Role Of Wealth In The Great Gatsby

English II
December 13, 2013
Wealth is Not Always Great Money has always had an effect on people, throughout history people have always strived to achieve wealth. However being rich and wealthy is not all about money, it is about being happy. In the The Great Gatsby happiness is bought because the characters living in East and West Egg have an absurd amount of money. F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the lifestyle and behavior of wealthy individuals in The Great Gatsby, illuminating the corrupting power money can have on the personal relationships between characters. Through depiction of the characters’ hedonistic qualities: the pursuit of pleasure, Fitzgerald acknowledges that money truly can not buy happiness. The
Great Gatsby dramatically follows Nick as he encounters Tom and Gatsby, men with absurd amounts of wealth. As Nick becomes closer with Gatsby and Tom, watching their lives play out before him, he begins to formulate his own opinion about money and its ability to fog the human mind. Nick commented on Tom and Daisy’s behavior by saying, “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. . . .” (Fitzgerald 274). Tom and Daisy do not care what they do. They spend lavishly and do not even think twice about it. Nick feels that they are spending all the money to cover up their gloominess. Tom and Daisy just “let other people clean up the mess they had made,” which covered up all of their misery. The couple has all of these hedonistic qualities “they are careless” and need to hide there agony of not being happy. Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom have all become victims of their individual lust for wealth becoming progressively more and more hedonistic. Gatsby has transformed from having dreams and aspirations to solely trying to get Daisy (by getting money). When
Gatsby finally got Daisy “he knew that when he kissed [her], and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God” (171-172). When he finally touched her lips he instantly knew that all he had to do was achieve the goal of getting the girl of his dreams, when in fact all he was doing was buying her. Gatsby had dropped everything and now focused on how to get Daisy. He thought he could get her solely using money, and showing how wealth he is. To try to prove his wealth,
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.
While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher—shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange, with monograms of Indian blue. Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. “They’re such beautiful shirts,” she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before
(143).

Gatsby throwing his clothes on Daisy, showing how she has become something he has to win by showing off his money, she finally recognizes that she is an object now and that Gatsby is trying to purchase her.
Gatsby’s wealth overwhelmed Daisy because she does not feel loved by him, but as an object. He had bootlegged all the money he has for her, but money does not buy the happiness of others. What buys happiness is the true inner love and connection people have. Daisy “... began to cry stormily. “They’re such beautiful shirts,” she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before.” Daisy began to cry because all the love Gatsby has for Daisy is fake because it is all just money. The extensive detail about the clothing displays how Gatsby has all the money to buy every type of sweater, but not buy the only thing that matters to him the most—Daisy. This illuminates how money cannot obtain love. Love and happiness cannot be bought they have to be earned. Gatsby tired to purchase Daisy’s love with all of his whimsical treasures, but it failed because she felt like an object not a human. Money is tremendously powerful and it can make loved ones feel more like an object than as a
person. Tom, who has had money his entire life, has always gotten everything he has wanted and has never had any responsibilities, while Gatsby has had to forge his own wealth, working hard to make his money, even though it came from illegal means. This difference best shown through their goals in life; Gatsby focuses on gaining more possessions to become wealthier, while Tom tries has to focus on keeping the possessions he already has. Gatsby strives to get the possession of Daisy in life, which he failed at because he had swamped her with all of his wealth and it made her feel like an object. Gatsby had failed to reach his happiness because he could not get the girl of his dreams. He did all of the bootlegging for Daisy to show her how he is better than Tom because he had worked for his money. Gatsby bought the house on the “blue lawn” (276) so he could be closer to her and be that closer to accomplish his goal.
With all of Tom’s money being inherited from his father he never have to work a day. Tom just had to keep all of his possessions and do nothing. He had already had Daisy and he just had to keep her for his life to be perfect. But when Gatsby tries to get Daisy back, she realizes “[she] never loved him” (202). Tom has done everything to keep Daisy happy, but he could never win her heart over like Gatsby did. Gatsby had one over Daisy for a moment in time before he had started to treat her like an object and not as a significant other. With all the money and wealth Tom can not get Daisy to love him. The only reason Daisy goes back to Tom when Gatsby dies is because he is rich and has a lot of money. Daisy is fake when she is around Tom. She just wanted to be rich so faked loving Tom and just dealt with him. All the money Tom has cannot, he cannot buy Daisy’s love, but he can buy her presence. Money and wealth are not everything in life, but major factors in it. Gatsby’s dream in life was to get the girl of his dreams, Daisy. All things he done: get a beautiful house, through extravagant parties, and living across the “blue lawn” was all for her. Even with all of this he still never achieved happiness even with all of the money he had. Money and wealth are not everything in life. Life is about being happy and enjoying the things that are granted. Happiness is the moment before you need more happiness.

Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. eBook.