that she symbolises. Her immorality is subtly on display through much of the novel; she treats her own daughter with indifference, objectifying her as yet another material accessory; “‘That’s because your mother wanted to show you off.’”, she remarks in Chapter VII, displaying an apparent lack of emotional connection one would expect a mother to hold with her child. Additionally after betraying Gatsby at a crucial moment and

The literary device symbolism reveals the theme that love can’t be bought by money. In chapter 5, we see Daisy, Nick, and Gatsby at Gatsby’s house. During this moment, Gatsby is giving Nick and Daisy a tour of his big house. When they get to Gatsby’s closet, Gatsby starts throwing his shirts at Daisy, later making her cry. For example, she says, “They’re such beautiful shirts,” she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such---such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald 92). This makes me wonder what Daisy was really crying about. I think that Daisy was crying because she realized the many things she missed in Gatsby’s life. The words “beautiful shirts” have a sad connotation because we can see that Daisy was crying for something bigger than some shirts. She was crying because of her love for Gatsby. This quote connects to my theme that symbolism reveals the theme that love can’t be bought by money. In chapter 9, we see Nick at Gatsby’s funeral waiting for people that went to his parties to show up for respect. For example, we can see that they waited for a long time, “The minister glanced several times at his watch, so I took him aside and asked him to wait for half an hour. But it wasn’t any use. Nobody came” (Fitzgerald 174). This makes me think that even though Gatsby made

“He took out a pile of shorts and began throwing them, one by one before us, shorts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel which lost their fold as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray. While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher -- shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange with monograms of Indian blue” (Fitzgerald 92). Gatsby is flaunting of his wealth and luxurious materialistic items believing that is the only way to gain Daisy back and make it how it was five years ago. Gatsby starts as a poor farmer boy, but throughout the years he desires to be more and have more. To him, Daisy is someone he loves, but this love is based on materialistic objects and status, causing Gtabsy to focus and base his actions on money and wealth.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby focuses on the corruption of the American dream during the 1920‘s. For the duration of this time period, the American dream was no longer about hard work and reaching a set goal, it had become materialistic and immoral. Many people that had honest and incorruptible dreams, such as Jay Gatsby, used corrupted pathways to realize their fantasy. People’s carelessness was shown through their actions and speech towards others. Fitzgerald uses characterization and symbolism from different characters and items to convey the corruption of the American dream.

Daisy, Tom’s wife and the object of Gatsby’s romantic quest, for example, possesses a voice “full of money,” (144) which blatantly associates her character with wealth. Fitzgerald makes Daisy seem desirable, but never describes her physical features, which is odd considering she is the force behind the profound obsession of Jay Gatsby. Perhaps Fitzgerald chooses to ignore Daisy’s physical description to purposefully display her as a bare character. In essence, he dehumanizes her to better reveal her shallowness. One of the few times a physical description of Daisy appears comes in conjunction with Miss Baker, another character under the spell of wealth, when Nick comments on their white dresses with “their impersonal eyes in the absence of all desire” (17). With

Gatsby believes that in order to achieve the past love with Daisy he first must show her that similar to Tom her husband he also has that important social standing. To show this high social class or imitation of the high social class Fitzgerald uses props such as books and clothing. For example in chapter three at the party that Nick attends the owl-eyed man said "See!" he cried triumphantly. "It's a bona-fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella's a regular Belasco. It's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too - didn't cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?" (p.30). The fact that Gatsby has spend money on all of these books that he has not even cut open to read shows that he desires this idea of social power and believes that to come about the American Dream he must first fit in with the upper class or old money. He shows daisy how wealthy he is by throwing his shirts all around the room. He does this in chapter four. This shows how much he longs for her approval. After Gatsby shows Daisy the shirts she starts to weep at their beauty, this shows how much social statues can effect someone.

