Nick's Materialism In The Great Gatsby

Thesis: In Luhrmann’s film of The Great Gatsby, the alteration of Nick's character from observer to a medical patient in a sanitarium emphasizes the effect of materialism on social relationships which ultimately maintains the tone of Fitzgerald's original piece.

Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald portrays Nick as a removed narrator in times of conflict where he comments on the materialistic nature blinding the upper class. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the narrator, Nick, foreshadows the impact of the Daisy and Gatsby’s excessive wealth on their actions by stating, “[...]I wanted the world to be in uniform and at sort of a moral attention forever; I wanted no more righteous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart” (Fitzgerald

His desire for uniform conduct in the moral compasses of the upper class highlights his perspective on people of different socioeconomic statuses having different ethical values, causing conflict amongst people of different social classes. Nick’s observation conjures the love affair between Gatsby and Daisy which he sees as a “righteous excursion” since he believes they feel entitled to destroying the inner peace of the people around them. The death of Myrtle brought a sense of distraughtness to Wilson. “[...]found George Wilson sick in his office - really sick, pale as his own pale hair and shaking all over.”(Fitzgerald 136). Wilson goes into such a deep grieving period impacting his mental and physical health over the death of his wife, who he was, moments earlier, yelling at due to the interrogation about an affair. After the climax occurs and the narrator is informed of the perpetrator of the deaths of Myrtle and Tom, Nick points out, “I couldn’t forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. [...] careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast

After Nick introduces Tom Buchanan and Gatsby to each other at the dinner with Wolfsheim, the movie cuts to the rooftop garden and states “Jordan is perched at an elegant table, overlooking Times Square and the advertisement of the man in the beautiful Arrow shirts. Nick, frustrated, dodging the fashionable and famous…”(Luhrnman 50). Since Nick feels repulsed by the shallowness of the society affecting his opinion of them. Despite the rumors, Nick’s initial encounter with Gatsby allowed him to conclude Gatsby was not like most people. Even though Nick had deep conversations for Jordan and began to grow feelings for her, he still expressed contempt for her shallow behavior. Most people of the roaring 20s loved parties and were into lavish living, however after a conversation with Gatsby, Nick observes the meaninglessness of Gatsby’s acquired wealth. During a conversation with his psychiatrist, Nick describes Gatsby as “the single most hopeful person [he has] ever met [...] And am ever likely to meet again. There was something about him”(Luhrman 3). He admires those who don’t attach their worth and their goals to exorbitant amounts of wealth. He describes him as the most hopeful person to indicate he looks up to people with a deeper purpose and personality than what the society conforms to as