Ms. King
Gifted English
21 May 2014
Possessions
In “Possessions in The Great Gatsby” the possessions of characters in the novel are analyzed. Love, money, and the homes of Gatsby and Buchanan are key possessions shown though out The Great Gatsby. Because of Gatsby’s major obsession with Daisy his others are not shown. His obsessions with materialistic possessions are huge traits in Gatsby. Gatsby’s cloths are a good example. His cloths define him. Tom says ‘“An Oxford Man!’ Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit.’” Donaldson says that Tom is able to undermine Gatsby as a competitor for Daisy. He also says that one’s cloths express one’s self and no one more than Jay Gatsby. Myrtle Wilson is obsessed with money and the high-class stature of Tom. She wants to be rich and have anything she wants. She gets this from Tom. Also in the novel Nick comforts Tom and Daisy of being too materialistic to money. Nick condemns Tom and Daisy as careless people who “smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together.” All Tom and Daisy care about is money; they don’t care about love or each other as much compared to money. Gatsby’s home is just another materialistic possessions of Gatsby. It just represents his money and search for happiness. We learn from this that money can’t buy happiness.
Works Cited
Donaldson, Scott. "Possessions of "The Great Gatsby’” Academic Search Premier. EBSCO, n.d. Web.
Cited: Donaldson, Scott. "Possessions of "The Great Gatsby’” Academic Search Premier. EBSCO, n.d. Web.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
She is in a relationship with Gatsby before the war, truly loves him, and promises to wait for him. But as she is part of the upper-class aristocracy, it is more ‘proper’ to marry someone in the same class as her. In the end, she allows herself to believe that having more money would be more important than true love. As a result, she did not wait for Gatsby to come back from the war but marries Tom, a man from a very wealthy family, instead. Daisy faces the consequence of her decision and shows the readers of her regret when she says, “that’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a [man]” (17). She feels even more remorseful when she sees Gatsby’s “Hotel de Ville” (11) and cries “That huge place there?” (87) because the mansion is even bigger than the house that she is living in at the moment. Daisy further shows her materialistic desire when she sees Gatsby’s shirts and sobs, “it makes me sad because I’ve never seen such – such beautiful shirts before.” (89) This materialistic appetite and thirst for wealth is very evident to the aristocracy and contributes to their corruption as they never seem to have…
- 824 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Tom himself never claims to be entirely comfortable with the new hedonistic society; instead, he seems to have a preference for remaining within the strictly stratified, pre-war society, in which social convention was more stringent and his place was assured. He was at Yale with Nick, a fact which instantly implies his social background due to the wealthy connotations of the university; and even then he had a freedom with money which was a cause for “reproach”. Nick details the “string of polo ponies” he owns – another purchase which instantly conveys the social standing of Tom. For Tom, these are not merely possessions – they are the terms on which he approaches society. Fitzgerald deliberately includes the price of the “$350,000 string of pearls” which are his engagement present to Daisy. Instead of showing his love as Gatsby appears to have done, Tom approaches her with a purchased, expensive object and the “external force” which she is seeking to shape her life. This also could be an indication of his ostentatious nature – perhaps further evidence of an obvious carelessness with money.…
- 1295 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
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…
- 725 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Firstly, wealth is the origin of Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy. Gatsby believes he is “the son of God” (Fitzgerald 105) and struggles to civilize himself into a wealthy man. When he is a poor soldier, he meets Daisy, “the first ‘nice’ girl” he has never met (Fitzgerald 158). Throughout the story, it is found that she is…
- 501 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
She is mesmerized by his wealth as she enters his dressing room saying, "They're such beautiful shirts," she sobbed, her voice muffled in the think folds. "It makes me sad because I've never seen such--such beautiful shirts before" (Fitzgerald 92; ch.5). Daisy is overcome with two things that she has never experienced at the same time: wealth and love. Tom has the money but he does not treat her like a woman should be treated. Finally, she is in the presence of a man who has the money, but only cares about making her life complete. Person agrees and disagrees with this thought. "She is victim first of Tom Buchanan's "cruel" power, but then of Gatsby's increasingly depersonalized vision of her," he states (250). He agrees that she is very mistreated by Tom, but then later describes the way Gatsby mistreats her by saying "She becomes the unwitting "grail" in Gatsby's adolescent quest to remain ever-faithful to his seven-year-old conception of himself" (250). Person is trying to say that Gatsby does not truly love Daisy and that he is just using her to fuel his growing…
- 969 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
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…
- 502 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The Great Gatsby articulates how materialism restricts human desire and behaviour. Materialism in this context is defined as a “preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values” according to; dictonary.reference.com - the psychology behind this is that materialism restricts a person's ability to function as a social being to their full potential. We see this is the characters of Daisy Buchanan and Tom Buchanan, more relevantly known as "old money". Nick, the narrator, reflects upon these two characters as "careless people..- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness.."…
- 475 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby it is evident to see that money cannot buy happiness and it will never allow those to achieve the American Dream. The superficiality of the 1920’s society is clearly evident through the characters including Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson. As the novel continues to develop it is seen that the excitement in this era overall leads to one's downfall and unhappiness.…
- 593 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
