ipl-logo

Consumerism In The Great Gatsby Essay

1152 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Criticism of the great gatsby

Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby in 1925 as a critique of the ‘roaring twenties’ where America was dominated by capitalist values and for many there was no such thing as excess. Jay Gatsby is used as a symbol highlighting that the frivolous nature of America’s elite was transient. In Chapter 7, Gatsby makes the following statement, ‘Her voice was full of money’ about Daisy Buchanan implying that Gatsby idolises Daisy for her wealth and status. Gatsby has finally managed to pinpoint what is so elusive about Daisy’s voice, one that ‘the ear follows up and down.’ A voice that is ‘full of money’ indicates that Daisy has the tonal quality of someone that has always been well provided for. This also implies that Daisy has a love of money, which …show more content…

The metaphor, ‘enough coloured lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden’ conveys the sheer opulence of the party. Generally the public associate Christmas with the celebration of the Christian faith however this implies that consumerism has replaced religion in the opulent society of New York in the 20’s. This is further reinforced by Dr T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes, a billboard mentioned in Chapter 2. These eyes grow to become a God-like figure keeping a ‘watchful vigil’ over the elite of New York. This indicates that religion came second to consumerism as the figure seen as the Valley’s ‘God’, is a billboard made to help the rich make profit from the poor residents of the Valley. Also, Fitzgerald describes the entertainment band that Gatsby provides for his guests attending his parties as ‘no thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums.’ This lengthy polysyndetic listing describes a bombardment of sound, highlighting Gatsby’s overwhelming determination to upkeep the façade of wealth and decadence he has created in his pursuit for

Show More
Related
974 Words | 4 Pages

When Gatsby’s dies no-one goes to his funeral. This illuminates that even though he had large parties with many people at them. His relationships were not genuine and no one truly cared. In conclusion, through Barret Browning’s sonnets and Fitzgerald’s novel

Read More
489 Words | 2 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby portrays the lives of wealthy Americans living in the success and grandeur of the Roaring Twenties. Within the novel, the epoch’s legacy of material want and the need for human connection clash in the form of Daisy Buchanan. Her inner conflict between the two desires are symbolized in Jay’s letter and Tom’s pearls. Jay’s letter to Daisy Buchanan proves the romance of their relationship, while Tom’s pearls ultimately represents Daisy’s decision to abandon that love for wealth.

Read More
798 Words | 4 Pages

The poem that I chose is Ghost Dance by Sara Littlecrow-Russell. The title is something that sounded familiar to me, but the reason I chose to read this poem originally was that it told a story rather than describing something, someone, or a feeling, which had been a common theme among the poems that I had been browsing. I also knew that I wanted to recite a poem that used a more low tone rather than an upbeat one, which is something that the majority of this poem had. Subtle and major tone changes and pauses were more easily visualized for me while reading this the first few times more than some of the previous poems I had read. Finally, I had realized that the poem is something that I already had some knowledge on from another class that I had been taking during the year.

Read More
1201 Words | 5 Pages

What’s more, Daisy was old money who was respected and enjoyed everything in upper class, which actually Gatsby longed for so much. Gatsby dreamed to be one of

Read More
1077 Words | 5 Pages

It has long been said that money can’t buy happiness, but still people continue to use it’s acquisition to try to make themselves happy. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the title character struggles with this realization. The book is set in New York during the ‘Roaring 20’s’, a time famous for its parties and lavishness. The book examines the attitudes toward money within the upper particularly through the lense of the new-money title character, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby dedicated his life to the acquisition of money with the goal of eventually acquiring the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan.

Read More
529 Words | 3 Pages

The Roaring Twenties, known as the decade of the 1920s in the Western World, consists of dramatic changes in social values. The cultural differences between the 1920s and the Victorian era changes people's behavior, where they become more free-will, youthful and carefree, despite of being more conservative before. People are more open-minded and found satisfaction through the “open pursuit of sex, money, and booze” (Berman 53) as they suggest their wealth and status in the society. New York City had become one of the cities where materialistic wealth has become the key of happiness and the standard to judge people's success, further leading Americans to pursue each other in a negative, acquisitive way. Through the different scenes and characters of the famous novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores how the society twisted the original idea of

