Loneliness In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Imagine walking into a bedroom lit with fluorescent lighting fit for a makeup studio. On various shelves around the room, makeup containers are meticulously placed in their respective places. Almost everything is sorted in its own manner—foundation by shade, eye shadows by the rainbow spectrum, and lipsticks by color. Upon further inspection, one can see that some bottles are unopened or barely used while newly arrived boxes of even more makeup are stacked neatly in a corner, waiting to be opened. This is what one will see upon walking into my cousin, Elizabeth Lizardo’s, room. As an avid fan of makeup, Elizabeth buys products whenever possible, constantly trying new releases and learning new techniques. However, it is important to note that there is an apparent …show more content…
The emptiness of material possessions can hide under the alluring exterior of wealth and luxury. Many people strive to attain the highest amount of wealth possible but are disappointed once they realize that money alone does not assure happiness and satisfaction. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, one of it’s main characters himself is fooled by the empty substance that comes with an obscene amount of wealth. Jay Gatsby, like many others, used money as a way to measure his self-worth. Men of his time had been taught to measure their worth and virtue by gaining money. At school, they had learned that virtue would be rewarded with a fortune and the evil would be rewarded with poverty. This fueled the drive to make money as a way to satisfy the need for self-satisfaction. In the end, money was an empty symbol for Gatsby that did not satisfy his need for inner happiness (Cowley 133). This is further shown in the moments surrounding Gatsby’s death. In the early morning after Myrtle’s death, Nick and Gatsby walked through his mansion. Upon further inspection, the enormous