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Role Of Wealth In The Great Gatsby

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The Allure and Destructiveness of Wealth in The Great Gatsby
The desire for wealth is something that humans have been chasing after for centuries. In the U.S., Americans’ aspirations for wealth increased during the 1920s. During this decade, America underwent a period of great economic growth. Throughout The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald explores both the glamour and deceit that comes with wealth through the lives of the novel's main characters during this time period. During chapter three of the novel, our narrator Nick Carraway recalls his first impressions during his first party at his neighbor Jay Gatsby’s house. While Nick originally appears to be amazed by the extragarvent party, he hints at his disgust for the party …show more content…

The orchestra includes “ a whole pitiful” of instruments, such as oboes, trombones, saxophones, violas, cornets, piccolos, and low and high drums. This ginormous orchestra, along with the real brass bar, are symbols of Gatsby’s massive fortune. The orchestra and the bar are both very grand and eye-catching piece, Furthermore, yellow is a color associated with joy and happiness. The orchestra’s yellow cocktail music suggests all of the partygoers are having a great time at Gatsby’s house. Diction, imagery, and figurative language reveal the attractiveness of Gatsby’s enormous wealth.
Even though Fitzgerald’s descriptions of the party seem to portray the parties as being enchanting and glamorous, he reveals the destruction caused by the party as well. At the beginning of chapter three, Nick states that the “men and girls” who came through Gatsby’s blue gardens were “like moths”. Moths are insects that usually only come out during the night and are known for being attracted to light. Fitzgerald uses this simile to compare the partygoers to moths as they also come out at night and are attracted to Gatsby’s vibrant and lavish house. Additionally, Nick purposefully …show more content…

Throughout the novel, several characters in The Great Gatsby are negatively affected by their money or desire to gain money. Lower class Myrtle Wilson develops a relationship with the wealthy Tom Buchanan, while Gatsby becomes obsessed with becoming wealthy in order to win back Tom’s wife Daisy. Ultimately, Gatsby, Myrtle, and her husband George end up dying, while Tom and Daisy flee and start their lives over. Tom and Daisy’s wealth was alluring to both Gatsby and Myrtle, but their wealth ended up costing them their lives. While the concept of being wealthy seems wonderful, Fitzgerald reveals to the audience that wealth may not be as great as it

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Nick, the narrator, describes Gatsby’s parties by telling the reader “By seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived, no thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums” (Fitzgerald 40). This is just a small detail about how Gatsby only gets the very best for his parties. At Gatsby’s funeral, “our procession of three cars reached the cemetery and stopped in a thick drizzle beside the gate- first a motor hearse, horribly black and wet…” (Fitzgerald 174). The funeral is on a rainy day and is muddy and not very inviting.

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