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Why Is The Great Gatsby Old Money Foolish

534 Words3 Pages

“Old money is fully as moronic as new money but it has inherited an appearance of cultivation.” This quote is by Mary McCarthy, who was an American novelist, critic and a political activist. What this quote is saying is, that old money and new money is foolish, as if it doesn’t matter if you are old money or new money. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays three different classes, old money, new money and no money. After the Golden age in America, old money and new money didn’t matter anymore. If you were wealthy, it didn’t matter how you came about this wealth. ( come back and add more) Old money is having money inherited through generations, like family wealth. You were rich mainly because of your family having money. In the novel, Tom and Daisy Buchanan would be an example of this. New money is someone whose wealth was made by themselves, not inherited. They got the money themselves. Jay Gatsby would be an example of this. No money refers to those not in high society or even being in poverty. This would be George and Myrtle Wilson. …show more content…

Both are in the same class of wealth, but new money and old money spend their wealth differently, and have different maturities while handling their money. The newly rich, live in West Egg, like Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is a perfect example of newly wealthy people not being smart with their spending or what they do with their money. He spends his weekend throwing lavish parties, spending excessively on food and beverages--all in an effort to impress people, and not to mention, our Daisy back to him (even though she never

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