Gatsby made his fortune through dishonest means, and then began to surround himself with the pomp, luxury and social acceptance, although that never made him happy or less lonely. This story made it clear that money cannot buy happiness. The characters in this novel had money to impress others that didn’t need to be impressed, bought things that were never needed for happiness, and decided for selfish
Nyree Cunningham Mrs. Keller Honors English 10-2 26 March 2024 Affluent Adversity In The Great Gatsby What happens when someone becomes consumed and blinded by money and what it can bring? This is a question that becomes increasingly valuable the further one reads into The Great Gatsby by Scott F. Fitzgerald. Throughout the novel, we see many characters have an infatuation with wealth and lavish lifestyles. The idea of wealth often appears with negative connotations, as people become so obsessed with riches that it leads to loss, proven true through the deaths and downfalls of livelihood in the book.
Gatsby believes that money can buy him whatever his heart desires. Gatsby’s misunderstanding of the way money functions in the society he lives in results in the failure of his attempt to gain both status and the
On one hand, Gatsby gains enormous wealth through his own effort from the bottom of the society, which could be regarded as “the great” from a practical perspective in his guests’ eyes. However, in the end, his success becomes just an illusion. His ultimate dream—Daisy’s love –cannot be gained even if he is that wealthy, and his tragic death indicates that “the greatness” of his striving is easy to be destroyed. On the other hand, “the great” also reveals that Gatsby used to be a great figure in his numerous guests’ eyes, when he is able to hold glamorous parties every week. However, ironically, eventually he is just a nobody that none of his friends except Nick care after his death.
Those who solely focus on wealth may have completely empty lives. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald highlights the fact that wealthy people have meaningless lives. He does this by using rhetoric that shows the carelessness, materialism, and ironies in their lives. In order to show this, Fitzgerald implements rhetoric and stylistic devices that show the emptiness of the characters throughout his novel that reinforces his theme that if materialism, not God, drives one, one’s dreams and hopes will eventually implode. To support his theme of emptiness, Fitzgerald facilitates ironic rhetoric to show the characters’ emptiness, weakness, and eventual destruction.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald characterizes the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values. One of the major themes explored in this novel is the Hollowness of the Upper Class. The entire book revolves around money including power and little love. Coincidentally the three main characters of the novel belong to the upper class and throughout the novel Fitzgerald shows how this characters have become corrupted and have lost their morality due to excess money and success and this has led them to change their perspective towards other people and they have been portrayed as short-sighted to what is important in life. First of all, we have the main character of this novel, Gatsby who won’t stop at nothing to become rich overnight in illegal dealings with mobsters such as Wolfsheim in order to conquer Daisy’s heart.”
Even the most put together person can be rattled by love. Love could be dangerous; it could make people feel emotions that they never have felt before. Jay Gatsby, the protagonist in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, has loved Daisy for the last five years. Daisy makes Gatsby feel so different, in ways no one has made him feel or even seen him before. When reconnecting with Daisy after not seeing her for about five years, Gatsby is extremely emotional.
His quest for riches and prestige eventually reveals the underlying deceit of life’s profound promises, resulting in anger and despair. Gatsby’s passion exposes the novel’s assessment of societal conditions as ineffective. His obsessive need for worldly stuff just drives him away from genuine, meaningful connections. The work portrays Gatsby as a sad man who is trapped in the illusion of riches and position and discovers it hallowed in the face of hardship, making Gatsby’s narrative a tale against the concept of financial success whose fulfillment is the
In many literary works, the wealthy are generally depicted as pretentious or cruel and authors tend to portray their personalities through various methods. In his work The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses literary techniques to distinctly characterize the wealthy. Doing so helps him communicate the work’s theme on the soulless nature of the affluent. Fitzgerald conveys his message by incorporating juxtaposition, effective diction, and suiting moods with his characters.
When we use wealth as our vehicle to self fulfillment, it easily distracts us from our original goal. In our efforts, it is easy to lose sight of our aims and compromise our principles to attain the wealth we desire. It is evident that even amidst his riches, Gatsby is unfulfilled. The wealth he hoped to use to strengthen his claim to honour has undermined his chances of being worthy of it. Instead of giving, wealth has stripped him of his morality and trapped him in a lifestyle that demands he only be pulled further into immorality.
The intensions of self-fulfillment only contributes to one's own selfish pursuit of happiness. In the 1920s of America, people believed that only through sheer effort, will they achieve happiness. The life of an individual, then resides on the concept of this "American Dream". For this reason, society becomes the yearning of prosperity, but to only find it as wasted effort. In the novel "The Great Gatsby", the author develops the American Dream through a character named Gatsby, who has an extreme passion for hope.
Aaron Teng Marina Litushko English 10 19 May 2023 Lost Happiness of the American Dream As an exaggerated, yet realistic depiction of the Roaring twenties in America, the Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald highlights the flaws in people and society. While Gatsby, the main character, is the one of the most obvious followers of the American Dream, nearly everyone in the book chases after some form of that dream, with the same unrealistic expectations of perfect relationships and reputations. The classic American Dream includes a family of four, a dog, a nice house with white picket fence, and other imaginative things that paint a fantastical image of happiness in life.
An important theme in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the corruption of morals because of wealth. It doesn’t matter if one comes from old or new money, wealth will corrupt the morality of even the humblest. The first example of wealth corrupting morals is in the indifference to infidelity between the married Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. The next example of wealth corrupting morals is seen in Jordan Baker’s actions to keep her luxurious lifestyle. Third, Jim Gatsby’s pursuit of wealth lead to the corruption of his morals.
The characters in the novel pretend that they have their lives all figured out, but through their successes their downfalls and emptiness can be seen, to prove that money cannot buy happiness. Jay Gatsby is the newest and upcoming star in New York during the 1920’s. Through his business and inheritance he is one of the richest men of his time. One may think that his abundance of wealth would lead him to be eternally happy, but he is the opposite. Gatsby longs for his love of Daisy, which is his personal American Dream.
The Great Gatsby Greed can ruin a person’s life. F. Scott Fitzgerald shows this in his classic novel, The Great Gatsby, a sad love story about the rich title character, Jay Gatsby, and his obsession to win back the love of the now married Daisy Buchanan, his former girlfriend. The extravagant lifestyles of Gatsby and the wealthy socialites who attend his parties lead to lost dreams and wasted lives. These men and women are absorbed by material pursuits. In Jay Gatsby’s case, all the money in the world could not replace what he truly desires, Daisy.