The Role Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life was a time of excess wealth and materialism. The 1920’s, for some, was a decade filled with the best of everything money could afford and the Stock Market Crash of 1929 drastically altered many Americans view on life. Writers of the 1920s like Fitzgerald became disillusioned and rejected the ideas of social class and materialism. Because of his fall from prosperity, the characters in his stories usually resemble his own life.

As a child and as a young adult Fitzgerald had a life filled with excess and opportunities, however that all came with challenges. “Fitzgerald..was born into a family of little wealth but great social ambition.” (Chin 650). This means that even though his father was not greatly successful his family still exposed him to the best life could offer. His mother
Unlucky in love and in wealth, he is excited to learn that he just inherited a large sum of money with his grandmother’s death. This money he hopes will help him regain the love of Caroline. The story captures Parisian local color, “In front of the shops in the Rue de Castilione” (Fitzgerald 652). This shows Fitzgerald experience living in Europe like many Americans did after WWI. When the character Michael attends the bachelor party, he feels as if he does not measure up to the attendees “The people who had come were rich and at home with their richness with one another.” (Fitzgerald 655). Fitzgerald is clearly illustrating the materialism and excess that overwhelmed his generation. After the struggles he endured in his own life, he creates these situations to prove that objects are useless, but that they can be destructive against one’s ego and morals. In this way, Michael is like Fitzgerald in that his quest for money clouded his search for true love. Michael loses his girl, and Fitzgerald eventually lost his