Great Gatsby

Colegio Los Nogales 10C
Valeria Ortiz Essay
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Patrick Young May-09-2012

“The acquisition of money and love are both part of the same dream, the will to return to the quintessential unity that exists only at birth and at death.” Roger Lewis (professor at George Mason university)
Love and money have been, for centuries, two issues for which people become obsessed. Some use money to get love. They use it as a tool for them to reach the love they want. However there are others who fall in love for money and not for the person itself. Society has been influenced by a capitalist world, where the most important is to become rich, become wealthy and part of the elitist people. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzerald criticizes the American society of the 1920´s for its emphasis on money, superficial relationships and obsession over class. Some characters in the novel are in love not with other characters but with their social status.

. Jay Gatsby, a young man was not that wealthy, he actually came from a poor family from North Dokota. Gatsby was not fulfilled by his life, because what he wanted the most was to become part of a higher class. Gatsby met Daisy Buchannan and became obsessed and fascinated with her life style and aura of luxury and charm. Since he met her, he fell in love with her world, with the high class of Chicago. She represented the ideal society that Gatsby always wanted to be part of.
“He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes.”(Pg.73) In this quote he describes just her ostentatious lifestyle rather than Daisy as a person. Gatsby is impressed with her beauty, but he also pays close attention to everything she had. When she refers to her magnificence he ends up describing what she has, or what he represents in relationship to her life. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, describes the way Gatsby talked about her“ he knew that Daisy was extraordinary, she vanished into her rich house into her rich full life…her porch was bright with the bought luxury of star shine … Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves.”(Fitzerald, 151) Gatsby always crashed again into the memory of him being a poor guy. He remembers the moments when he dreamed of becoming part of the rich society. This explains somehow why he describes the wealth as overwhelming and fantastic. Even if he did not thought about it, Daisy was his way to becoming part of that world.

Gatsby is the main character of the story and the plot revolves around him. Nonetheless, this idea of being in love with social status is also present in Myrtle Wilson´s life. She represents the ideology of the women in the 1920´s that wanted nothing else than to marry a rich man; Tom Buchanans. Myrtle for example, was not happy with her husband because he could not give her what she wanted; therefore, she felt the need to find someone from the rich class that could sponsor all her wishes and requests. In the book she actually accepts this reason for her to cheat on her husband “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman (Wilson),’ she said finally. ‘I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe’ (Fitzerald 40). This explains why she cheats on her husband, he was not capable of giving her what she wanted. This is important in order to see what people intended when “falling in love” Behind the curtains of loving someone, there was a wish for wealth. The wealth and the privileges that a high-class society had or could afford. Tom was a wealthy guy; he not only had his house in East Egg, but a luxurious apartment in New York, which represented the wealth Myrtle loved so much. “The apartment was on top floor, the living room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it, so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles”(pg. 29) This situation represented the wealth of Tom compared to the “garbage life,” according to Myrtle, the life she had before meeting Tom.

The criticism that is being made throughout the book is to the American dream: the ostentatious lifestyle that all Americans wanted in the roaring twenties. This obsession changed the perspective of love. Not only Gatsby, but also other characters in the story show that society was based on money, the American dream of being a wealthy person was what identified and created relationships. Money and love became the same. The boundaries between them were gone. People just wanted money, represented in a higher social class. Not true love, just desire. This concept started in the roaring twenties, but it is still present in the life of people. It is an issue that concerns society as a whole because it has become corrupted by money-oriented minds. People’s aspiration and desire for status and becoming wealthier are the effects of the capitalist world live in. Relationships have become no more than a way to achieve an economical stability or in other words, a profitable business. Where has the real definition for love gone? Society has been distorting the meaning of love and the only way to change this is to re-think and revalue this word. Feelings and emotions should become the basis for relationships.

The changes I did to my text where basically reorganize some sentences to make them clearer or add some to explain better my ideas. I also changed one quote; the part of Myrtle where you suggested me to look for one that described the apartment rather than using the scene of the dog. I added that quote which I think helps for the argumentation, in order to support the thesis. Finally in the conclusion I added a last idea to the “so what”.

*INTRODUCTION* (9 /10) I. Powerful attention grabber II. Paper effectively transitions from broad information to a narrow thesis. III. Thesis is supportable and clear.

*BODY PARAGRAPHS--SENTENCES* (8.5 /10) I. Sentences are efficient and clear, not awkward. II. Verbs are used correctly.

*BODY PARAGRAPHS--FORM* (16 /20) I. Topic sentences transition well and establish each paragraph’s specific focus. II. Topic sentences do NOT introduce quotations. III. Clinchers creatively wrap up the discussion of each body paragraph. IV. Each paragraph focuses primarily on one point. V. Paragraphs are approximately half-a-page long.

*BODY PARAGRAPHS--PROOF* ( 39/50) I. Quotations and focused analysis prove the assertion of each topic sentence. II. Summarizing is avoided.

