Negative Effects Of Wealth In The Great Gatsby

The Negative Influence of Wealth Wealth and prosperity are the core of living a lavish lifestyle and having a successful life. However, money can influence people into debauchery. In the book, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald introduces to us to some of the dangers of being rich. Most people in the Great Gatsby were very privileged, and they lived a lavish lifestyle. However, these people did not know how to control their power and wealth. It was evident that throughout the story, prosperity controlled people into becoming demanding and cruel, lazy and feeble, or involved in illegal and immoral activities. The negative effects of becoming wealthy can make some people become cold-blooded and demanding. Tom Buchanan

Daisy Buchanan is a woman who needs constant affection. Jordan Baker, a friend of Daisy, narrates, “In June she married Tom Buchanan...he gave her a string of pearls” (Fitzgerald 75-76). Jordan acknowledges that Daisy married Tom even though she promised to wait for Gatsby because she could not stand being lonely. Money was also a huge factor; it was evident that Tom was rich. Daisy could have married the man that she truly loved if she was not wealthy. It is easy for a wealthy person to not care about other people and live an extravagant life. After he meets up with Tom, Nick declares, “...Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness... let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald 179). It was ironic that even Nick, a person who was “inclined to reserve all judgment” (Fitzgerald 1), was able to see how money had made Tom and Daisy careless and lazy. Nick also notices that Daisy and Tom had disappeared right after Gatsby’s death. Daisy and Tom were wealthy enough to move out of Long Island, while they made everyone else solve the problem that they had left behind. It is easy for rich people to become weak and only focus on