The effect money has on characters of The Great Gatsby
Fitzgerald’s magnum opus, The Great Gatsby was set in the early 1920’s. The era consisted of speak easies, extravagant parties, and being extremely careless with money. All of these were clearly depicted in the novel, as well as the effect that money had on most of the characters. Fitzgerald demonstrates that not only were the wealthy characters controlled by money but characters who were poor could be just as easily controlled by money.
Jay Gatsby, the main character is known for his extravagant parties, although no one has ever seen him nor knows much about him, he continues throwing the parties. Readers later find out the reason for the extravagant parties, is to impress his once young lover Daisy Buchanan who he hopes that will one day come to a party and be impressed by Gatsby’s wealth. In the article, The Problem with The Great Gatsby’s Daisy Buchanan, it is stated that Gatsby is trying to buy Daisy’s love and is not really in love with her as much as he is in the idea of having her. “Naturally, the fact that other men desire her wildly increases her worth in both Gatsby and Tom’s eyes” (Baker 3). This shows that money is
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George Wilson, husband of Myrtle Wilson is a good example of a poor man being controlled by money. Wilson is a poor man who works as a mechanic in the less wealthy part of the state. When Wilson finds out about the affair between Myrtle and a mystery man he quickly tries to get his hands on as much cash as possible, one way he does this is to sell his car to Tom. His goal is to run away with Myrtle and leave the mystery man behind. He knows that Myrtle’s mystery man is likely to be wealthy and so since he himself is not wealthy he wants to come into some money so that she can stay with him. This demonstrates that the poor can be controlled by money to keep something or someone who they love