Fabiana Pinto 11/28/15 First introduced in Chapter 2, the valley of ashes between West Egg and New York City consists of a long stretch of desolate land created by the dumping of industrial ashes. It represents the moral and social decay that results from the uninhibited pursuit of wealth, as the rich indulge themselves with regard for nothing but their own pleasure. The valley of ashes also symbolizes the plight of the poor, like George Wilson, who lives among the dirty ashes and lost his vitality as a result. Nick Carraway made the decision to move to the East and learn "the bond business" because "everybody I knew was in the bond business, so I supposed it could support one more single man.
The 1920s was a time of flamboyance and wealth in the upper class. Jay Gatsby, a man of old money, threw over the top parties, in which he would spend his money very nonchalantly. The ambiance of his parties greatly illustrated the upper class of the time. The author uses symbolism and characterization to support the central idea that the upper class was very careless, wealthy, and extravagant. Gatsby’s parties are luxurious, glamorous, and over the top.
The Great Gatsby is an American novel written by Scott Fitzgerald. On the surface, the book revolves around the concept of romance, the love between two individuals. However, the novel incorporates less of a romantic scope and rather focuses on the theme of the American Dream in the 1920s. Fitzgerald depicts the 1920’s as an era of decline in moral values. The strong desire for luxurious pleasure and money ultimately corrupts the American dream which was originally about individualism.
The Negative Influence of Wealth Wealth and prosperity are the core of living a lavish lifestyle and having a successful life. However, money can influence people into debauchery. In the book, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald introduces to us to some of the dangers of being rich. Most people in the Great Gatsby were very privileged, and they lived a lavish lifestyle.
As human beings, we tend to search for happiness in material wealth and money because it is often portrayed that the more belongings we have, the happier we will be. However, wealth is not the most important thing in our lives and with too much power and money, it can lead to extreme carelessness and greed. This obsession with wealth will not only have a negative impact on one’s life, but the others around them. The dependency on wealth and status is greatly seen throughout the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, as Daisy Buchanan, a self-absorbed prosperous young women, revolves her life around power and materialistic relationships in order to maintain her high social standing. Her actions are solely driven based on what is best
James Lutz Mrs. Edelman ELA 10 (H) 15 May 2024 To love is to act, they say, Gatsby would. “The Great Gatsby” is a book written by () and plays off of the prosperity of the 1920's. It takes place on 2 islands, east and west. East Egg and West Egg represent 2 different kinds of wealth. This paper focuses mostly on a character from West Egg named Jay Gatsby who is incredibly wealthy and hosts extravagant parties but is also having an affair with Daisy, a married woman, another focus will be Nick, Gatsby's neighbor who lives in West Egg is not wealthy like the rest.
The world crafted by F. Scott Fitzgerald within The Great Gatsby revolves around the idea of wealth and the two different ways that it is achieved. These concepts, old money and new money, first appear to perfectly contrast the other: old money refers to wealth inherited through family ties while new money refers to wealth that is earned through hard work and perseverance, both elements of the American Dream, which at its foundations includes equality of “Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” (US, 1776), demanding selfless actions and equal treatment of others. However, both concepts of wealth are actually a singular, negative force that drives the wealthy to a life of greed. Fitzgerald deliberately distinguishes old money and new money,
How does having money lead to material gain? In the Roaring Twenties, people from all social classes suddenly became aware of the class differences. This awareness is a result of the jump on the Stock Market and the World War1. There were clear distinctions among social classes according to location, amount of material possessions and the way one acted. Fitzgerald explains these differences by giving the characters in his novel the Great Gatsby different social classes and he also shows these social divisions in the way the characters behave.
Gatsby symbolizing Organized Crime: Would a person do anything for money? Might they even break the law? The Great Gatsby is about the love and crime of the roaring 20s. From cheating for the one you love to murder. The Great Gatsby has it all.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby describes the life of Jay Gatsby in the 1920’s. The novel shares his love story and his loneliness. A major question the author raises is how does wealth impact class structure and society? Fitzgerald answers this question through the distinction between “New rich” and “Old rich” and the significance of East and West Egg.
The Connection of Wealth and Personality in Fitzgerald’s Works In our society, money is seen as the most important factor in decision making and in our overall lives. This is shown throughout all of Fitzgerald’s works and in many of his characters. His stories continually mention the effect that money has on the community. In one of her criticisms, Mary Jo Tate explains that “[Fitzgerald] was not a simple worshiper of wealth or the wealthy, but rather he valued wealth for the freedom and possibilities it provided, and he criticized the rich primarily for wasting those opportunities.
F. Scott Fitzgerald once said “The rich are not like other people”. This quote wa exemplified in his Jazz-age classic, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald takes a deep dive into the lifestyles of the 1920s and the human subconscious that accompanied them, most notably the wealthy. In the book the rich have always had a need to distinguish themselves from the rest. The wealthy develop different personality traits from those of lower classes through what morals they developed through their adolescence and the range of emotions that come with money.
Jordyn Love Mrs Easly English 3 15 March 2023 The price of wealth How far would you go to get the love of your lifes attention? Some may go more all out than others. In the novel “The Great Gatsby”, Jay Gatsby is seen as a man belonging to upper class or “new money” wealth.
Anyone reading F. Scott Fitzgerald knows that is about the 1920’s in America, also described as the ”Jazz Age” by Fitzgerald. In the 1920’s, it was all about wealth. There was two ways of achieving wealth: either you were born into it, meaning that you inherited money from your tich family, which was known as nouveau riche. The other way of achieving wealth in America during the 1920’s was to work for it. The goal for the people that lived in West Egg was to make the most amount of money with the least amount of effort.
Humans, by our very nature, are always striving to achieve more in life. Unfortunately, our materialistic society, and that of the Roaring Twenties, interpret this as striving for wealth. That pursuit often becomes all-consuming, eventually hindering our pursuit of gratifying life goals. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts wealth as a fraudulent thief whose pursuit must be abandoned for the sake of tangible fulfillment. He illustrates the dangers of attempting to find gratification in wealth through the life of Jay Gatsby, who ironically sacrifices morality, identity, and love in order to gain wealth, which he attempts to use to justify his claim to these very things.
