Role Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

In the 1950’s the American dream consisted of materialism and set ideals for men and women. Women were expected to stay home and take care of the household duties and children, while the men went to work, making them the sole provider of their families. Men also took the respected role of head of the household at the time. All Americans hoped to achieve this fantasized American dream and would do anything to chase it. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is about Jay Gatsby, a man who arranges his life around one desire, which is to be reunited with Daisy Buchanan, a love he lost five years earlier to Tom Buchanan. Gatsby desires to be able to achieve and live the American dream with Daisy Buchanan because he loves her and feels she would

Throughout his whole life, Gatsby tries to get rich and make it noticeable so that Daisy would notice him again. Hence, Gatsby was motivated by his desire for Daisy, to want to become wealthy and an owner in the class struggle between the new rich, the old rich, and the working class. Fitzgerald infers that a person needs to be wealthy to succeed in the American dream because of the way Gatsby thinks he needs to get a prosperous amount of money for Daisy. Fitzgerald writes how Gatsby lives in a house in West Egg once he got wealthy to be closer to Daisy and,“‘If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay,’ said Gatsby. ‘You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock’” (Fitzgerald 92). The ‘you’ that Gatbsy is referring to in his conversation, is Daisy because he lives across from her on the bay in West Egg, and here was the first time she learns that. Daisy did not even notice the green light at the end of her dock. While on the other hand, that is all Gatsby knows because he looks at it every night as he explains in the quote. Fitzgerald describes the green light as a symbol of the American dream, money, and desire. The desire is Gatsby’s want for the American dream with Daisy which can only be achieved through money because Fitzgerald follows the side of the oppressors in the class struggle. In addition, there are many

His parties are luxurious and extravagant and his guests admire his Rolls-Royce, swimming pool, private beach, and even the live orchestra that plays under the stars for every party to show off. He likes to live this lavish lifestyle to gain others’ approval which Fitzergerld supports. All this is best illustrated by Nick Carraway who narrates the story through his eyes. One night, Nick is outside and he sees the lights of his next-door neighbor, Jay Gatsby, “There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. On weekends, his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city” (Fitzgerald 39). The evidence from the text shows how Gatsby likes to use his wealth and make sure everyone knows he has money. The party described in the excerpt is a symbol of the glamorous lifestyle of the Roaring Twenties and the corruption of the American Dream. Along with the flashy spending of someone with "new money" seeking to impress those who will never accept him. He displays the wealth shown through parties, to show that social class is an inescapable thing once new money is obtained. Additionally, there are many articles that explain how Fitzgerald displays the social class struggle from the side of the owners.