The Good Behind Gatsby
Haley
12 February 2013
Jay Gatsby – The Gilded Man In an era made infamous for its displays of corruption and carelessness, the Upper Class of the 1920’s faced a degradation of character due in part both to their grand accumulations of wealth, and the materialism that had become associated with their prosperity and the life of excess. Within the pages of The Great Gatsby, a novel written by author F. Scott Fitzgerald, the oppressive powers of wealth are demonstrated through the corruption of many of the characters of whom the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, is associated with. Jay Gatsby, despite being surrounded by absolute wealth and the company of those whose morals have been breached by the corrupting forces of money, appears to become a character of the utmost purity. He rejects the common notions of materialism that filter through the Upper Class to which he belongs, and proves himself to be an upstanding man in comparison to the characters he meets. These traits do not go unnoticed by others in the novel, and as Nick Carraway states, Gatsby can be determined to be “better than the whole damn bunch put together.” By stating that Gatsby is “better than the whole damn bunch put together,” Fitzgerald explores the innate goodness behind his protagonist both in comparison to the corruption expressed in the other characters, and through hid disregard for the materialism that defines the Upper Class of the novel. History can suggest that all throughout the era of the Roaring Twenties, the wealthy lived in absolute excess. As an age of consumption, the Upper Class could be commonly seen living a life of pleasure without guilt during this time period; many men and women bought lavish cars, grand mansions, gaudy fashions, etc. Much of these aspects of 1920s culture became greatly reflected within the Great Gatsby. Materialism, and the consumption of the sought-after goods only obtained by the wealthy, was a theme that ran rampant throughout the novel. Instances of
12 February 2013
Jay Gatsby – The Gilded Man In an era made infamous for its displays of corruption and carelessness, the Upper Class of the 1920’s faced a degradation of character due in part both to their grand accumulations of wealth, and the materialism that had become associated with their prosperity and the life of excess. Within the pages of The Great Gatsby, a novel written by author F. Scott Fitzgerald, the oppressive powers of wealth are demonstrated through the corruption of many of the characters of whom the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, is associated with. Jay Gatsby, despite being surrounded by absolute wealth and the company of those whose morals have been breached by the corrupting forces of money, appears to become a character of the utmost purity. He rejects the common notions of materialism that filter through the Upper Class to which he belongs, and proves himself to be an upstanding man in comparison to the characters he meets. These traits do not go unnoticed by others in the novel, and as Nick Carraway states, Gatsby can be determined to be “better than the whole damn bunch put together.” By stating that Gatsby is “better than the whole damn bunch put together,” Fitzgerald explores the innate goodness behind his protagonist both in comparison to the corruption expressed in the other characters, and through hid disregard for the materialism that defines the Upper Class of the novel. History can suggest that all throughout the era of the Roaring Twenties, the wealthy lived in absolute excess. As an age of consumption, the Upper Class could be commonly seen living a life of pleasure without guilt during this time period; many men and women bought lavish cars, grand mansions, gaudy fashions, etc. Much of these aspects of 1920s culture became greatly reflected within the Great Gatsby. Materialism, and the consumption of the sought-after goods only obtained by the wealthy, was a theme that ran rampant throughout the novel. Instances of