What Does The Shirts Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

In the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby, a mysterious wealthy man who lives in a mansion in West Egg, gives Daisy Buchanan a tour of the castle like home. Daisy is a beautiful woman, married to Tom Buchanan, whom Gatsby had fell in love with before the war and had lost touch with. When Daisy and Gatsby meet for the first time in 5 years, Gatsby offers to give her a tour of his house to show her his wealth and status. The Great Gatsby addresses the problem of Materialism and is illustrated in this passage through the attempt to impress with possessions, as well as admiration for inanimate objects. Daisy exemplifies the theme of Materialism by showing strong admiration and emotion towards Gatsby’s shirts. Fitzgerald writes, “‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the

The word choice of “sobbed” expresses how the shirts impact her emotionally and how she impacted more by these than Gatsby himself. The use of the -- as well as such being used twice illustrates her lost for words when she sees the shirts. Her lack of very strong emotion that is showed to gatsby contrasts her admiration for the shirts. Gatsby’s materialistic culture leads him to try to intrigue Daisy with luxury possessions. Gatsby tries to show off his wealth by setting up a confrontation and tour of his house with Daisy. Fitzgerald writes about Gatsby, “I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes.” (Page 91). Gatsby “revalues” his everything his house based on the reaction it got from daisy because he wanted to impress daisy and the objects are the easiest way to do this. Gatsby shows Daisy his luxuries, instead of impressing her with his personality, outlining the materialistic society. Materialism is shown throughout the book by the values of the character, being wealth and