The Degeneracy of Relationships Through the Love of Money
Nick Carraway, the protagonist in The Great Gatsby, is placed in an environment filled with ideas that are fundamentally different than his. It is the characters that populate the story that have a stark divide in perception between themselves and Nick. Through social interaction, he can increasingly discover the drastic change in nature between himself and the people around him. One such social meeting has Nick in a hotel room with an abundance of characters that share a common bond: their love of wealth. This event happens on page 34 through 36. Major players are given a name among the crowd and are given lines that only further demonstrate the matter of one theme from the novel: the …show more content…
A contrast is created with the main character yearning for what is described as an uncorrupting outside environment versus the seemingly amoral cloud that hovers over the room Nick also finds that the he feels trapped in this environment by characters that are described as generally undesirable people based on example imagery. One example of this affinity to money is when Myrtle talks about her marriage. She describes a past event of a meeting with a man who came to retrieve his suit, also the one her husband had worn to the wedding. She then describes crying, all afternoon in fact, after realizing her husband had to borrow a suit, an could not afford one. Her overreaction by crying demonstrates how deeply she values the monetary standing of someone whom she is now married to and has ties with. Because of his lack of money, her husband is now considered less in her eyes. She seeks most to be with men with riches. Further images in the passage describe the park and the “soft twilight.” These pleasant images and thoughts are coupled with the “entanglement of some wild, strident argument.” It is obvious Nick longs to get away from these people. He understands that these people are not like him and is not interested in being in such a turbulent environment, but rather one that is peaceful and
Nick Carraway, the protagonist in The Great Gatsby, is placed in an environment filled with ideas that are fundamentally different than his. It is the characters that populate the story that have a stark divide in perception between themselves and Nick. Through social interaction, he can increasingly discover the drastic change in nature between himself and the people around him. One such social meeting has Nick in a hotel room with an abundance of characters that share a common bond: their love of wealth. This event happens on page 34 through 36. Major players are given a name among the crowd and are given lines that only further demonstrate the matter of one theme from the novel: the …show more content…
A contrast is created with the main character yearning for what is described as an uncorrupting outside environment versus the seemingly amoral cloud that hovers over the room Nick also finds that the he feels trapped in this environment by characters that are described as generally undesirable people based on example imagery. One example of this affinity to money is when Myrtle talks about her marriage. She describes a past event of a meeting with a man who came to retrieve his suit, also the one her husband had worn to the wedding. She then describes crying, all afternoon in fact, after realizing her husband had to borrow a suit, an could not afford one. Her overreaction by crying demonstrates how deeply she values the monetary standing of someone whom she is now married to and has ties with. Because of his lack of money, her husband is now considered less in her eyes. She seeks most to be with men with riches. Further images in the passage describe the park and the “soft twilight.” These pleasant images and thoughts are coupled with the “entanglement of some wild, strident argument.” It is obvious Nick longs to get away from these people. He understands that these people are not like him and is not interested in being in such a turbulent environment, but rather one that is peaceful and