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How Does Fitzgerald Present Money In The Great Gatsby

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Representation of Money in The Great Gatsby
In The Great Gatsby, wealth was a huge contributing factor in the plot of the story. This story represents three classes of money; “old money”, “new money” and “no money” (Kestler, Justin). Jay Gatsby would be a part of the “new money” class because he made his fortune on his own by illegally selling alcohol. Tom and Daisy would be a part of the “old money” class due to the fact that their wealth was inherited through former family members. Though money has the ability to create a comfortable life, the love of it is evil and can cause many bad things to occur.
All of these riches bough Jay Gatsby many things, an extravagant home to live in, amazing cars, and people to wait on his every need. He believed …show more content…

From the beginning to the end of the story, the audience witnessed a rise and a fall in the life of Jay Gatsby. He rose higher and higher while throwing dashing parties and although he remained out of sight, the people adored him and his riches. He was the talk of the city and was respected by most everyone, but only because of his wealth. Gatsby slowly started to fall when he realized the money he had did not seem to be “working” anymore. It was not creating happiness in his life like it used to. The one person he had all of the riches for, no longer wanted him. It had brought him to bad places and linked him with bad people. When he died, not one person other than his good friend, Nick, attended his funeral (enotes). Jay was so caught up in materialistic things and impressing others that he did not take the time to get to know anyone other than Nick. It seemed he was so loved by everyone when in reality, all they really loved was his money and the things he had to offer. The Great Gatsby teaches us that if not careful, the human race can be so quick to judge other and fall in love with things, not people, which ultimately, in the end leads to

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