What Does Greed Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

Post World War One, America was in an unprecedented economic boom which beckoned the poor to become rich and the rich to get richer. Life blossomed out of the war, but the flower it became was completely different than the ones before it. People questioned their morals and values leading to doubt in old beliefs such as nationalism and religion, in turn leading to a focus on materialism and the individual to fill the void. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby delves into the lives of the growing social elite, a class which defined the “roaring twenties” with their seemingly endless wealth and exuberance in life. However, while Fitzgerald’s interest in the rich was obvious, he had very clear criticisms of their extravagant, but shallow life styles. He emphasizes how wealth has diminished the
heart of the upper class, expressing through the deterioration of each character that they all led on facades about what their lives meant which ultimately lead to the collapse of relationships at the end of the story. The Great Gatsby exemplifies the fragility of the upper class, proving that war had not thickened the skin of its veterans, but made them paper-thin ghosts of a lost generation who in the failure of their old ways fell to the vices of greed and materialism.
Fitzgerald’s intricate and meticulous detail in describing the parties of Jay Gatsby display the ironic impersonality of the attendants which in turn serves to exemplify the altered values and mindset of the “nouveau riche” or young upper class. Nick, the main character, has the first impression of Gatsby’s guests that, “the groups change more swiftly, swell[ing] with new arrivals, dissolv[ing] and form[ing] in the same breath.”(Fitzgerald 40). Fitzgerald details the liveliness of the party likening it to the ebb and flow of waves, but also helps to express the insincerity of the attendants as groups form and break with such ease. In another interpretation, the party itself symbolizes the “roaring twenties” as its vastness and grandeur are clear nods to the mindset of victorious Americans after the Great War. The partygoers are characteristic of 1920’s society, with members of all classes drifting and climbing through a dynamic social ladder still reforming after the war. Fitzgerald thus foreshadows the Great Depression, as the end of the party signifies the return of its members back to their respective places within society, which is in a sense, the end of an era. However a continuity between both interpretations has Fitzgerald using this party scene to highlight how a sense of anonymity has taken over the lives of the rich, allowing them to hide behind their veils of wealth in order to escape the reality of their doubts and troubles. This idea is captured by Jordan Baker, who states, “‘And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.’”(Fitzgerald 49). Again, by using irony Fitzgerald criticizes the shallowness of the rich in that their unwillingness to open up is in reality a way of hiding from the fact that they have nothing to show. Throughout the story, major plot advances and revelations are made in these “small parties” showing the characters choose to avoid revealing their true selves, opting to keep themselves ignorant to their feelings and doubts in “large parties.” Fitzgerald is ultimately illustrating the lost generation’s fear of itself and how, in being unable to cope with these doubts by traditional means, they turned to focus on material gain and grandeur to fill the void left by the absence of a strong church and state in their lives.
Similarly, Fitzgerald’s detailed descriptions of characters’ images and symbolism help to portray his criticism on the rich’s focus on materialism over higher values such as compassion and love.
At a lull in one of Gatsby’s parties, Nick finds himself omnisciently viewing a group of East Egg members where he
states:
“I looked around. Most of the remaining women were now having fights with men said to be their husbands. Even Jordan’s party, the quartet from East Egg, were rent asunder by dissension. One of the men was talking with curious intensity to a young actress, and his wife, after attempting to laugh at the situation in a dignified and indifferent way, broke down entirely and resorted to flank attacks - at intervals she appeared suddenly at his side like an angry diamond, and hissed: ‘You promised!’ into his ear.” (Fitzgerald 51).
In his description, Fitzgerald typifies the average wealthy person, expressing his criticisms of their immoral lifestyle through vivid imagery and regressive symbolism of the partygoers. In describing how, “the remaining women were now having fights with men said to be their husbands” he comes to realize how the the concept of love and marriage have become unlinked, and that the upper class have chosen to marry for economic value rather than for true feelings for their spouse. This symbolizes the regression of the rich, another irony highlighted within Fitzgerald’s criticisms. Interestingly, marriage for economic purposes was frowned upon heavily during the romantic age prior to the setting of the book, showing that the rich have made called upon old habits to fulfill the facades of their personalities. Fitzgerald also uses flashy and high class imagery to support his argument, providing insight into the tasteful, but heartless nature of the upperclass. The overall image of this group of adults arguing with such intensity at a party expresses the immaturity and lack of grace which the rich hold, as they believe themselves to be the most important people in the room. This self-centered nature is further exemplified in the conversation of “curious intensity” that one of the married men gave to a young actress showing that even with his wife present the average man felt no remorse being around other women. Similarly, the wife’s description as an “angry diamond” emphasises her worth as a unit of wealth, not a person, and that many believed material gain could bring happiness. Fitzgerald employs vivid imagery and symbols of heartlessness to criticize the rich’s loss of romantic ideals as well as to emphasize their immaturity in comparison to older generations of wealth. The materialistic nature of the wealthy is none better displayed by the relationship of Gatsby and Daisy throughout the plot. Jay Gatsby symbolizes the average man, but in the sense that he is not in love with Daisy Buchanan as a person, but for the status and wealth in which she stands for. Similarly, Daisy loved Gatsby for his money and supposed status, but married Tom for he offered her the same package while Gatsby was fighting in the war. Daisy’s obsession with material objects over real love is best seen when she reunites with Gatsby, specifically when he reveals his fine clothing to her. When they are revealed she exclaims, “‘They’re such beautiful shirts… it makes me sad because I’ve never seen such - such beautiful shirts before.’”(Fitzgerald 92). Fitzgerald impresses upon readers that Daisy is happy to the point of tears knowing that Gatsby can afford expensive clothes, but was initially off put by seeing him in Nick’s less grand home. Here Daisy is symbolic of most women from the time period, who in gaining suffrage, felt as though they had right to more choice in picking a proper husband. However, Fitzgerald plays off of the general stereotype of rich women being committed to the money rather than the man to build his argument, showing how wealth was still an important factor in the final decision. A similar criticism can be seen in the affair of Tom and Myrtle, as both are looking at each other as objects of status and dominance. Even in her death, Tom could not cry until he, “‘saw that damn box of dog biscuits sitting there on the sideboard.’”(Fitzgerald 178-179). This final statement of Tom is a note from the author that he has made up his mind on the minds of the rich, explaining how even after death they are unable to see the internal worth of another person. Furthermore, Nick concludes that, “they were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money...”(Fitzgerald 179), further emphasizing how far materialism had taken them away from their understanding of other people. Fitzgerald chooses to the words “things” and “creatures” to explain the ones hurt by Daisy and Tom were objects rather than people in their view, thus proving how the rich view others as objects to be used rather than people they must treat well. Overall, Fitzgerald uses the relationship of Tom with Myrtle and of Gatsby with Daisy to demonstrate the rich’s inability to see past a person’s surface as a result of materialism playing a driving role in their lives. To conclude, F.
Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby provides insight into the flashy and glamorous lives of the 1920’s social elite. In the decade after The Great War while America was in an economic surge, the average citizen was in a social crisis. Values and institutions held to great prowess prior to the war now were obsolete, leaving a void that would be replaced with money. Through detailed descriptions and his character's’ decisions, Fitzgerald asserts that this focus on wealth has left the upper class dry, heartless, and unable to confront their own fears or doubts. As Fitzgerald himself came from this lost generation, he does not criticize the rich for being afraid or astray, but for using their wealth as a shield from their problems. His final quarrel lies in that if the shield were to be removed, Fitzgerald believed only a shell of a man would
remain.