The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, money plays a large role in the character’s lives. Money is used to change their appearances throughout the novel. All the characters use their money in a different way. Gatsby attempts to use his money to win back his one true love, Daisy. Myrtle Wilson uses money she does not have to change her appearance towards others. But others are used to having wealth, and they are experienced in the ways of being rich. These people include Tom and Daisy Buchanan. The narrator, Nick Caraway, moves east searching for wealth, but never achieves that goal. The entire novel is filled with wealth and riches, but is money to be seen as a

He starts out as a poor boy from North Dakota, Gatsby at this time is working for his money, he is a clam digger and salmon fisher in lake Superior, he also works as a janitor when he attends college. He returns back to lake Superior where he meets Dan Cody and he takes him in, letting him work on his boat. Gatsby was supposed to inherit money from him, however that never happened and he became poor again. He does eventually become rich again but not without compromising his morals. Before, Gatsby did what any normal person would do, he worked hard for his money doing everyday jobs, but after, he got his money through illegal drug stores and bootlegging. He is called out by Tom who says, “I found out what your ‘drug stores’ were… he and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drug stores… and sold grain alcohol over the counter.” (141). In this indirect characterization you can see how far Gatsby went in changing his morals to become rich. Instead of sticking to his morals and working regular jobs like he did before, his demand for money corrupted his morals and he turned to bootlegging, forever changing his morals and who he was as a person. The richest and happiest man is the one who sets the joy and happiness of others in the center of his

F. Scott Fitzgerald is mostly known for his images of young, rich, immoral individuals pursuing the American Dream of the 1920’s (Mangum). This image is best portrayed in his greatest novel, The Great Gatsby, alongside his principal themes, “lost hope, the corruption of innocence by money, and the impossibility of recapturing the past” (Witkoski). Fitzgerald was identified as a modern period writer because his themes and topics were inconsistent with traditional writing (Rahn).

which allows him to fit into the society he wishes to be a part of. He

"Never has symbolism played such a crucial part in the very foundation of a novel as it does in Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby." Harold Bloom has written about this book. The author used several types of symbolism in The Great Gatsby. The colours are probably the easiest to be recognized and guessed what they symbolized. According to the definition “symbolism” is "the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships."

At its most simplistic form, nostalgia is a sentimental longing for the past. It is a subtle phenomenon that is associated with a person or place. Fitzgerald plays this concept into his novel The Great Gatsby, which is narrated by a character named Nick Carraway. Nick tells of his neighbor Gatsby, who goes to extreme lengths to reclaim a lost love. Throughout the novel, Gatsby serves as a conduit for humanity’s nostalgic depictions of the past. He accumulates massive amounts of wealth and even changes his identity in efforts to relive something that has already passed. Fitzgerald draws from this, and conceptualizes how nostalgia distorts a person’s overall perception of being.

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, demonstrates how wealth and power were important elements of social structure during the Roaring Twenties. Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan are characters who have been tarnished by their prosperity and power. This status as wealth and powerful individuals affects how they perceive the world around them, and has contributed to the change in the characters portrayed in the novel. Jay Gatsby is a man who obtained his fortune through illicit means and is drive to acquire the love of Daisy. Jay Gatsby believed that wealth would bring him happiness as he would be able to capture the heart of Daisy by maintaining her lavish lifestyle. Tom

In today’s world, the rich live under extreme scrutiny. Professional athletes and multi-millionaires are being constantly monitored and judged by people across the nation. One simple mishap or bad decision can culminate into the demise of their public reputation. Why would somebody with a successful career and an extensive supply of money need to commit an act such as an affair or bringing the demise of a popular social figure? While this subdivision of humanity may have the materialistic desires of life, often times that success comes at the price of their personality. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the same is true for the character Tom Buchanan. With Tom’s impressive East Egg lifestyle his expansive estate, he seems to

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, provides a dark and pessimistic outlook into the American life style in 1922. Jay Gatsby, an American wealthy social identity, appears to have it all. But wealth, stature and an extravagant lifestyle seems not to be enough for Gatsby; he still yearns for his old idealistic love Daisy. In an ideal world this has the making of a great love story with a happy ending, but Fitzgerald chose to carry the story as a reflection of the American era the book is set in. An era consumed by appearances and excess and overall pursuit of the American dream.

Many consider The Great Gatsby a beautiful love story. A literary review site, for example, says about Fitzgerald’s most famous work: “The Great Gatsby is probably F. Scott Fitzgerald 's greatest novel […] Gatsby is really nothing more than a man desperate for love”(The Great Gatsby Review). Popular opinion paints Gatsby as such: A man desperate for love, devoid of any evil. But a closer look uncovers a new side of Jay Gatsby because Gatsby, underneath his glorious façade, is a sociopath.

In the book, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is exemplified through many symbols and idols. Fitzgerald uses cars to represent wealth, success, status, and glamour. As Friedrich Nietzsche states, “There are more idols in the world than there are realities.” Nietzsche’s quote shows how idols and symbols are used to create impressions. Images are powerful and set a stage for others to judge one’s character, enabling human beings to avoid seeing what realities are. Idols are potent enough to mask the truth. In the novel, despite Gatsby 's own insecurities, he is viewed as an idol in society. Idols impact and influence Gatsby’s life and those living around him. Gatsby’s car represents an idol, illustrating his wealth, capturing attention, creating impressions, and covering misconceptions throughout life in the West Egg.

There’s no point in denying it, we all love money and want lots of it. We yearn to be like the richest people in the world, who have so much money they can do whatever they want. Maybe some of us even want to be the richest person in the world, at this moment the richest man in the world is Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. He has a net worth of 90.6 billion dollars, something none of us will ever experience, but can dream about. But dreams pertaining to money can only get us so far. Money is a theme consistently expressed throughout two novels, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Fitzgerald’s novel considers money largely through the eyes of a very wealthy man who flourishes in life, whose name is Gatsby. On the other hand, Steinbeck’s novel describes the story of two men, who have little money and no accomplishments to boast about whatsoever. The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men show that great success and quality of life is determined by who you know, and how much money you have.

After World War I, America offered the potential for boundless financial and social opportunities for those willing to work hard—an American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. Establishing fame, becoming wealthy, having lavish luxuries, and a happy family would come to symbolize this dream. For some, however, striving for and realizing that dream ruined them, as many acquired wealth only to pursue pleasure. Even though the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby appear to relish the freedom of the 1920s, their lives demonstrate the emptiness that results when wealth and pleasure become ends in themselves. Specifically, the empty lives of three characters from this novel— George Wilson, Jay Gatsby, and Daisy Buchanan—show that chasing hollow dreams results only in misery.

Initially, Gatsby stirs up sympathetic feelings because of his obsession with wealth. Ever since meeting Dan Cody, his fascination for wealth has increased dramatically. He even uses illegal unmoral methods to obtain hefty amounts of wealth to spend on buying a house with “ Marie Antoinette music-rooms, Restoration Salons, dressing rooms and poolrooms, and bath rooms with sunken baths.”

“The Great Gatsby” and “Washington Square” are both novels that greatly depicted their time period and how society viewed men and women. “The Great Gatsby” is about a young man named Gatsby who tries to reignite an old relationship with his new found wealth. Gatsby essentially dedicates his entire life to get Daisy back while she has long moved on. “Washington Square” is about a young girl named Catherine who tries to find love with a man named Morris, but has to deal with the strict control of her father. Catherine’s aunt, Lavinia Penniman, was meddlesome in Catherine’s life which also greatly ruined Catherine’s and Morris’ relationship. These books focus on image, illusions and relationships. I will be focusing on various relationships in both novels.