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Examples Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

857 Words4 Pages

Emma Lazenby
English Honors III
Ms. Maggert
16 March 2018

Materialistic Happiness
Richard Branson once said, “Too many people measure how successful they are by how much money they make or the people that they associate with. In my opinion, true success should be measured by how happy you are.” Jay Gatsby strays away from this idea that maybe money and acquisitive items are not everything. The death of the American Dream is symbolized by Gatsby’s ultimate demise, and represented by Nick Carraway's change of views among the rich, and how capital led him to idealize Daisy Fae. Materialistic possessions and all the gold in the world will never lead to true happiness which is shown by the death of the American Dream in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
J. Gatsby’s death is the prime symbolization of the death of the American Dream. Having a strong desire for money can cloud the reality of life, and this is what led Gatsby to his final hours. Gatsby started with absolutely nothing, …show more content…

After Gatsby’s death, Nick dives into his past views of the East, starting off by saying, “West Egg, especially, still figures in my more fantastic dreams” (Fitzgerald 176). Nick remembers his first impression of the city and it still lingers in his head. But, the first impression doesn’t change his desire to get away from the East. Nick also goes on to say how Gatsby’s death made him feel about New York, “The East has haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes’ power of correction. So when the blue smoke of brittle leaves was in the air and the wind blew the wet laundry stiff on the line I decided to come back home” (Fitzgerald 176). Nick’s glamorous opinions were replaced with absolute somber, after experiencing the realities of falling for the deception of luxury. His decision to come back home was based on the new feelings he couldn’t overcome about the

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