This is possibly due to his upbringing in poverty, but it is clear that everything Gatsby sis with his wealth was done for Daisy. When Gatsby comes home from the war and learns that Daisy has married Tom, Gatsby quickly and mysteriously amasses large amounts of money in hopes that his wealth will bring Daisy back to him. When Gatsby throws his crazy parties, he isn’t doing it because he enjoys it, he is doing it because he thinks Daisy will enjoy it. “He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray.” (page 92) Even when Gatsby does get Daisy’s attention again, he does everything he can think of to keep her interested by showing off all of these useless glittering things that he has collected. It starts with him showing of a grand organ in the foyer, for which he keeps a person staffed to play whenever he desires, and ends with him literally shoving his wealth in her face by throwing all of these fine shirts at Daisy. Only when she starts crying does he stops and she says it’s because she’s never seen such beautiful shirts before. Gatsby never gets caught up in all of the shining parties he throws and doesn’t seem to care about anything he owns that daisy doesn’t find suitable. Gatsby even treats Nick with genuine kindness and tries to dispel harmful rumors about himself because he cares what nick thinks of him as a person. Gatsby is the only wealthy person in this book to never show unnecessary malice unless Daisy is…
- 967 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald one see a story of a man with hope to reunited with his long last love that wasn't meant to be. Tom a incredibly rich man marries Daisy who was once a lover with Gatsby. Gatsby builds a business empire buy an enormous, luxurious house near Daisy and throws banking breaking, massive parties hoping that one day Daisy will come to his party and he can once again united with her. Nick is in the middle of it helping Gatsby on his quest for true love. However a darker aspect is shown in this story this darker aspect is how materialism corrupts and dehumanize a person. Gatsby has mysterious business meeting doing shady business, Tom Buchanan thinks he can throw money at an problem that comes his way. Gatsby can instantly get out of trouble with law enforcement with the snap of his fingers In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald shows that materialism of the wealthy and privileged is corrupting, toxic and disillusioning to one's life.…
- 813 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The sole purpose of Gatsby’s residency in the extravagant mansion is to impress Daisy and show her that he has changed and increased his status from when she left him as a poor soldier going into the war. Once Daisy acknowledges Gatsby’s existence, he shows Daisy all the lavish, materialistic items that she missed out on by marrying Tom. Inside Gatsby’s inhabited house “he took out pile[s] of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk… [as] Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily” (Fitzgerald 93). When Daisy sees the materialistic wealth that Gatsby now posses she is overcome by the feeling and desire for her materialistic American…
- 540 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In the book, "The Great Gatsby", Gatsby had a whole bunch of money. Gatsby would always throw parties on the weekends. “On the weekends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight.” (The book The Great Gatsby page 59) In the book The Great Gatsby lived in the rich side and here in our society we have summerlin, which is where the upper class live. Being rich is having a lot of fancy and expensive cars and very expensive clothes. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such- such beautiful shirts before.” (The book The Great Gatsby page 68) That’s when Daisy saw Gatsby’s clothes and realized what she could’ve had if she would’ve been with him. Being rich back then meant that you had power and you could've done anything without having to worry…
- 612 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Most of the characters in this book are materialistic but two characters that stands out the most is Tom and Daisy. “I couldn't forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” Daisy had just killed Myrtle, Tom’s mistress, and Gatsby doesn’t want anybody to know that Daisy was the one driving the car. Gatsby was killed for that reason because all he wants to do is protect Daisy. After all of that Daisy and Tom decided to leave without going to his funeral because they are irresponsible, reckless, and careless.They just let other people take care of the mess that they have caused. Tom and Daisy always seem to come back to the money; after all those affairs, they end up back into their money because that is the only thing that matters to them is money. Chapter…
- 626 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
For centuries, historians have discussed the relationship between ownership of tangible items and sense of self. Aristotle claims that ownership of tangible goods helps to develop moral character. However, even though the relationship, as outlined by Aristotle, allows people to establish their moral character, it teeters on the fine line between self-confidence and self-deprecation. For some people the ownership of objects allows them to accentuate their personality, express their interests, and become more in touch with their emotions. When individuals represent their nature accurately through these means they gradually start to gain self-confidence. These objects…
- 914 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
It is easy for someone to lose their morals when encountered with enormous amounts of money. Moral decay is clearly painted in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby showing the corruption driven by a green light that is represented as money. Both Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, men of money are mirrored opposites of each other; possessing general similarities in which certain differences are distinguished. For example, both men have money, Gatsby’s means of achieving wealth, though illegal ways that are more justified than Tom’s. Tom earns money from inheritance, whereas Gatsby constantly works to achieve a social rank acceptable to Daisy’s liking. Both men show off their money. Gatsby throws numerous amounts of parties in an attempt to attract Daisy, whereas Tom brags about his money to impress. Finally, both men share a relationship with Daisy, where Daisy is Gatsby’s number one priority, whereas Tom sets her to the side. Tom is more selfish and self-centered, completely dislikes Gatsby’s selfless behavior. Although Gatsby has justified reasons for attaining wealth, his selflessness leads him to his end whereas Tom’s immoral actions keep him from harm.…
- 400 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays