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Motifs In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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How would you handle being rich for a few days? Would people you have never spoken to now speak to you? Would you be treated differently? I have always wondered what it would be like to have a lot of money. Would I change as a person? In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald weaves together the motifs illusions and materialism and shows a very important theme for the incredible novel. Early in the rising action, Fitzgerald mixes both motifs quite wonderfully. He starts it off by showing how the married couple (Tom and Daisy) is cheating on each other, but they pretend everything's okay. Daisy also talks about giving her dress away because she has to go buy more anyway. She starts discussing all the things she will be buying tomorrow as well. …show more content…

Nick ( the main character) goes with Gatsby to meet some of his friends and he meets a strange man. The man represents materialism because he has cuff buttons made of human molars. He calls them the “finest specimens of human molars”. This alone shows how they can get whatever they want. He also stated that Gatsby was a very careful man when it comes to women. The man said, “He (Gatsby) would never so much look at a friend’s wife”. This is a lie simply because Gatsby is trying everything he can to get Daisy, who is a married woman. Their relationship starts developing more also. They start spending more time together, but Gatsby is trying to push for her to come back to him, but she doesn’t know if she can go back to him because his money is not as good as Tom’s money. Daisy is very conflicted with her …show more content…

Gatsby and Daisy's relationship start developing a lot more. There is a scene in the book where Tom leaves the room and Daisy moves over to Gatsby and “pulled his face down, kissing him on the mouth” while Tom has no idea of her betrayal. Daisy later admits her love for Gatsby, but she still stays with Tom. Tom (daisy’s husband) is also having an affair. Myrtle (tom’s mistress) is killed in a car accident and Tom doesn’t know how to cope with the lose so he starts spending money on jewelry “he went into the jewelry store to buy a pearl necklace..rid my provincial squeamishness forever”. This shows materialism because normal people can’t just make themselves feel better by buying things. They have to deal with pain and loss like a sensible

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