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Examples Of Happiness In The Great Gatsby

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Has anyone ever said money cannot buy happiness? That money can make each and every person truly happy? In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby discovers that just because he has money and lots of it, does not mean that he is going to be happy. People thought if they had money they would be happier and all of their life’s problems would be solved. Little did they know or not know, it would not solve any of their problems. Money truly cannot buy happiness. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby finds out that money will not be able to buy back his true love, money cannot buy friends and it is inferred that others cannot find satisfaction through money.
Gatsby became a bootlegger to acquire money and become rich. He wanted to be rich, so he could be with the one he loves, Daisy. But, she rejected Jay Gatsby before he went to the war because he did …show more content…

He needs money in order to leave town as soon as possible. George Wilson thinks gathering as much money as possible and moving away will provide him with a sense of happiness. “I want to get away [...] [Myrtle’s] going whether she wants to or not. I’m going to get her away” (Fitzgerald 123). Wilson believes he will be happier if Myrtle and her lover are separated for good and he is determined to do so. “[Wilson] had discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him in another world, and the shock had made him physically sick” (Fitzgerald 124). George is shocked beyond belief, all he can believe is if he leaves with Myrtle he will be able to have his pleasure back. The only way he thinks he will be able to be fully happy again is through the use of money, enabling him to leave. Throughout the book, Gatsby found out that money could not buy happiness. Fitzgerald never said what happened to Wilson with his money, but Wilson would not have been able to find happiness through the use of money if Myrtle was not

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Following her recent death, Mrs. Wilson has been identified as Mr. Gatsby’s ‘Mystery Mistress’ who has been spotted many times inside his large mansion in West Egg. George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband has said that he knew she was having an affair, but with whom he did not know. In light of recent events, he had the following to say; “I loved Myrtle. We were planning

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In our world it is hard to indicate whether it is genuine when an individual is treated in a kind matter or being deceived in order to get exploited for something in one’s possession. It is quite unfortunate that in this world, homo sapiens use a gift such as kindness in order to deceive and get whatever they desire, instead of being genuinely kind to one another. A person should not have to doubt the truthfulness behind someone’s kindness towards them. The readers of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby experience this false goodness and deception, through the false belief that Jay Gatsby is a kind hearted soul, with a pure and white soul; Contrary to that false belief, Gatsby is in truth, foolish, pathetic and a man who repeatedly sin and prove he is not

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Greed and love, in most cases go hand in hand. People will sometimes become jealous when a loved one show affection or chooses someone else over themselves. This in many cases can drive a person to horrible or outrageous things this fact is one of the main parts in the novel The Great Gatsby. This can be summed up by one sentence and used as a theme statement and that sentence is “sometimes people will do anything to get what they want. Daisy is a prime example of how sometimes people will do anything to get what they want.

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By convincing himself that Myrtle Wilson was killed by her secret lover, George Wilson uses the tragedy as an opening to decompress everything he had been bottling up within himself. Michaelis assures George Wilson after he finds out the news that Myrtle Wilson was killed by saying, “this has been a strain to you and you don’t know what you’re saying”, but unfortunately, George Wilson ignores him (Fitzgerald 166). Later, George Wilson continues to rant about how “God knows” what Myrtle Wilson was doing, and to Michaelis’s surprise, George Wilson is staring at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg (Fitzgerald 167). While it may seem humorous that George Wilson is so faithful to the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, the same foolishness can be seen in society during the 1920s because “business had become…the national religion of America” (Allen Doc E). For that reason, Fitzgerald uses George Wilson’s disillusionment towards his wife as a parallel to the business world during the

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“He hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes. Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real. Once he nearly toppled down a flight of stairs.” (Fitzgerald 112) Jay Gatsby, coming from an unwealthy farm family in North Dakota, leaves home at the age of seventeen.

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When Gatsby and Daisy danced Fitzgerald explains, ‘’I remember being surprised by his graceful,conservative fox trot’’(fitzgerald 105). This is important because of how Daisy and Gatsby first met because of the way they were together before he went to go fight in the war. Then, after he went to war, Tom gets married Daisy only because of his money, which is very wrong of Tom and Daisy. Some people go through hard times and,‘’if the most basic needs are not met emotional contentment cannot be achieved’’(Sheppard). The idea of money does make people happier to a certain extent.

