Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had. Money can buy everything, except for the circumstances of birth. The central struggle in the Great Gatsby is caused by this fact. James Gatz, despite everything he has earned for himself, cannot earn a higher social class. His desire to rise in status, to gain class and recognition, leads to his love for Daisy. This love leads him inexorably into conflict with Tom Buchanan, who has what Gatsby desires most, Daisy and the status that has given her. This struggle between Tom and Gatsby is a representation of the entire struggle between new money and old money, and so ultimately a struggle Tom wins. James Gatz and Tom Buchanan both have backgrounds characteristic of their class. Nick Carroway says of Tom “His family were enormously wealthy; even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach, but now he'd left Chicago and come East in a fashion that rather took your breath away: for instance, he'd brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest. It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that.” Everything about this shows how Tom is quintessentially old money. He comes from a family that has enormous …show more content…
She has what he does not, and what he wishes for above all. His reasoning for being in love with her is that "Her voice is full of money", that endless charm. This trait of her's, the sound of money, is what drew him to her, but it was not all. Jay Gatsby's desire for Daisy arises not only from her great wealth, but more importantly from her status. He became aware of "Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor." He was never any of that as a child, and this lead inexorably to him striving for the status that he never had and that she always