Essay On Materialism In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby written by F.Scott Fitzgerald is a novel which exemplifies the rich and “nouveau riche” people of America. It focuses in the era of the 1920’s, illustrating a dramatic social and political change. This can be seen as Americans lived more on cities than on farms. From 1920 until 1929 the United States total wealth more than doubled, and swept many Americans into an affluent but unfamiliar consumer society. People from different coasts bought the same goods, listened to the same music and did the same dances. The economic growth in the United States caused many Americans to become uncomfortable with the new, urban and sometimes racy mass culture. Most Americans believe the 1920s brought more conflict than celebration. The encounter

Gatsbys American dream is seen by wealth as means of struggle in achieving the purpose of the dream, this is because his wealth produces the opportunity he needs in his attempt to win back Daisy. Fitzgerald exemplifies throughout his novel that people become vacuous by the pursuit of materialism and excess. This is seen through Gatsby’s actions regarding his wealth. He misuse his wealth in order to pursuit love and happiness and also to buy people. Jay Gatsby uses his money to throw extravagant parties, with the purpose of attracting Daisy’s interest. Gatsby’s parties proves that he uses his wealth as a useful tool in his dream to win back Daisy. “They’re such beautiful shirts,” she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such – such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald 89). Gatsby wanted to gain Daisy by showing her his power and wealth, his aim was to impress her and buy her expensive products to win her back. Gatsby was so deep inside the materialistic life that he only tried to impress her with his wealthy lifestyle, forgetting to urge her love