Materialism Throughout The Great Gatsby In The Great Gatsby, the characters all share an obsession with money, wealth, and materialism. Throughout the book, Fitzgerald shares his view towards this obsession and how detrimental it can be. The portrayal of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan reveal Fitzgerald's notion of two characters that are in love with wealth. Gatsby and Daisy are two characters that are tragically in love with materialism.

Geology shows that over time, environments will change due to the naturally occurring event of erosion, which wears it down through wind, sand, water or other elements. Fitzgerald’s famous modernist piece, The Great Gatsby, has characters’ that show similar corrosion to their integrity, as they are so enamoured by this materialistic idea of doing it all for show. He utilizes symbolism to pursue this idea of time passing, which will eventually make fissions in their outer façades. From Gatsby knocking over Nick’s clock, to the hearse passing them on a ride, to the valley of ashes illustrating the inherent trashiness of the nouveau riche, they all foretell of a greater, more powerful force than money: time.

“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" is one of the most influential and famous phrases in the United State’s Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence encapsulates the original conception of the American Dream – the notion that every individual, regardless of their social upbringing, could have the opportunity to reach their full potential and live a comfortable lifestyle. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby takes place during the early 1920s--a time period that demonstrates the pursuit of happiness, opportunity, freedom, equality and finally the American Dream. Myrtle Wilson, a significant character in The Great Gatsby, tries to pursue

The shirts and clothes that are ordered every spring and fall show his simpleness in expressing his wealth to his beloved Daisy. His "beautiful shirts . . . It makes me sad because I've never seen such beautiful shirts before" (Fitzgerald 98). It seems silly to cry over simple shirts, but "It is not the shirts themselves that overwhelm her but what they symbolize . . ." (Cowley 43). These shirts represent the simple awesome manner of Gatsby's wealth and his ability to try and purchase Daisy's love, this time through the use of extensive clothing. Fitzgerald wisely shows how Gatsby uses his riches to buy Daisy. In the story, we know that "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things . . . and then returned back into their money" (Fitzgerald). By this, we know that Daisy's main (and maybe only) concern is money. Gatsby realizes this, and is powered by this. He is driven to extensive and sometimes illegal actions. He feels he must be rich and careless for his five year love, and when expressing Gatsby's readiness to spend any amount of money for his hopeful wife, a poem must be stated. "Then wear the gold hat, if that move her; If you can bounce high, bounce for her too, Till she cry "Lover, gold hatted, high-bouncing lover, I must have you!" ( ). This poem is a perfect description of how Gatsby tries to buy Daisy, and her love. All these enlighten us to Gatsby's personality, therefore we know Gatsby is willing to use an unlimited source

Fitzgerald’s life began as he wrote his first novel The Side of Paradise, in 1920. Soon after, the woman Zelda, that left him due to the lack of money, came back to renew their relationship. Conversely, the couple soon became wed and the book became more popular among the general population. The derivation of their marriage became a party and they traveled around the world, partying until they dropped. Conclusively the parties evenuated in money running out, Fitzgerald was fixed on the lifestyle that he began, so he started to ask friends for money and soon came into a large debt. To deal with the great debt the author had acquired, he embarked his journey writing screenplays and short stories in Hollywood. By way of contrast, Fitzgerald created

The first symbol we see appears at the end of Chapter one. It is a

Gatsby’s love for Daisy propels his materialism, which leads to his ultimate downfall. Gatsby uses his words and specious actions to prove to Daisy that he is rich so she will love him by giving Daisy a tour of his house. Exploring Gatsby’s house is when Gatsby is careful to point out to Daisy his lavish possessions that are present in his many extravagant rooms: “We went upstairs, through period bedrooms swathed in rose and lavender silk and vivid with new flowers, through dressing-rooms and poolrooms, and bathrooms, with sunken baths” (91). After strolling through Gatsby’s house, Gatsby takes Daisy up to his closet and begins to boast about his expensive clothes so that Daisy realizes that Gatsby is rich, and, “He took out a pile of shirts, and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray” (92). Daisy’s desire and obsession with materialistic things is also evident because after she sees all of these shirts, she begins crying because of