Materialism in The Great Gatsby
Within the characters’ relationships in The Great Gatsby, money and materialism are huge motivators. Most of the characters reveal themselves to be highly materialistic, their motivations driven by their desire for money and material possessions. Wealth, material possessions, and power are the core values of the "American Dream" which characters such as Daisy, Tom, Gatsby and Myrtle all try to achieve or have achieved to some degree.
For many Americans, like the characters in Fitzgerald's novel, the American dream is a dream which is based solely upon reaching a higher standard of living. Gatsby is one of these Americans who wants to achieve that dream. Gatsby based his whole self-being on how much money he earned, and the possessions he had, such as buying a fancy house and owning a fancy car which "everybody had seen" (Fitzgerald 65). Gatsby felt that with money there came many advantages …show more content…
Daisy is very materialistic, which is why she is drawn to Gatsby again due to his newly-acquired wealth. The readers also see Gatsby is drawn to her due to the money and status she represents. Daisy only begins her affair with Gatsby after a detailed display of his wealth. Gatsby, like a peacock showing off its multi-coloured tail, flaunts his wealth to Daisy by showing off his ridiculously expensive set of coloured shirts. Interestingly, this is the first time where Daisy fully breaks down emotionally “It makes me sad because I've never seen such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald 94). Which she does not do when she first sees Gatsby, or after their first long conversation, but at this extremely noticeable display of wealth. This speaks to her materialism and how, in her world, a certain amount of wealth is a barrier to entry for a relationship (friendship or
Within the characters’ relationships in The Great Gatsby, money and materialism are huge motivators. Most of the characters reveal themselves to be highly materialistic, their motivations driven by their desire for money and material possessions. Wealth, material possessions, and power are the core values of the "American Dream" which characters such as Daisy, Tom, Gatsby and Myrtle all try to achieve or have achieved to some degree.
For many Americans, like the characters in Fitzgerald's novel, the American dream is a dream which is based solely upon reaching a higher standard of living. Gatsby is one of these Americans who wants to achieve that dream. Gatsby based his whole self-being on how much money he earned, and the possessions he had, such as buying a fancy house and owning a fancy car which "everybody had seen" (Fitzgerald 65). Gatsby felt that with money there came many advantages …show more content…
Daisy is very materialistic, which is why she is drawn to Gatsby again due to his newly-acquired wealth. The readers also see Gatsby is drawn to her due to the money and status she represents. Daisy only begins her affair with Gatsby after a detailed display of his wealth. Gatsby, like a peacock showing off its multi-coloured tail, flaunts his wealth to Daisy by showing off his ridiculously expensive set of coloured shirts. Interestingly, this is the first time where Daisy fully breaks down emotionally “It makes me sad because I've never seen such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald 94). Which she does not do when she first sees Gatsby, or after their first long conversation, but at this extremely noticeable display of wealth. This speaks to her materialism and how, in her world, a certain amount of wealth is a barrier to entry for a relationship (friendship or