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Examples Of Marxism In The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby- Marxist Readings Tabatha Turner In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel of The Great Gatsby, he creates an artificial world where each character’s sole purpose in life is money, and the essence of desire is wealth. It is clear within the text that the characters feel as if they are totally limited by the amount of money they make, therefore, their view of being satisfied and achieving in life is depicted against their financial status. Poverty limits decision and action. The novel is set in the 1920’s when the newly founded ‘American Dream’ was being strived for, the idea that if one worked hard, they would ‘reap’ the rewards, no matter their …show more content…

The fact that Nick moves back to Minnesota to search for a quieter and more probable life shows the pure extravagance and materialism of the other characters. Relationships within the novel are somewhat questionable, as cases of characters appreciating their material possessions more than their associations show complete covetousness and greed. However, it is evident within the text that the possession of material love cannot replace true happiness and devotion. Two characters within the novel show utter materialism throughout the text, Daisy and Gatsby. Daisy Buchanan’s life expresses these values more than any other character, her pure desire to lay in a high-class society is so intense that she puts her happiness aside, this is evident when she reveals of her past decisions, ‘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 me’. Although love was important to Daisy, it didn’t stop her from marrying Tom for his money, they do not have a loving relationship but a materialistic one, ‘They were careless people, Tom and Daisy, they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made’. Daisy’s child is a symbol

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