Money In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

“If you have enough money, the good reputation comes naturally” (Erich Kasther) This quote embodies the nature of many characters in the short novel, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. A novel about, love, and understandingly, money. Taking place four years after WWI in 1922, the setting takes place in the jazz age of New York. The glowing economy attracts Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, and he meets up with his old friend, Tom Buchanan, a stereotypical rich guy. He meets Daisy and Gatsby, and finds out about the love triangle between Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby. This triangle was influenced largely by money, making up the past, present, and future. The novel “The Great Gatsby” is a symbol of the effects that money and wealth can

This is evident on the basis that Tom repeatedly cheats on Daisy with another woman, Myrtle. He even openly shares this fact with Nick, and urges him to meet her, so they can all party and drink together. This is only possible because of the incalculable amount of money and fame to Tom Buchanan’s name, causing him to be selfish, and give in to lust and desire. In one of these instances, Tom takes Myrtle out for a date while bringing Nick along, and the only things he buys her are a gossip magazine, beauty aids, and a puppy. The three of them then head to an apartment that Tom purchased, for the pure sake of partying, and having a place to stay while cheating on his wife, Daisy, who is pregnant. He punches and breaks Myrtle’s nose, purely for the fact that she was saying the name “Daisy”. I believe this is because of money, because of not having a goal or dream to aspire to, because you can have anything that you want. You become bored and uncaring. Tom has likely never had to work a day in his life, as his money is inherited from his parents, yet he is able to get anything he wants because he has money, while someone like George Wilson, a mechanic, works harder than everyone else in the book, yet is the poorest. Money has affected Tom’s character, relationships, and morality, in an apparent negative

When Nick first meets Daisy, she says she is “paralyzed with happiness” as she lays lazily on the couch. She’s not incapable of getting up out of the couch to greet Nick normally, it’s just she’s too lazy too. She has all these people that do everything for her, and she has lived that life for so long that she has become accustomed to it. When she wants something, she uses her beauty and charm in order to manipulate others. Daisy states that she hopes her baby will be a fool, because “That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” She thinks that because society rejects her as a woman, she has to use her beauty, wealth, and status in order to live the best life. Even after Gatsby’s death, she refuses to come to the funeral, and refuses to answer the phone calls from Nick. Instead, Tom and Daisy run away from East egg, leaving the world to believe that Gatsby was the one who killed Myrtle, not