Examples Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

The Tarnished American Dream The last statement from The Great Gatsby novel stated by Nick shows how Gatsby thought that is how life was supposed to be. Gatsby believed in trying to relive the past with much excitement especially from Daisy Buchanan. People back then, were trying to relive their glorious past. Fitzgerald shows how the American Dream had become materialistic. In the beginning of the book, Nick had met up with Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the Wilson’s, McKee’s, and Catherine, Daisy’s sister. Mrs. Myrtle Wilson was affectionate with Tom. Earlier on in Myrtle’s life, she and Tom had met on a train and began to like each other. Later on in The Great Gatsby, Myrtle had become jealous of Tom, and wanted to be with him. She had seen

Daisy began to love Gatsby and was more affectionate towards him than Tom. Gatsby thought he had life figured out. Get wealthy, impress the ladies with money, and steal one’s love. Eventually, that mindset had caught up to him. He had tried to show
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Tom that Daisy loved Gatsby more than her own husband. Gatsby touched briefly on the past with he and Daisy and the love they had for each other. Pressured by Tom and Gatsby, Daisy was to state if she loved both of them. “I love you now- isn’t that enough? I did love him once- but I loved you too.” (Fitzgerald, 140) Earlier on in the book, Gatsby had an extravagant party for basically anyone that heard about it. He wanted to be noteworthy, so he dressed up looking lavish. All the guests Gatsby invited partied hard and consumed an excessive amount of illegal alcohol. The party was very fancy and rich looking. According to the article, “The Demise of the 1920s American Dream in The Great Gatsby”, it notes that the guests wanted to be a part in the upper class which was the ideal American Dream for Gatsby. Also, Gatsby wanted to promote himself by saying, “My house looks well, doesn’t it? See how the whole front of it catches the light.” (Fitzgerald,