Old Money In The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald’s purpose of writing the is to illustrate the difference between “old money” and “new money”.
First and foremost people who come from “old money” and people who have “new money” have different moral views. For instance, “the Valley of Ashes” which is located between East and West Egg, is representative of the moral and social decay that results from the pursuit of wealth, as the rich indulge themselves with no regard for anything but their own pleasure (Fitzgerald 24). The valley of ashes also symbolizes the plight of the poor, specifically George Wilson, who lives among the ashes and how those people lose their vitality because of it. This is shown through the description that Nick first gives about Mr. Wilson about him being
“a gray old man” (Fitzgerald 27). Another example of the change in moral views would be how Nick describes the novel by saying that “this has been a story of the West” because people from West Egg, specifically Gatsby, represent the newly rich people, while people from East Egg , mainly Daisy and Tom, represent the people who come from money (Fitzgerald 176). The West and the Midwest, where Gatsby, Tom, Nick and Daisy were from, are associated with traditional moral values while, East Egg is associated more with a fast-paced lifestyle, decadent parties, crumbling moral values, and the pursuit of wealth. The people from the west were the cause of the tension in the novel probably because they unable to adapt to the Eastern customs. In addition to the difference in moral views, people with “old money” and people with “new money” appreciate material items in different lights.
For instance, the new world is all about items being “material without being real” (Fitzgerald 161). The new world, mainly the East, have moved from old world, specifically the West, morals and values which have now all but disappeared to a world were everyone prides themselves upon what material items they can afford to possess. People with “old money” are materialistic because they pride themselves upon having the best quality items which others cannot afford themselves. While, the people with “new money” buy items so that they can flaunt them because they want people to envy them like they previously envied people like themselves. Another example of the materialism would be from the “photo of the house, cracked in the corners and dirty with many hands… He had shown it so often that I think it was more real to him than the house itself” (Fitzgerald 172). This is illustrates how Gatsby's father has only truly appreciated his son for the material items which he possessed, rather than appreciating Gatsby as the person that he had become or the person he was before he made his fortune. What is truly sad about this is that even though his son is dead, all he wants from Gatsby are material items such as his house and all of his fortune so that he can become newly rich himself rather than, the chance to have actually spent more time with or have reconnected with his
son. The difference between “old money” and “new money” is how quickly “new money” can be ripped away and how greedy people can be to obtain “new money” in order to be like those who have “old money”.