How Can Money Buy Happiness In The Great Gatsby

Angie Brown
March 11, 2013
Period 4
Money Can’t Buy Happiness In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, he discusses the concern for social issues. Additionally, Maya Angelou’s poem, “Alone,” and Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem, “Richard Cory,” are similar to the social concerns of The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald, by means of The Great Gatsby, discusses how money is the root of all evil. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald makes the point that money is the root of all evil. For example, when Myrtle got ran over by Gatsby’s car (137), supposedly since Gatsby’s car is really fancy, Myrtle was ran over by “wealth,” which is what she wanted throughout the story. Everyone wants money in The Great Gatsby. They would do anything to get it, like
Gatsby and the man in the poem are very similar because they both think money can buy happiness, but in the end they both die by a bullet. Neither of them liked the way they lived, they always felt that something was missing. However, Gatsby and Richard aren’t exactly the same. Unlike Richard, Gatsby doesn’t walk around the streets to show off his worth. Unlike Gatsby, Richard wasn’t willing to change his whole life just for being obsessed over a woman. Both Gatsby and Richard have the same wealth, but they don’t share the same
This poem relates to Gatsby so much because Gatsby always ends up alone. An example would be when Gatsby found out that Daisy got married with Tom. Then, he confronts them both and asks her who she truly loves and she replies, “I did love him once- but I loved you too” (140). Although Gatsby was alone most of the time, he was extremely popular at times when there were parties. The character in “Alone” was never popular at any time of the story. But at the same time, Gatsby still wasn’t popular even at parties because people came for the party, not even for Gatsby, so he would still be alone. Although the three pieces of literature share some similarities and differences, Fitzgerald, Angelou, and Robinson all point out that being wealthy or popular doesn’t lead you to happiness. In Fitzgerald’s novel, it talks about how money is the root of all evil. In Robinson’s poem, it talks about how money can’t buy happiness. In Angelou’s poem, it talks about how even if you have all the money in the world, you can always be alone. They all relate to money one way or another. Their main topic was all about how money is not always a good thing and is evil and how it changes