The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the pursuit of wealth as a driving force and how it can create and destroy relationships. Jay Gatsby, the book’s protagonist, is a very wealthy man, though he grew up in a lower-class family. In contrast, Tom Buchanan, another man living on Long Island and Gatsby’s rival, is also a very wealthy man, but he grew up wealthy his entire life. Their wealth creates and destroys the relationships they make with others, and drives their characters and their choices. Wealth creates unbalanced relationships between characters depending how much money each person has. Jordan explains how Tom lavishly wooed Daisy and how their relationship crescendoed at their wedding, saying,“He came down with a hundred people in four private cars and hired a whole floor of the Seelbach Hotel, and the day before the wedding he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars” (76). Jordan describing Daisy and Tom’s relationship at their wedding shows how much wealth disparity can influence a relationship. Daisy’s parents wanted her to marry into a rich family, which Tom provided. Additionally, Tom’s wealth and willingness to spend extravagant amounts of money on jewelry shows that his relationship with Daisy was almost entirely focused around money and …show more content…
He is portrayed as someone who has achieved the American Dream and is a successful man overall. Nick describes Gatsby after hearing about his past, saying, “Anything can happen now…” I thought; “...anything at all…” Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder” (69). Nick is suggesting that if Gatsby can get wealthy from humble beginnings, so can everybody. This furthers another element of the American Dream, especially in relation to wealth because Nick is saying that while getting social status and wealth from nothing is improbable, it can be achieved