Great Gatsby Greed Theme

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The Great Gatsby is a 1925 classic fiction novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. The novel is about a man named Jay Gatsby, whom likes to order his life around and has one desire, which is to be reunited with the love of his life. In order to get her back after five long years Jay Gatsby goes on a quest from poverty to wealth, then into the arms of his beloved, and eventually leading to death. Throughout this novel full of trauma and tragedy, there were many themes presented and explored. Power was a very important part of the text because many people in the book lived the American Dream, which means they were associated with money, and money is associated with power. For example in the novel if someone had money they had power. The novel also contained themes such as greed and corruption, because in this novel money was so important that people became …show more content…

In the book, money represents a social evil as it destroys lives of people corrupted by wealth. Many characters in The Great Gatsby experienced having greed and wanting what someone else had material wise and relationship wise. Jay Gatsby was greedy in the way he wanted Daisy all to himself, and he thought by gaining more money it would make Daisy want him. Daisy however showed greed throughout the book when she chooses money over real love and security. She couldn’t marry Gatsby, because he wasn’t wealthy enough for her to live comfortably. “ She’s not leaving me!” Tom’s words suddenly leaned down over Gatsby. “Certainly not for a common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on her finger” (F. Scott Fitzgerald, p133). The quote shows that Tom knows who Daisy really is. Greed and money can eventually lead to person’s downfall and this is what happened in the end when Gatsby failed to acknowledge his place in their society that led to his