Read More
610 Words | 3 Pages

When everyone refuses to go to Gatsby’s funeral, his greatness is totally collapsed. Such contrasts between “the great” and the non-great become F. Scott Fitzgerald’s strong social critique against the vanity and blindness of the Jazz

Read More
1373 Words | 6 Pages

Risk taking, ground breaking changes, and wild parties are all important aspects of the 1920’s. The massive parties that included dancing, alcohol, and a house full of strangers were so essential to this magical era that F. Scott fitzgerald made them a key element in his book, “The Great Gatsby.” These extravagant parties that Jay Gatsby was notorious for hosting, attracted strangers from all corners of New York to take part in these luxurious events. These parties were so popular and well known in the eastern New York area that they basically become Gatsby’s trademark. Upon hearing the name “Gatsby” guests did not visualize the face of a young man, but rather envisioned the wild parties he threw.

Read More
751 Words | 4 Pages

In many literary works, the wealthy are generally depicted as pretentious or cruel and authors tend to portray their personalities through various methods. In his work The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses literary techniques to distinctly characterize the wealthy. Doing so helps him communicate the work’s theme on the soulless nature of the affluent. Fitzgerald conveys his message by incorporating juxtaposition, effective diction, and suiting moods with his characters.

Read More
1042 Words | 5 Pages

Through the early to mid 1900s, the concept of striving to attain more than one is originally born with became predominant in most American societies. During this era, many authors, through literature, began expressing their concern with the rise in materialistic ideals and its effect on society and the individuals living within it, one being F. Scott Fitzgerald. Two of Fitzgerald’s widely-known works of literature, The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams”, both heavily elaborate on the effects of the increase in materialism and the ultimate effects of attempting to achieve the American Dream; this is conveyed through the unhappiness of the Dexter and Gatsby despite their perseverance to acquire women of higher social statuses. These texts both reach the conclusion that the American Dream is not within reach of anyone. Fitzgerald’s representation of the unattainable American Dream is demonstrated in The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams” through his portrayal of the materialistic nature of society as well as the characters’ failure to possess the women they love.

Read More
1558 Words | 7 Pages

The American dream states that any individual can achieve success regardless of family history, race, and/or religion simply by working hard. The 1920’s were a time of corruption and demise of moral values in society. The first World War had passed, and people were reveling in the materialism that came at the end of it, such as advanced technology and innovative inventions. The novel The Great Gatsby exploits the theme of the American Dream as it takes place in a corrupt period in history. Although the American Dream seemed more attainable than ever in the 1920’s, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby demonstrates how materialism and the demise of moral values in society leads to the corruption and impossibility of the American Dream.

Read More
1218 Words | 5 Pages

Additionally, the book portrays Gatsby’s parties, characteristic of the 1920’s, as examples of hollow decadence. The parties were filled with alcohol (which at the time was an illegal substance), dancing, rich

Read More
780 Words | 4 Pages

(187), and that times he could not even enter the house. The behavior of the people at these parties grow to be more immoral as they became more filled with alcohol. Nick states “The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word” (44). Gatsby created these events in an attempt to lure Daisy over to his mansion, hoping she would be one of the uninvited who just show up.

Read More
708 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, social class is a key theme, as seen by every character having their own distinct class. Tom, Daisy, Jordan, and even Nick are old money, Gatsby is new money, and the Wilson 's are no money. In short, the more money you have, the better off you will be. In the epigraph of the novel, there is a poem by Thomas Parke D 'Invilliers, who is a fictional character created by Fitzgerald himself. This poem is about using materialism to win over the affection of someone, which is exactly what Gatsby tries to do.

Read More
1454 Words | 6 Pages

Jay Gatsby, one of the main characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, is a wealthy man with dubious sources of money; Gatsby is renowned in New York due to the lavish parties he holds every friday in his mansion. These are spectacles that fully embody the wealth and glamour of the roaring twenties, and are narrated through the eyes of another character Nick Carraway, an ambitious 29 year old man that recently moved back to a corrupt new york in a cramped cottage next to Gatsby’s palace. After admiring the careless behaviour of the parties from a distance, Nick gets a personal invitation to Gatsby’s next party, he promptly becomes infatuated by the extravagant and frivolous lifestyle the parties portray, along with the superficial

Read More

More about Consumerism In The Great Gatsby Essay

Related Topics

Open Document