Essay About Money In The Great Gatsby

Money makes the world go round. Some are born with it - old money, and most have to make it themselves – new money. The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald weaves in the theme of old money versus new money. A closer look at the characters pursuing new money or relying on old money shows that Fitzgerald conveys the message that admiring money will lead to corruption, downfall, and death. These negative effects are shown throughout the novel with Gatsby’s downfall, Myrtle’s death, and Tom and Daisy’s empty lives. The Great Gatsby portrays how absolutely seeking money and the admiration of money, also known as materialism, can bring about a path to destruction.
Tom and Daisy are old money and Gatsby represents new money, but they are not the same and the negative effects on the holders of both types of money are also different. Having inherited money assures a certain social class and privilege that bring Tom and Daisy a certain safety.

“With the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur. Her laughter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affected moment by moment, and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her, until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot through the smoky air.” (Fitzgerald, 16) This quote shows that Myrtle likes the feeling of being a part of the upper class even temporarily and now that she knows what she is missing she needs to do what she can to pursue Tom’s old money to stay in this class. She ends up deceiving her husband to keep seeing Tom. However Myrtle’s admiration of money leads to her downfall and death. After she escapes her husband’s imprisonment, she sees a car that she has seen Tom drive before and rushes out to stop it. And she is struck and