Throughout the Roaring Twenties, many American citizens disguised their financial statuses and masked their true identities to be deemed admirable by society. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, formerly known as James Gatz, grows up poverty-stricken in North Dakota; however, he dedicates the rest of his life to becoming a successful, wealthy man while vowing to never let people know his background of financial hardships. When Gatsby is drafted to serve in World War One, he falls in love with Daisy Fay, who eventually marries Tom Buchanan for his riches. Tom and Daisy decide to settle down in East Egg, a neighborhood in New York for people who inherit their family’s money. As five years pass, Gatsby buys a luxurious mansion …show more content…
Despite his underprivileged life prior to becoming prosperous, he conceitedly displays his wealth just to be admired by others. He confidently drives in his luxurious yellow Rolls-Royce vehicle through The Valley of Ashes, while disregarding those who are financially struggling in the valley. He even hosts huge rowdy parties filled with an orchestra and large supplies of alcohol, while also receiving lavish clothing from England. While living in poverty is a familiar feeling to Gatsby, he carelessly spends money to impress others, when he should put the money towards assisting the less fortunate. Furthermore, he is an exploiter as he befriends Nick Carraway, his neighbor and Daisy’s second cousin. He plans for Nick to go out to lunch with Jordan Baker, a close friend of Daisy’s, and have him convince Daisy to travel to the West Egg for tea. When Nick wonders why Gatsby did not ask Jordan to arrange the tea date, she explains that “he wants [Daisy] to see [Nick’s] house… and [Gatsby’s] house is right next door” (Fitzgerald 79). Gatsby hopes that if Nick hosts the meeting, Daisy will see his mansion and be charmed by his extravagant lifestyle. He is self-absorbed as he only acts friendly to Nick and uses him to his advantage in an attempt to reunite and build a romantic relationship with Daisy. Additionally, Gatsby is hesitant to believe the past cannot be made up and he has …show more content…
During his party, a middle-aged man with owl-eyed spectacles observes his library and notices that his assortment of books are all authentic. The Owl Eyes man also points out that the books are uncut, revealing that Gatsby has never read the majority of the books he owns. His books show that he is a well-educated man who attends Oxford; however, he drops out after a couple of months. His untouched books contribute to his dishonesty because he has built an unrealistic image to benefit his reputation. Moreover, Gatsby is deceitful because he lies about his inheritance and fortune. As Gatsby is notorious for being a mysterious man, Nick questions his personal life and Gatsby reveals that he is “the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West---all dead now” (Fitzgerald 65). In response, Nick wonders what exact part of the Middle West and Gatsby replies that his ancestors were from San Francisco. It is clear that San Francisco is a part of the West Coast, thus showing dishonesty because he is building a false persona of himself and is creating mistrust within the people he lies to. Likewise, Gatsby is corrupted as he partakes in illegal activities such as bootlegging during Prohibition. As Tom catches Gatsby’s criminal scheme, it reveals that he makes his income through “a lot of side-street drug-stores here in [New York and]
Gatsby uses his great amount of money to easily afford this type of entertainment. His impressive personality and electrifying parties prove Gatsby's ability to stand out as a great man within a crowd. After being questioned by Daisy where he receives his flamboyant clothes, Gatsby explains how he has contacts with a man in England that “sends over a selection of [clothes] at the beginning of each season” (Fitzgerald 92). Alongside his access to some of the best products, Gatsby also has the ability to purchase anything he wants, a feat only a great man would be able to accomplish. His wealth can be considered incomparable even to other wealthy people, reflecting how Gatsby’s greatness comes
After Gatsby finishes talking with Jordan she asks Nick to come see her where she reviles the next part of his plan. Gatsby used Jordan to ask Nick if he would invite Daisy over to his house as she is closer to Nick and is afraid that if he asks himself he “might be offended.” (Fitzgerald.77) When asked why he did not just ask her she states, “he wants her to see his house…and your house is right next door” (Fitzgerald.77). Gatsby is able to successfully manipulate Nick, simply using him as a bridge to bring Daisy unknowingly to him.
Rumors that stated, “...he’s a bootlegger…” or that,”... he killed a man.” (pg 61). With this information, he could have easily judged Gatsby and viewed him differently. But he didn’t and waits until he knows him and then at the very end makes the decision that Gatsby is great.
