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How Does Tom Buchanan Buy Money In The Great Gatsby

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In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, two of the main characters, Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, are very affluent. Both Tom and Gatsby have large estates along with upper-class cars, clothes, and servants. However, Gatsby and Tom have diverse uses for their money. This novel is a clear representation of how money can rarely buy happiness. To start, there are two different types of money, “old money” and “new money.” Jay Gatsby acquired new money. The only way people received “new money” was by committing felonious acts. Gatsby perpetrated his crimes in order to buy an intricate house, with beautiful clothes, and a nice car. However, Gatsby is miserable hosting all of his tempestuous parties and residing in a mansion all to himself. Gatsby never threw a party willingly, he allowed them to happen because he was longing for love, especially from Daisy. For example, Gatsby has no desire to attend his own parties. Nick proves this by saying “this is an unusual party, I haven’t even seen the host,” after being there for nearly two hours. Although Daisy was happy to have Gatsby back in her …show more content…

Daisy’s allure to Tom’s old money is present due to his appearance and personality. Tom Buchanan is a well-known man because of his money and careless lifestyle. Tom possesses an extremely arrogant, untrustworthy disposition. Not only did the Buchanan's legacy earn them a reputation, but Tom's arrogance did as well. Daisy enjoyed the feel of being well known from her husband’s endowment. Tom’s old money also dazzled his secret lover Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle was in awe with having the luxury of having currency and materials. Myrtle was enthralled by Tom’s carefree money use. An evident representation of Myrtle’s allure is clear when Tom states “here is your money, go on and buy ten more with it.” He says this to Myrtle as she picks out an Airedale puppy from a man on the streets of New York

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Gatsby hosts extravagant parties in an effort not only to boost his social status, but also to look for Daisy. Many wealthy, and often wild people attend these large social events held by Mr. Gatsby. Some of the guests even come lacking an invitation, “Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission.” (41)

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In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald narrates about power, deception, and wealth. In this story, it parades how the rich pillages on others who they believe are below them and the unending inquiry of wealth. Tom Buchanan is a character who is introduced as a man of wealth; he is a very cold man, who never smiles, never laughs, and is never content with what he has in life. His character contributes to the theme of the novel by displaying his personality as one whose social demeanor is interweaved with sexism and has no moral apprehension.

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The Moral Decay of the Materialistic Although F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby debuted in 1925– before the Great Depression– it serves as a prophetic exemplification of the the material excess of the 1920s that drowned out signs of the coming Great Depression. The book’s plot follows the bootlegger Jay Gatsby as he pursues his old love Daisy Buchanan through flaunting his new extravagant lifestyle, mainly by throwing ostentatious parties. Yet, in the end, Daisy chooses her unfaithful husband Tom over Gatsby. Through Fitzgerald’s use of wealthy, materialistic characters, he comments on the effect of the material excess of the roaring twenties: moral corruption.

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Tom has had an enormous amount of money since college and has been able to do anything he wants with it, even. Though he hasn’t worked a single job in his life, he gets to act like he is better than everybody else. Although Tom’s money is legal, Jay Gatsby was tired of working to try to get rich, and took the illegal method of getting rich. Gatsby is known for throwing luxurious parties every Saturday, but nobody knew how or when he got this money, making him a mysterious man. Tom wanted to get to the bottom of where Gatsby got this money, so he did some research and found out, “He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter.

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Wanting to gain status, Gatsby shows his wealth by throwing extravagant parties and purchasing expensive items to display. To announce himself as a man of wealth to the New York upper class, he purchases a “factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (5), his mansion in West Egg. It is here that he chooses to throw parties every weekend, where everyone shows up, though rarely people are actually invited. It is here that he is able to show off the true extent of his wealth to other rich folk. For example, in his library, he has a collection of “absolutely real” books, rather than “durable cardboard” (45), expected by Owl Eye, and attendant of one of Gatsby’s parties.

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Daisy is with another man, but this man, Tom, is so intertwined in his old money, he fails to see Daisy cheating on him, while he cheats on her. Both of these men are driven by money and what it can do for them. Money brings them love and social class, both of which were unobtainable to them before. Money also brings anguish and pain to the owner if it is not used

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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.”

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The only person he wanted to be noticed by was Daisy. The only reason he would throw these extravagant parties was to be able to see his Daisy and for her to notice how successful he is. Money may seem like it fixes everything, but in the end, you get so attached to money it destroys you. In the end, when you die, money does not go with you and it is left behind, so there is no point in holding on to money thinking it will fix all your problems because it will not. Gatsby lives in his fantasy of trying to win the girl of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan, but he never seems to catch her eye (Jasmin 20).

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When Gatsby loses everything, we see that wealth not only fails as a means of fulfillment but actively participates in the destruction of this goal. Fitzgerald suggests that wealth cannot lead to happiness, rather it undermines the existing and potential good in life. It should therefore should not be used as means of attaining fulfillment. The first mentions of Gatsby’s character reveal a personality who has sacrificed morality to achieve a

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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.

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In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, social class is a key theme, as seen by every character having their own distinct class. Tom, Daisy, Jordan, and even Nick are old money, Gatsby is new money, and the Wilson 's are no money. In short, the more money you have, the better off you will be. In the epigraph of the novel, there is a poem by Thomas Parke D 'Invilliers, who is a fictional character created by Fitzgerald himself. This poem is about using materialism to win over the affection of someone, which is exactly what Gatsby tries to do.

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