Examples Of Happiness In The Great Gatsby

Great Gatsby essay Gustavo pd 6

Happiness: a state of well-being and contentment (Mariam Webster dictionary). People pursue wealth trying to find what they believe is happiness, however the story "The Great Gatsby" by F Scott Fitzgerald clearly shows that money cannot buy happiness and if anything leads to people living unfulfilled lives.

The story revolves around wealthy characters and their lives, but it is shown throughout the book that relationships cannot be bought. Examples of people attempting to "buy" relationships are shown in the multiple occasions where upper class members socialize with each other despite not always liking each other but simply because they are upper class members. Another example of a "bought" relationship is the relationship between Tom and Daisy because she fell back on him when Gatsby went off to war because he was an upper class member even though she did not truly love him. The wealthiest people in the

Gatsby is an example of not needing money to be happy because he was content with what he had before the war and didn't need money to feel good because he had daisy. Another example of people not needing money is Mr.Wilson he was not very wealthy, but he was content with what he had and stayed faithful to his wife even though she did not do the same. Nick is also a good example of not needing to be rich to be happy he was not poor or rich, but he made do with what he had and ended out being content with his life despite being surrounded by rich people who were not as content as him. A quote that helps flesh out the idea of being content without money is when Mr.Wilson answers with "I can't complain" (page 25) when Tom asks him about his business further showing that he did not actually need everything the wealthy people have to feel