Scott Fitzgerald's Use Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

Alyssa Skarg

Mr. Grace

A.P Lang and Com. Per 4

30 March 2023

The Great Gatsby Essay Advertisements are made based on what people think the book is about but they don't actually take the time and study the book to find the true meaning of it. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a novel about a tragedy during the 1920s that we are viewing in the lens of Dr. T.J Eckleberg, he is a symbol of God watching everything that was happening with all the luxurious parties, the different sides of town West Egg and East Egg, and everything in between that. Although many people make advertisements about The Great Gatsby and turn it into an aesthetic rather than recognizing the effects materialism has on American society including moral downfall, lack of self identity,

To begin, Fitzgerald highlights that people take advantage of wealth in which they become selfish and do not have morals anymore because they think they are better than everyone else and no one can stop them. The characters in East Egg were known to have “old money” which was passed down from generation to generation, yet Gatsby lived in West Egg ``new money” and he made the money all on his own but nobody quite knows how he made it. Although Tom says, “... He and this Wolfsiem bought up a lot of side street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter…”(Fitzgerald 133). No one really knew how Gatsby made all his money but Tom managed to find out. But the only reason why Gatsby wanted to have so much money was to impress Daisy. Following that, Daisy had always “dressed in white, and had a little white roaster…”(Fitzgerald 74). This dress was shown in the Tiffany Co ad, the white dress symbolizing innocence and purity. This leads to Daisy wearing the pearls that Tom

Fitzgerald's dad says to him that, “Just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you’ve had” (Fitzgerald 1). His father is implying that he was given opportunities other people weren't given and that he's going to experience that money could ruin people and change them from who they were before. The reason why Gatsby changed his name was because he wanted to escape his old life of not having money so he cut all ties with his old identity. As an example Fitzgerald says, “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself” (Fitzgerald 98). Gatsby was stating that he is the “son of god” by setting high standards for himself to reach in the future. For instance, Gatsby always looked at the green light across the dock that for him symbolized hope and where he would want to be in the future. The light gives him motivation to keep pushing forward and keep doing great things. To show that Gatsby says, “You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock”(Fitzgerald 92). Gatsby tells this to Daisy to remind them both that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and they can maybe be together in the future. People often disguise who they really are and hold themselves to a greater standard to get a higher standard in