Important Concepts in The Great Gatsby In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there were a few noticeable themes throughout the duration of the novel. Important themes include the ranking of social classes, the passage of time, and the ideas of honesty and morality. The most significant was wealth. There were many leitmotifs described in the novel, like the leitmotif of wealth and possessions, and the how passage of time develops the theme of wealth. It is apparent that one’s societal status is determined based off of a character’s wealth and possessions. “At the high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam” (Fitzgerald 39). In that passage, the author made it a point to focus on the expensive motor boats that the neighbor had, and it also states that they’re “taking in the hot sun” on his beach, saying he is wealthy …show more content…
Further into the novel, it describes how there are parties in the “East Egg” which is more evidence as to it being the wealthier of the two. Previously stated earlier, the passage of time contributes to the theme because it shows how the wealth and possessions becomes more prevalent as the story progresses. “My family has been very prominent, well-to-do people in this middle-western city for three generations. The Carraways are something of a clan and we have a tradition that we’re descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch, but the actual founder of my line was my grandfather’s brother who came here in fifty-one…” (Fitzgerald 7). This quote is stating that the wealth has been passed down from three generations in the passage of