Does Money Cause Unhappiness In F. Scott Fitzgerald's Babylon Revisited

He comes across a millionaire named Jay Gatsby who unsuccessfully tries to achieve want he wants in his life through his wealth. The pursuit of achieving excessive wealth has numerous consequences such as carelessness, egocentricity, and loneliness. Fitzgerald exposes the repercussions

Wanting to gain status, Gatsby shows his wealth by throwing extravagant parties and purchasing expensive items to display. To announce himself as a man of wealth to the New York upper class, he purchases a “factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (5), his mansion in West Egg. It is here that he chooses to throw parties every weekend, where everyone shows up, though rarely people are actually invited. It is here that he is able to show off the true extent of his wealth to other rich folk. For example, in his library, he has a collection of “absolutely real” books, rather than “durable cardboard” (45), expected by Owl Eye, and attendant of one of Gatsby’s parties.

Gatsby hosts extravagant parties in an effort not only to boost his social status, but also to look for Daisy. Many wealthy, and often wild people attend these large social events held by Mr. Gatsby. Some of the guests even come lacking an invitation, “Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission.” (41)

Many would argue that the American Dream was all about success and money, and if someone had lots of money they achieve the American Dream. Nevertheless, that success and money comes at a price. Many people are caught in between striving for the American Dream and are unable to afford it. The workers in the book are dirty, exploited, poor, and overall miserable. The Valley of Ashes presents a contrast between the rich and poor due to its location.

The Outsiders Have you ever wished you could be rich? Or have a bigger house? Do you think that those who are not rich are a menace? Well in the book The Oustiders by S.E Hinton, The socs are more of a menace than the greasers because of the money they have, their parents mindset, and the society’s popular choice.

Gatsby didn’t love Daisy, but was in love with the idea of having everything, the perfect life. In the end, his vast amounts of wealth could not buy Daisy’s love or even his own happiness. Gatsby filled the void in his heart by surrounding himself with expensive things, but the way in which he acquired his wealth, though not clearly stated in the novel, can be assumed he took the easy way of turning to a life of crime. Gatsby’s romantic view of money did not prepare him for the selfish and corrupt circle of people in which he would soon be associated with. Although through Nick’s narration, Gatsby is portrayed as more of a kind man than the audience has perceived.

Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts two different kinds of wealth, “old money” and “new money.” “Old money” refers the the families who have been wealthy for generations and are likely to be hypocritical and judgmental of others that are not in their class. Examples of “old money” include Tom, Daisy and Jordan. They do not flaunt their wealth as much as the people of “new money” and tend to be respected by others making many social connections with other respected members of society. On the other hand, people of “new money” are flashy and tend to have extravagant items in order to show the world of their prosperity and compensate for their lack of inheritance.

Since Tom is from old money, Tom assumes he is better than anyone from new money and by vocalizing that he thinks “newly rich people are just big bootleggers” catches Tom further degrading people with new money success by stereotyping them that they get money in illegal ways. By Tom adding on more discrimination against people that seem to be below him in his mind, such as other races and people with old money, is due to his need to be supier and his fear to be less than

In the story, the narrator describes the rich as “different from you and me. [The rich] possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand” (Fitzgerald, “The Rich Boy” 3). The narrator 's description is very accurate, which is shown especially in the main character, Anson, who was born into a wealthy family and exhibits many of these characteristics. Tate, a critical writer explains that “‘The Rich Boy’ is not so much about wealth itself as about the effect of wealth on character, and the primary effect on Anson is an over power sense of superiority” (1). This superiority that Anson feels directly correlates with his upbringing because he has more money than most people.

But the fact that this affected Pelosi, and she took the actions she did, is hysterical. Wealthy people can deduct less, but they also now pay less overall tax—from 39.6 percent down to 37 percent—so there’s a break there. However, the Pelosis are so incredibly wealthy that they will still end up losing lots of money because there is still a deduction cap that

As shown in The Great Gatsby, wealth and luxury has shown to result in ethical or moral corruption of one’s self. An example would be Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby: being the two richest men in the novel, they are shown to be corrupted in ways that are not what people expect. While Tom was born into the wealthy life in East Egg, Gatsby was originally a poor man named James Gatz and had to work his way into becoming a wealthy man in West Egg. Tom had strong power and importance in the book and that drew Myrtle out of the Valley of Ashes and she tried to obtain Tom in order to become wealthy. Both men have no regards for the other as displayed in chapter 7.

Tom and Daisy Buchanan have wealth however, they are not happy because of their money. They have extravagant meals and shiney possessions, but at the dinner party Daisy is distressed as Tom accepts a call from his mistress, even though she is married to a very powerful and rich man. “The telephone rang inside, startlingly, and as Daisy shook her head decisively at Tom the subject of the stables, in fact all subjects, vanished into the air”(Fitzgerald 15) In the real world this shows “Even the very rich--those surveyed among FORBES’s 100 wealthiest Americans--are only slightly happier than average. Wealth, it seems, is like physical health.

The Great Gatsby shows Fitzgerald’s view and portrayal of the effect of money on people’s lives. Fitzgerald implies that being wealthy can lead to many great things but that money is everything but happiness and even with Gatsby’s wealth and imaginative mind, he still can not satisfy the image of Daisy since she nor any other women could ever be the girl who he desires. (Durkin). Gatsby wishes that his wealth would bring him the happiness and satisfaction he desires but instead brings him to his deathbed.

Does money make the characters in the Great Gatsby happier? In the book The Great Gatsby, Gatsby was dating Daisy, who he truly loved then he had to go fight in World War I so then Tom took advantage of that and married Dasiy who was using tom only for his money. Will Gatsby and Daisy's love be the same as before when Gatsby went to war?

The narrative arc in the short story “ Flowers For Algernon” and the film “Charly,” share many similarities and differences. The short story is told from Charlie’s perspective whereas the film is told from an omniscient point of view. The different perspectives give the readers a sense of emotional attachment to the characters. In the text, Charlie’s narration develops a critical mood. On the contrary, the narration of the film creates a more emotional point of view and connects with the audience at a more profound level.