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Money In The Great Gatsby Essay

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What is more valuable, love or money? In the novel the ¨The Great Gatsby¨ written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is old and new money, Gatsby who is the main character in the novel comes from the side of new money. Gatsby finds out that his money can buy: a beautiful home, nice cars, friends, however; his wealth cannot buy the one thing that he wants most. Fitzgerald is conveying that money cannot buy certain things. Gatsby's rise and fall throughout the novel show that money isn't what makes a person happy. Fitzgerald is trying to convey throughout the novel that money can buy a person many of different things but cannot buy the one thing that Gatsby wants most of all. Upon deeper investigation, Gatsby is a wealthy person who is trying to win the love of a girl named Daisy and is using any means to do so. Gatsby buys a very large, beautiful, expensive house on the bay, has a new car, very nice pool and many other expensive things to try and win the love of Daisy. He will buy anything he can to win her over but in the end isn’t able to win Daisy over, even with all of …show more content…

He buys everything he can to make the past become a reality now but even with all of his money he can’t buy the one thing he truly needs to complete the past that he once had. Gatsby in the novel says, “Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!” (Gatsby Ch. 6). This is what allows readers to know that Gatsby from the begging of the novel has been trying to do everything he can to repeat the past that he once had with Daisy. Gatsby says this quote out of frustration because he doesn’t understand that the past can’t be changed even with all of the money that he has. Gatsby does everything from the beginning till the end of the novel to try and repeat the past but doesn’t understand that the past can’t be changed not even with all of the money in the

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Gatsby on the other hand cares about getting Daisy back and tries to repeat the past. Fitzgerald claims that, “can’t replace the past… why of course you can!” (116). In this quote Gatsby is trying to convince himself that you can repeat the past and that him and Daisy would be able to pick up from where they left off five years ago. When a person wants to repeat the past it never turns out the same and everything gets

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Your quote here. After this, we got to see Gatsby slowly start to realize how different his reality was from his fantasies and everything fell apart. He reacted by “‘I wouldn’t ask too much of her,’ I ventured. ‘You can’t repeat the past.’ ‘Can’t repeat the past?’

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Gatsby has spent his whole life trying to prove to Daisy and everyone around him that he is worthy of her. The only way to be on the same social level as her is to turn himself into new money. Since this is not possible, he has to try to convince to others that he truly is old money. To do this, he becomes rich, and lies about his past, but the only way for him to complete this idea is if he is with Daisy. She is the final piece in his American dream.

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Gatsby had bought that house so he could get close to Daisy, who was one of the few people that brought true happiness to someone for a little. While Gatsby could have just bought a cheaper house to get closer to Daisy because despite his wealth she never came to one of his parties. The money was thought to be the source of his happiness because of the amazing house he owned when instead the love of daisy was the reason he saw even a glimpse of

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When Gatsby and Daisy danced Fitzgerald explains, ‘’I remember being surprised by his graceful,conservative fox trot’’(fitzgerald 105). This is important because of how Daisy and Gatsby first met because of the way they were together before he went to go fight in the war. Then, after he went to war, Tom gets married Daisy only because of his money, which is very wrong of Tom and Daisy. Some people go through hard times and,‘’if the most basic needs are not met emotional contentment cannot be achieved’’(Sheppard). The idea of money does make people happier to a certain extent.

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[Gatsby] cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!”(110) As Gatsby truly believed that he was no longer James Gatz, he believed that Daisy still loved him and was the same from five years ago. But the truth of the matter is that Daisy had once truly loved him and she isn't the same as she was the years before, and there is nothing Gatsby can do to repeat the past and end up with the happy ending he dreamed of where “after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house—just as if it were five years ago.”

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If Gatsby can't repeat the past then all the work he did would be for nothing. To repeat the past would accomplish his goal of getting Daisy

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Throughout the text, Jay Gatsby’s relentless pursuit of attracting Daisy’s affection and reliving their former relationship where a new lifestyle of wealth and disillusionment is orchestrated for her appeal. When told he couldn’t repeat the past, Gatsby enthusiastically declares "Can't repeat the past?... Why of course you can!” in response to Nick’s comment. The rhetorical question challenges and defies the notion of inevitability while highlighting his ambitious desire to recapture the past with Daisy.

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In Gatsby’s mind this was untrue and that if you wanted to recreate the past you could. He was willing to go to any lengths to get back what he so ever craved. “It eluded us then, but that’s no matter — to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning ——” Fitzgerald had left the last part of that sentence blank because we don’t really know what could happen. Gatsby struggled to recreate the past, a past when he was with Daisy.

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When Nick says “ you can't repeat the past”and Gatsby says “ Why, of course you can!” ( 110) and with that Gatsby refuses to accept that and tells him he can repeat the past, but the thing is you can't repeat the past and you can end up losing yourself in the process. Although we can see through the character Gatsby we are able to see the fact that time never stops for anyone and whoever wants to repeat their past ends up losing their future. furthermore we can tell that gatsby is very obsessed with his past and his love for daisy, that he ends up taking the blame for daisy which causes him to die waiting for her. And as you grow and get older, your experiences start forming who you are and the decisions you make in life.

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The American Dream Doesn’t Equal Happiness If the phrase “money can’t buy happiness” was written into a full story, that story would be The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and has countless examples of the phrase “money can’t buy happiness” suggesting that the American dream and loads of money doesn’t suddenly make your life perfect and all your problems are gone, in fact, the story suggests the complete opposite. In the story, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows that every character who has money or character that is around the people that have money end up in more trouble and having more problems than the average person.

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Daisy however, very heartbroken and anxious to start a family, failed to wait for Gatsby while he was at war and she vulnerably fell in love with Tom and his money. Throughout the time Gatsby was away she grew and developed mentally, leaving him to love someone that no longer existed. When Gatsby says “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!”(Fitzgerald 110)it shows how his imagination has affected his sense of reality. He became lost in the idea that he could get Daisy back and things would automatically return to how they were before he went away.

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Gatsby does not see things as they really are and expects them to play out exactly as he thinks they will. When Nick tells Gatsby that he can't repeat the past, Gatsby responds, "'Can't repeat the past? Why of course you can!'" (110). This delusion blinds Gatsby to what is going on right in front of him.

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1149 Words | 5 Pages

How does the desire to pursue money and power negatively impact the characters' moral sense of right or wrong? Many people allow their social class and wealth to determine their belonging in life. In The Great Gatsby people with "old money" are more respected and superior than those with "new money". The characters' actions are driven by their desire for wealth and power.

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In Tom and Daisy’s relationship, it shows that money can ruin relationships but if you see past that barrier of money there are little pieces of love that stand out more than money. However, at the end of the day Tom and Daisy have money, are united, but they are not happy with each other. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy includes both money and love. By this Fitzgerald is suggesting that it is possible to have love, however, it leads to difficulties because you can either have the dedication of Gatsby trying to get what he wants and never give up, or you can accept reality and realize how you will not be able to achieve your

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