Gatsby lies to everyone about who he really is, and how he got his money. Gatbsy originally came from a poor family but secretly gained money through selling alcohol, and later uses his wealth to impress Daisy. “It was from Cody that he inherited his money” (Fitzgerald 64). Later Tom finds out and says, “He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drugstores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter…I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him” (102). Throughout the story, the readers can see that Gatbsy lies about everything including his wealth.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the economic health and distribution during the 1920s are deeply explored through the wealthy characters in the novel. While some characters are more representative of how wealth was earned and used by the upper class, some other characters can show how the upper class disregards everything other than their wealth and status. The Great Gatsby is a novel that delves deep into the lives of many upper-class individuals who benefitted from the economic situation of the 1920s. Now, what exactly was this economic situation during this period? While the economy was certainly “booming”, it is clear that there was also a massive downside to the roaring economy.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary treasure, The Great Gatsby, Money plays a significant role, in shaping the narrative and influencing the lives of both the rich and poor characters. The novel highlights how wealth carries the momentum of the book, showing how the wealthy thrive and the fortunate struggle to keep up and are just put aside. Nick Carraway describes Tom and Daisy Buchanan as careless people. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made… (Fitzgerald 179)
The Great Gatsby: Comparison Essay In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the characters Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan to portray the differences and similarities in the behaviours and attitudes of new money and old money, and how their specific type of wealth affects their social status in the 1920’s time period. The personalities and attitudes of the characters in The Great Gatsby are complex by nature, especially since the story is set in a time when wealth and status were of utmost importance, and as a result, there are quite a few variables to consider when analyzing them. For example, Gatsby is portrayed as an infamous, mysterious, and elaborate man who throws extravagant parties and thoroughly revels in leading a lavish
In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the theme of wealth and material possessions. The Great Gatsby novel is about money but it explores its aftermath of power. Wealth supports the color gold and money can’t always buy happiness, Greed identities the sense of dishonest. The novel qualifies the header to develop the theme surrounding the wealth of lost dreams.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel that portrays love and money. It is set in New York and tells the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Bunchman, a wealthy woman Gatbsy loved when he was younger. The inscription of the novel immediately marks money as the key theme. One of the most fascinating and compelling symbols that Fitzgerald uses in his novel is the mansions, for example, Jay Gatsby’s mansion.
Gatsby’s origins are kept hidden from those who surround him and help shape the person who he has become. Gatsby claims that his “family all died and [he] came into a great deal of money” and they had lived in San Francisco (65). However, he was not, rather he was the son of poor farmers who were not able to contribute or help him with his
Those who desire wealth often build an invalid image of themselves that masks their true identity. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a prosperous man, Jay Gatsby, moves to the West Egg community to live in a new, wealthy home in New York during the 1920s. Gatsby fantasizes about a past relationship, involving a woman named Daisy Buchannan, trying to earn her love. While Gatsby is in desperate measures trying to create a connection with Daisy, he finds himself in some trouble due to his obsessive acts. Gatsby uses his wealth and dishonesty as a manipulative tool just to achieve his dream of winning Daisy.
The Great Gatsby is a book that recounts Nick Carraway's relationships with his sister Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom, Tom's relationships with George and Myrtle Wilson, his affairs with Gatsby, and the wealth gap between them from the perspective of Nick. An inequality in total wealth between races, levels of power, and places of residence is known as a wealth gap. The Buchanans, the Wilsons, James Gatsby, and Jordan Baker in Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby serve as conduits for the expression of this issue. The Wilsons are barely making it by, while the Buchanans are incredibly wealthy.
“The Great Gatsby”, by Scott Fitzgerald, was set during the mid 1920s, in a postwar America, is the story of a young financer who, learns sad truths about the relationships between true and illusionary, between past and present. The narrative, written during the time in which it is set by an author who was part of the crowd within which the action takes place. Narrator Nick Carraway, a beginner in the New York world of finance, describes the circumstances of his arrival and of his discovery that his home is next to that of the wealthy, and mysterious Jay Gatsby (who throws incredible parties), and across a narrow bay from Daisy and Tom Buchanan, a distant relative and her husband. One evening, after returning from a meet with the Buchanans,
As time progresses, nick eventually gains an invitation to one of GAtsby’s legendary parties. There he bumps into Jordan and they both meet Gatsby who later confesses to Jordan that he knew Daisy back in Louisville and his deeply and hopelessly in love with her. He also states that his extravagant way of life is just a way for him to impress her. Jordan then tells Nick and he has both Daisy and Gatsby over for tea. Through this, they rekindle their relationship and begin an affair.
Thanks to her, Nick discovers the truth: Daisy is the true love of Gatsby from long ago, when she was a rich girl, and had a relationship with a Camp Taylor´s officer who was quite poor. In order to having her close, Gatsby bought a great mansion where he lives nowadays, on West Egg, opposite Daisy´s one. Later, we can see how Gatsby confirms everything and he expresses his willing to get back Daisy, and how the luxury and the money are the only tools to achieve his