*CONCLUSION--first half* (4.25 /5) I. Restates thesis in different words II. Quickly ties up the persuasive argument in one or two sentences without adding new information

*CONCLUSION--second half* III. The conclusion ends with an effective “so what?” (4.25 /5)

*NO-ZONE* Points will be taken off for these infractions I. Incorrect spelling ( ) I. Contractions (unless they are in quotations) ( ) II. Taboo words (thing, stuff, a lot, guys, get, etc.) ( ) III. First/Second person personal pronouns (I, you, we, us, our, etc.) ( ) IV. Punctuation mistakes (including quotations) ( ) V. Excessive “be” verbs and passive voice ( )

FINAL TOTAL: (81 /100)

Colegio Los Nogales 10C
Valeria Ortiz Essay
-------------------------------------------------
Patrick Young April-21-2012

“The acquisition of money and love are both part of the same dream, the will to return to the quintessential unity that exists only at birth and at death.” Roger Lewis (professor at George Mason university)
Love and money have been, for centuries, two issues for which people become obsessed. Some use money to get love. They use it as a tool for them to reach the love they want. However there are others who fall in love for money and not for the person itself. Society has based everything into a materialistic world, where the most important is to become rich and part of the elitist people. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzerald criticizes the American society of the 1920´s for its emphasis on money, superficial relationships and obsession over class. Some characters in the novel are in love not with other characters but with their social status.

. Jay Gatsby, a young man was not that wealthy, he actually came from a poor family from North Dokota. Gatsby was not fulfilled by his life, because what he wanted the most was to become part of a higher class. He started doing illegal business with a man name Wolshiem who was known for bootlegging and since then he started to build his fortune. Gatsby met Daisy Buchannan and became obsessed and fascinated with her life style and aura of luxury and charm. Since he met her, he fell in love with her world, because it was the representation of the high class of Chicago. Gatsby describes every single aspect of her life, her possessions and belongings:
“He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes. Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real. Once he nearly toppled down a flight of stairs” ( In this quote he describes just her ostentatious lifestyle rather than Daisy as a person. Gatsby describes her beauty as wealth. When she refers to her magnificence he ends up describing what she has, or what he represents in relationship to her life. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, describes the way Gatsby talked about her“ he knew that Daisy was extraordinary, she vanished into her rich house into her rich full life…her porch was bright with the bought luxury of star shine … Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves.”(Fitzerald, 151) Gatsby always crashed again into the memory of being a poor guy, and this represented his desire for becoming part of a new society, the one he is in love with.

Gatsby is the main character of the story and the plot revolves around him. Nonetheless, this idea of being in love with social status is also set by Myrtle Wilson. She represents the ideology of the women in the 1920´s that wanted nothing else than to marry a rich guy.. Myrtle for example, was not happy with her husband because he could not give her what she wanted; therefore, she felt the need to find someone from the rich class that could sponsor all her wishes and requests. In the book she actually accepts this reason for her to cheat on her husband “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman (Wilson),’ she said finally. ‘I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe’ (Fitzerald 40). This is important in order to see what people intended when “falling in love.” Behind the curtains of loving someone, there was a wish for wealth. The wealth and the privileges that a high-class society had or could afford. Tom paid for every single thing Myrtle wanted, as in the scene where she wants to buy a dog and Tom says she can buy even ten. "I want to get one of those dogs," she said earnestly. "I want to get one for the apartment. They're nice to have--a dog."(Myrtle) "Here's your money. Go and buy ten more dogs with it."(Tom)”(Fitzgerald, 33). This situation represented the wealth of Tom compared to the “garbage life,” according to Myrtle, the life she had before meeting Tom.

The criticism that is being made throughout the book is to the American dream: the ostentatious lifestyle that all Americans wanted in the roaring twenties. This obsession changed the perspective of love. Not only Gatsby, but also other characters in the story show that society was based on money, the American dream of being a wealthy person was what identified and created relationships. Money and love became the same. The boundaries between them were gone. People just wanted money, represented in a higher social class. Not true love, just desire. This concept started in the roaring twenties, but it is still present in the life of people. It is an issue that concerns society as a whole because it has become corrupted by money-oriented minds. People’s aspiration and desire for status and becoming wealthier are the effects of the capitalist world live in. Relationships have become no more than a way to achieve an economical stability or in other words, a profitable business.

*INTRODUCTION* (9 /10) IV. Powerful attention grabber V. Paper effectively transitions from broad information to a narrow thesis. VI. Thesis is supportable and clear.

*BODY PARAGRAPHS--SENTENCES* (8.5 /10) III. Sentences are efficient and clear, not awkward. IV. Verbs are used correctly.

*BODY PARAGRAPHS--FORM* (16 /20) VI. Topic sentences transition well and establish each paragraph’s specific focus. VII. Topic sentences do NOT introduce quotations. VIII. Clinchers creatively wrap up the discussion of each body paragraph. IX. Each paragraph focuses primarily on one point. X. Paragraphs are approximately half-a-page long.

*BODY PARAGRAPHS--PROOF* ( 39/50) III. Quotations and focused analysis prove the assertion of each topic sentence. IV. Summarizing is avoided.

*CONCLUSION--first half* (4.25 /5) IV. Restates thesis in different words V. Quickly ties up the persuasive argument in one or two sentences without adding new information

*CONCLUSION--second half* VI. The conclusion ends with an effective “so what?” (4.25 /5)

*NO-ZONE* Points will be taken off for these infractions II. Incorrect spelling ( ) VI. Contractions (unless they are in quotations) ( ) VII. Taboo words (thing, stuff, a lot, guys, get, etc.) ( ) VIII. First/Second person personal pronouns (I, you, we, us, our, etc.) ( ) IX. Punctuation mistakes (including quotations) ( ) X. Excessive “be” verbs and passive voice ( )

FINAL TOTAL: (81 /100)