Old Money In The Great Gatsby

Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts two different kinds of wealth, “old money” and “new money.” “Old money” refers the the families who have been wealthy for generations and are likely to be hypocritical and judgmental of others that are not in their class. Examples of “old money” include Tom, Daisy and Jordan. They do not flaunt their wealth as much as the people of “new money” and tend to be respected by others making many social connections with other respected members of society. On the other hand, people of “new money” are flashy and tend to have extravagant items in order to show the world of their prosperity and compensate for their lack of inheritance. Gatsby, an example of “new money,” throws many parties in his ornate house and drives around in his expensive cars. Both classes seem to have everything in the world, but they do not have the things money cannot buy, morality and happiness. The classes are materialistic and put money above

The pattern of his indecent behavior continues as he uses ill means to obtain his state of prosperity. When asked about what business he was in, Gatsby gives an inappropriate response and “hardly knew what he was saying” (90) indicating his deception. His involvement with shady figures such as Meyer Wolfsheim, who is known to have “fixed the World Series” (73), adds to his image of immorality and wrongdoing. When Gatsby has achieved his wealth, he seems to want to revert back to another self, being unsatisfied with the present. “He talked a lot about the past” like he yearned to “recover … some idea of himself” (110) because he is displeased with what he has become. His obsession with Daisy, whose voice was “full of money” (120) led directly to his death. As indicated by Gatsby, the pursuit of wealth is not a pursuit of happiness and can lead to a lifetime of disappointment and