The Role Of Money In The Great Gatsby

When defining status in a society, most people look at money as one of the ways to decide which class someone belongs to. People also use money as a way to gain things, whether it be materialistic objects or a new class in society. Gatsby, Tom and Myrtle are no different. Money in The Great Gatsby acts as a motivator for Gatsby, to attain Daisy, Tom, to remain in the social class he is accustomed to, and Myrtle, in her desire to change the social class that she belongs to. Jay Gatsby did not grow up with a wealthy family. His parents were impoverished farmers in North Dakota though Gatsby always had dreams of becoming wealthy. Gatsby became accustomed to the wealthy lifestyle when he met Dan Cody. Dan Cody was a wealthy owner of a yacht who made Gatsby his personal assistant. When Cody died, he left Gatsby $25,000 that, due to Cody’s mistress, he was not able to claim. When World War I started, Gatsby enlisted which lead him to meeting and falling in love with Daisy. …show more content…
Daisy broke her promise to wait for him, which only intensified Gatsby’s quest for wealth. This intense desire for wealth caused him to come into money quickly and through some questionable ways. Gatsby gets involved with Meyer Wolfsheim, who is most known for fixing the World Series of 1919. Thomas Pauly does not believe that Gatsby had been just a front for all of Wolfsheim’s devious activities. Pauly compares Gatsby to a gangster, saying “Gatsby is at once more sinister and more believably unbelievable, a true product of Prohibition’s criminal conditions” (234). Gatsby’s seemingly quick rise of wealth seems to be attributed to his involvement with