The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, develops the theme of wealth and materialism all throughout the book. Fitzgerald uses wealth and materialism as a large motivator for the relationship status of the characters, motivation of the characters, and their outcomes as well. In the beginning of the book, Nick establishes himself as someone who has had many advantages in life. Two of these advantages are that Nick has a rich family and attended an Ivy League school for his education. Although Nick is not as wealthy as Tom and Daisy, they see him as enough of a socially acceptable person to invite him to their house. Nick’s relative connection to Daisy, in turn, makes him attracted to Gatsby, who he has not yet met. Nick has been hand delivered an invitation to one of Gatsby’s huge parties, and unlike everyone else, he decides to go because he was actually invited. At the party, Nick is seated with a man who recognizes him and starts talking to him about the war he was in and thus being the start to a new relationship. What Nick didn’t know was that the man he was actually talking to was Gatsby. As the story progresses, the reader begins to see how Gatsby and his high-class lifestyle is not as it seems. At one of Gatsby’s parties, Nick notices Gatsby standing over …show more content…
Nick says, “It excited him, too, that many men had already loved Daisy— it increased her value in his eyes.”(p.149), in regards to Gatsby. This illustrates how Gatsby revolved his whole life around wealth and how valuable something is or not. Gatsby later gets shot by George Wilson because he presumed that Gatsby was the one who ran George’s wife, Myrtle, over and killed her. George then retaliated by finding Gatsby, who he believed killed Myrtle, and shooting Gatsby, ultimately killing him. This traumatic event could have been prevented if Gatsby had not been trying so hard to impress others with his