Set in the 1920’s, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, tells the story of social classes and a wealthy man who lost the love of his life. This man, Jay Gatsby, is born poor, but he works his way into becoming rich, and thus being the symbol of new money. Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby’s lover, is born as old money and lives in East Egg with her husband Tom Buchanan, and is a glamorous person. Gatsby always loves Daisy, but was unable to marry her because he was poor and Daisy loves rich men, so Tom marries her. Gatsby attempts to stop time and “repeat the past” because he has lost the girl of his dreams. Fitzgerald…
Gatsby’s actions are provoked by money, or Daisy, or a combination of the two. The conquest of these two concepts prove to be shallow. Gatsby’s early life as a poor farmer caused him to hate a life of disadvantage; which lead to his thirst for riches. When he fell for Daisy in Louisville it changed the course of his life. From then on, his ambitions for money and Daisy consumed his life. Previous actions inspired a sense of longing in Gatsby; which caused him to lead a meaningless life and die alone with only his…
The American Dream in the Roaring Twenties generally consisted of materialism. The protagonist Gatsby portrays the American Dream in the novel because he has what all people wanted at that time which was money, a mansion, and cars. The East and West egg consists of only wealthy people like Gatsby and the Buchanans, and in between these areas is the Valley of Ashes where the poor lower class live including Mr. Wilson.…
Jeff Benzos said “I don’t think wealth actually changes people”. To me, this quotation means…
The way in which Gatsby goes about earning his money is fraudulent and immoral. “‘He [Gatsby] and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him and I wasn’t far wrong’” (141). Although bootlegging is illegal, Gatsby uses the money made to buy extravagant gifts for Daisy in order to win her love. Gatsby, being an incredible romantic, is determined to win Daisy back through displaying his material possessions; winning Daisy back is Gatsby’s main motivation and only goal. Gatsby’s grand mansion is an example of one lavish object, filled with an abundance of antiques and an awe-inspiring library. Daisy is simply overwhelmed as she sets her eyes on the magnificent mansion for the first time. “‘That huge place there?’ she cried pointing. ‘Do you like it?’ [Gatsby replied]’” (95). Daisy’s reaction to the mansion causes Gatsby to ask of her approval, since the mansion exists as the sole purpose for Daisy’s admiration. Gatsby fails to realize that although money can buy a vast amount of objects, money cannot buy true…
The Great Gatsby is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece about various themes such as class, love and wealth. One of the themes highlighted is romantic affair between two main characters: Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby is clearly obsessed with Daisy, however, it is doubtful that those strong feeling is a proof of love. This essay advocates that Gatsby does not love Daisy but the wealth she symbolizes.…
Gatsby wanted to be rich but his main motivation in obtaining his money$ was his infatuation for Daisy Buchanan. Hence with trying to get back together with Daisy as his main objective, Gatsby has taken the path of crime and illegal activity in order to achieve his goals. The path that has compromised on his morals and value. It is seen throughout the novel that this means to achieve his envisioned end was clearly not justified. Even through his bootlegging activities, Gatsby was unable to attain his goal as he was not born in to wealth and does not possess the lofty social status that comes with that. As such we see how his dream of her disintegrates, revealing the corruption that wealth causes and the unworthiness of the goal as it truly…
For most of his life, Gatsby wished to obtain tremendous wealth; when he met Daisy, he found her “excitingly desirable” not only for her personal charm and looks but also because she was connected to a lifestyle he had always dreamed of. Daisy’s family owned the most “beautiful house” and Gatsby hoped he could acquire comparable wealth through his personal connection to Daisy (148). Due to Gatsby’s humble beginnings, there was “always [an] indiscernible barbed wire” that created a social barrier between the wealthy old money and himself. However, Daisy was different in that she acknowledged Gatsby’s presence. Her old money status offered him a shortcut to the economic and social status he had always dreamed of. Gatsby later confesses to Nick: “What was the use of doing great things if I could have a better time telling her what I was going to do?” In other words, Gatsby felt there was not a need for real world ambitions if he could win over Daisy and receive what he always wanted. Gatsby’s greater affection for Daisy’s economic and social value rather than Daisy as a person displays the decay of his moral values. Gatsby’s morality was obscured by the enticing façade of the American…
Would you do anything for love? It is interesting how much people are willing to sacrifice for love. Not only that, but their mind gets a little bit foggy. They seem to do the extreme and their morals fly out the window. In The Great Gatsby there are many examples of why everyone's morality is cloudy. This is also evident in The Jelly-Bean. However, we must take a look at them to see why these came to be. Nevertheless, always have sight of your morals otherwise they might be blinded.…
When Gatsby first met Daisy Buchannan in her hometown of Louisville, he was James Gatz, a young military officer leaving to fight in World War I. He fell in love with her aura of sophistication, of luxury, grace, charm and beauty, and consequently, lied to her about his background of poverty to convince her he was worthy of her. And still, when he goes to fight in the war, Daisy marries Tom, who is rich and powerful, everything Gatsby hopes for himself in the future. Gatsby, through various means is able to afford a luxurious West Egg nouveaux rich lifestyle, living in a mansion across from Daisy's own in East Egg. Gatsby longingly reaches out for the green light he sees on her dock miles away. "But I didn't call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone- he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced…
James Gatsby was man who had completed the first step in achieving the American Dream. He had money, lots of it. He also had an enormous house with a huge property. Unfortunately, he didn 't achieve his money the good old "American way". He didn 't work honestly for his money. He was a bootlegger who used Drug Stores as a front to sell liquor. His motivation in making all this money was his only love Daisy. On the outside, Gatsby was living the life and there was nothing more a man could want in life. On the inside he was lonely, and the only thing he wanted, money couldn 't buy.…
The novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered one of the best books ever written by an American author. Before being deployed into the military, Jay Gatsby falls in love with a beautiful girl named Daisy. While he is away he believes she will stay loyal to him, but she ends up marrying a wealthy polo player named Tom Buchanan. She disbands Gatsby without hesitation because Tom has money and Gatsby was poor. From that day on, Gatsby knew he had to acquire wealth to win Daisy back over. In this time period, money was everything to them and people would go to great, unethical, extents just to be affluent. This caused people to rid their morals, creating a widespread problem.…
The identity of the character Gatsby from the story, The Great Gatsby, creates a more engaging experience through the development shown within the novel. Gatsby’s image created at the beginning of the novel is that he is a very rich man and giving man, as a result of him having many parties every week, as well as inviting hundreds of people to these parties. However; this image does not apply to Gatsby’s acquaintances since these people know Gatsby’s defining feature, that he is obsessed with making Daisy fall in love with him. Additionally, towards the beginning Gatsby does not believe that he is doing anything wrong with trying to take Daisy from Tom, causing him to think that he is a great man, but in the end he realizes that what he was…
In Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’, there is a distinct gap between the old money crowd and the new money crowd. Gatsby’s version of the American dream was never fulfilled despite having a seemingly unlimited supply of money. It was Daisy that Gatsby desired. Daisy on the other hand,…
Even with immense wealth, Gatsby’s life is haunted by a lack of meaningful relationships along with a distorted view of Daisy and the rest of the world; these weaknesses make him a fragmented character, acting as an example of the disillusionment of many people aiming for the American Dream…