Examples Of Greed In The Great Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, it’s important to think about Gatsby and associate him with shame and grief. Shame for his lower class status unable to acquire Daisy at the time and grief for his constant reminiscing over her. The shame of being poor is a reaction to Daisy’s wealth. From this shame and grief he creates a new persona, he changes his name, leaves for the army and molds into a new self-made person. He changes his identity completely and his new upbringing starts with his display of wealth and extravagant lifestyle. After the war he reinvented the “American dream” for himself and produced a great amount of fortune, corruptly in effort to show Daisy how much money he has. Besides the endless display of prosperity

Jay Gastby corruption is evident. The “American Dream” is shifted and altered completely in the novel. It’s no longer about a hard working life, its more about getting rich no matter how you do it, bootlegging, gambling, shady commerce etc. Gatsby is an example of this. He wanted to make the jump from lower class to upper class dramatically. He wanted to have it all so he could feel worth something for someone. After the war he felt he had to become worthy of Daisy matching her standards. He did whatever he had to do to get to the lavish lifestyle in order to impress Daisy into falling even harder in love with him. The famous picture is vividly portrayed in the story of her breakdown with all the fancy clothes he’s throwing at her. “They’re such beautiful shirts,” she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such – such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald 89). He has it all, no matter how he accomplished it, he proved to her that he is just as wealthy enough for her now. Gatsby is a dreamer and a go getter and is quite shrewd. He sets up a lifestyle that had to beat Daisy’s husband Tom. This is why Gatsby is empty and this is why most of the upper class in the novel is empty and close minded. They solely focus their life on gaining wealth and living beyond standard adults. They own countless of cars that are worth people’s life’s incomes. Gatsby seems to have everything in the world but doesn’t seem to appreciate it, nor does Tom who cheats on his wife. He only wants one thing and that’s Daisy and even with his exaggerated wealth he still cannot have her as he wishes. The past disturbs Gatsby. He struggles to live his life without the idea of finishing it with Daisy. He doesn’t explore any aspects of the American Dream or any of the opportunities the 1920s had to offer at the time. The roaring