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Obviously, Tom and Myrtle had no loyalty towards Wilson when they were having the affair, as well as when Myrtle passed away. Even after Myrtle dies Tom convinces Wilson that he wanted nothing more than to help his friend through a hard time. Tom leads Wilson to believe that both he and his wife were loyal to him; he convinced him to seek revenge through his wife's alleged killer Jay Gatsby. “After Gatsby's death, the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes' power of correction. So when the blue smoke of brittle leaves was in the air and the wind blew the wet laundry stiff on the line I decided to come back home” (Fitzgerald 135).

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The author explains that Gatsby did all in his effort to get better for Daisy, but ended up dying in the midst of it. The author depicts this by stating, “Furthermore, his success obviously doesn’t last – he still pines for Daisy and loses everything in his attempt to get her back” (Wulick). The author also brings in the idea of George and Myrtle Wilson trying to achieve the American Dream. It is mentioned that George wants a better life just as much as Myrtle does. However, Myrtle seeks a better life through Tom and having him buy her materials.

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833 Words | 4 Pages

What is more valuable, love or money? In the novel the ¨The Great Gatsby¨ written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is old and new money, Gatsby who is the main character in the novel comes from the side of new money. Gatsby finds out that his money can buy: a beautiful home, nice cars, friends, however; his wealth cannot buy the one thing that he wants most. Fitzgerald is conveying that money cannot buy certain things. Gatsby's rise and fall throughout the novel show that money isn't what makes a person happy.

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951 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout The Great Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson desired to fit in with the upper class; however, her marriage to George Wilson prevented such from occurring. Myrtle failed to recognize her husband’s hard work and true character due to her efforts to rise in social status. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald emphasized Myrtle’s hatred towards her marriage through her conversation with Catherine, depicting how people of the twenties focused more on wealth and power compared to moral American values. As readers closely evaluate the moment of Myrtle’s dialogue, she dictated her feelings towards her marriage in a way that supposedly justified her infidelity.

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On the other hand, Wilson becomes completely distraught and is unable to think rationally upon discovery of his wife’s affair. This can be seen by Nick’s description of Wilson that “he had discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him in another world, and the shock had made him physically sick”(67). It is clear that knowledge of Myrtle’s affair has imposed a tremendous amount of stress on Wilson, so much to the point that he became sick. Additionally, George makes some poor choices as a result of this stress, including locking up Myrtle in the room and threatening to force her to move west. It should

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The American Dream Doesn’t Equal Happiness If the phrase “money can’t buy happiness” was written into a full story, that story would be The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and has countless examples of the phrase “money can’t buy happiness” suggesting that the American dream and loads of money doesn’t suddenly make your life perfect and all your problems are gone, in fact, the story suggests the complete opposite. In the story, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows that every character who has money or character that is around the people that have money end up in more trouble and having more problems than the average person.

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Wealth and greed can easily change a person’s lives. One of the major changes is that you can destroy your life in a way that can affect your decisions in the future. Just like how Tom and Daisy are, in The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, that follows Jay Gatsby, a man who orders his life around one desire: to be reunited with Daisy Buchanan, the love he lost five years earlier. Gatsby's quest leads him from poverty to wealth, into the arms of his beloved, and eventually to death.

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Happiness is not something achievable through the use of money. The symbols in the novel that prove that why money does not buy happiness are; Gatsby's mansion, Myrtle, and Daisy. The first symbol that shows why money does not buy happiness is Gatsby's mansion. For

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The characters in the novel pretend that they have their lives all figured out, but through their successes their downfalls and emptiness can be seen, to prove that money cannot buy happiness. Jay Gatsby is the newest and upcoming star in New York during the 1920’s. Through his business and inheritance he is one of the richest men of his time. One may think that his abundance of wealth would lead him to be eternally happy, but he is the opposite. Gatsby longs for his love of Daisy, which is his personal American Dream.

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