Research Paper On The Great Gatsby

The 'American Dream ' is making a living through hard work, dedication and determination. Using hard work and ethics one can make millions of dollars and all the material happiness that comes along with that. However, all that money cannot buy some of the most valuable things. Money will never buy happiness like friends and family. A good example of this is in the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. He pokes fun at the typical American dream by using the main character Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby has earned the heart of a woman before a war and when he returns, he finds that the woman of his dreams, Daisy, has left him for another man. Gatsby hopes to win her back by accumulating wealth, but he and many of the other characters in the …show more content…
Nick Carraway, the narrator, describes Jay 's living area, West Egg and, on the other side of the river, East Egg. The West Egg is as equally as impressive as the East Egg, but the East Egg is more conservative in architecture. The river is an analogy for the division even among the very wealthy upper class. According to the book, in the 1920s, there were two kinds of rich. The more conservative, the “old money” and the infamous “ new money”, East Egg housed the “old money” people while the West Egg housed the “new money” people. The “old rich” passed money down from generation to generation and taught their heirs much more conservative ways of spending. They held a more elegant air and had more than money. They also had status. On the other hand, the new rich built their fortunes from the ground up. The new money earners were not necessarily earning their income stably or legally. They were considered to be more rough and uncouth than the established old money. To top off their tarnished perception, they displayed their new found wealth in lavish ways. They were notorious for throwing wildly large parties, having overly luxurious cars and excessively glamorous houses. Often, the ways in which they obtain such immense wealth in such a short span of time was brought to question, which was the biggest contributor to the new rich 's tarnished …show more content…
At the parties, his guests praise his canary yellow Rolls Royce and his large swimming pool. Just as it is today, it takes a lot of money to buy and maintain such luxurious items. Not to mention, the fact that simply hosting his parties would cost a small fortune in today 's currency. At the parties, Gatsby set an elaborate scene with beautiful flowers and a diverse buffet. He had all the lavishness of the world and just as consider the norm for the new rich, show it off as often as he could with every excuse he could come up with. He bought himself a nice house, a nice car and even a 'friend ' or two. But still had no actual, real relationships with people other then our narrator Nick Carraway, who is ironically Daisy 's cousin. Gatsby is as aforementioned trying to earn Daisy 's affections and garner her attention. However, he is unable to because Daisy comes from a wealthy family and is now used to both the money and status she gained by marrying Tom, whereas Gatsby came from hardly anything. When Gatsby left to war, Daisy was waiting for him, but eventually followed the traditions of the old money and married herself off to Tom who also came from a traditionally wealthy family. Often times “love” between two different levels of wealth classes never lasts. For instance, money is a means to an end in this surprisingly tragic story. Gatsby does not become wealthy to be rich, he does so to earn the