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Why Is Wealth Important In The Great Gatsby

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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. In the section that from page 11 to 24, we follow Nick Carraway from West Egg, which is where he lives in a bungalow between two mansions, to East Egg where he is going to visit his Cousin, Daisy, who lives with her husband …show more content…

It is also described as ”the less fashionable of the two” implying that old money, which is inheritance from rich families was thought of as better. We know that Nick lives where nouveau rich people live and he is involved with upper class activities although he ives in small bungalow because he is not rich enough to afford one of the big mansions that surround him. ”My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard — it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden.” Knowing that his house is at the very tip of the egg and in between two very large mansions, his humble abode is ignored and unimportant compared to the surrounding houses. His bungalow seems like a malplaced house in a place where it does not belong, like Nick

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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.

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Nick living in the West Egg describes it as “the less fashionable” Egg compared to the East Egg (Fitzgerald 5). Though right after Nick almost takes it back calling it the most “superficial tag to express the bizarre [...] contrast between them” (5). To help confuse this contradiction Nick describes the houses or “mansions” that surround him. The neighbor to the right had a “tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (5).

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In the novel The Great Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzgerald depicts the theme of “wealth can breed carelessness” using the literary devices and/or techniques of irony, irony, and point of view. From Nick 's perspective, the wealthy characters of this story tend to act ignorantly and care nothing else besides themselves, which would impact others, including the actions shown by Gatsby, Tom, Daisy, and Jordan. First of all, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the theme of “Wealth can breed carelessness” using irony. In the text, a conversation between Jordan and Nick, “‘They’ll keep out of my way,’ she insisted.

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It has long been said that money can’t buy happiness, but still people continue to use it’s acquisition to try to make themselves happy. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the title character struggles with this realization. The book is set in New York during the ‘Roaring 20’s’, a time famous for its parties and lavishness. The book examines the attitudes toward money within the upper particularly through the lense of the new-money title character, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby dedicated his life to the acquisition of money with the goal of eventually acquiring the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan.

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Robert Olen Butler, a fiction writer, enjoys that he is able to create a story in which it can take any route. When he says, “Fiction is ultimately the art form of human yearning” he is referring to his own work in a sense. One of his texts, “Fairy Tale,” tells about a nonstandard fairytale. A Vietnamese immigrant comes to the United States and works as a prostitute as she is trying to make a living for herself in her new home (“Fairy Tale” 1). Miss Noi ultimately meets her prince charming and ends up living in “a nice little house and she is a housewife with a toaster machine” (“Fairy Tale” 7).

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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.

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Money, wealth and power have always been in the forefront of man’s greedy and selfish mind and heart. Do all these things truly bring happiness? Great men have risen and fallen due to a failure to control their urges and tame the very things that they believe will free them. The characters in The Great Gatsby all struggle with that ideal. They subscribe to the idea that money can buy happiness; when in reality, all it brings to them is misery.

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Sabbir Rahman Mr. McDougall English 2 Advanced Honors 12 January 2023 \ Wealth is argued as the most significant thing in our lives as it is used to obtain commercial goods or to show one’s status in society. Wealth shows up early in history with social classes deriving from it in sedentary groups and leadership going to the person who owned a lot of land or animals. However, not everyone supports the notion of having wealth and many actively go against basing society on a money-driven economy/ They argue that it deteriorates our society as everyone tries to get rich and once they have enough for a lifetime, they decide they are still not satisfied. Many authors use characters and the actions that they

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Throughout the novel, Gatsby displays his riches through his mansion, expensive car, and many other things. Nick even describes how extravagant Gatsby’s house is, saying, “The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard—it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby 5). As Nick describes, Gatsby’s house is very large and modern, which shows his affluence. Before he became rich and privileged, Gatsby was James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy who dreamed of becoming wealthy. This dream led Gatsby to do crazy things in order to make money, but it worked out for him in the end.

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What is more valuable, love or money? In the novel the ¨The Great Gatsby¨ written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is old and new money, Gatsby who is the main character in the novel comes from the side of new money. Gatsby finds out that his money can buy: a beautiful home, nice cars, friends, however; his wealth cannot buy the one thing that he wants most. Fitzgerald is conveying that money cannot buy certain things. Gatsby's rise and fall throughout the novel show that money isn't what makes a person happy.

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The Widening Gap Between Classes “A nation will not survive morally or economically when so few have so much and so many have so little” (Bernie Sanders). No matter how poor or how rich, income inequality affects everyone, every day. People in today’s society are greedy for money. This grows the gap between the wealthy and the impoverished which destroys the relationships between them. Mental health is severely affected as well.

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Firstly we take a look at the physical environment. The story takes place in the 1920s on Long Island which is one of the main hubs for extreme upper class. Many whom just have made their fortune moves there due to the extreme amount of prestige it entails. While Nick owns a nice house next to the beach it’s dwarfed by the castle like mansions that surrounds it. Cross the water lives his cousin with her filthy rich husband.

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How does the desire to pursue money and power negatively impact the characters' moral sense of right or wrong? Many people allow their social class and wealth to determine their belonging in life. In The Great Gatsby people with "old money" are more respected and superior than those with "new money". The characters' actions are driven by their desire for wealth and power.

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When Nick Carraway marvels on how coincidental it is that Gatsby and Daisy are neighbours, Jordan Baker rebukes it stating that, “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.” (4.76) Gatsby bought a house in West Egg near East Egg where Daisy lives, rather than next-door to

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In the 1920’s, social classes were divided with a large gap. The poor wanted nothing to do with the rich, and the rich wanted even less to do with the poor. In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he uses the class structure in the 1920’s to redefine poverty. While the rich people in the novel are material rich, they are still “poor” socially and psychologically. Poverty is shown in a differently in this book than other books being written in this time era, and in doing this, it shows the rich what they are, and how they treat others from a different perspective.

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