Examples Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

This passage from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, much like the novel itself, serves as an observation of the dark undercurrents that flow beneath the gleaming surface of wealth. Taking form as a recount of Daisy’s marriage to Tom Buchanan, by Jordan Baker, the passage depicts a distraught Daisy toiling with her emotions after receiving a letter from Jay Gatsby, whom she loves. Daisy’s values are tested, as her marraige to an immeasurable wealthy Tom rapiddly approaches, but a letter from her love lays in her hand. In this passage, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s portrayal of Daisy succumbing to social expectations, leading to her emotional transformation, reveals the harmful nature of a materialistic society.

In the first paragraph Fitzgerald

Jordan was a bridesmaid; she entered Daisy’s room a half an hour before the bridal dinner, to find Daisy lying on her bed “as drunk as a monkey” (59). This Simile contradicts the elegance one would associate with a bride, instead depicting Daisy in a chaotic, almost ugly manor. Jordan recounts “I was scared, I can tell you; I’d never seen a girl like that before” (59). Jordan's reaction to Daisy being drunk illustrates how accustomed to the very polished, shallow interactions of upper class society, Daisy’s society, Jordan is. Jordan had “never seen a girl like that before” reinforcing the idea that the social expectations for women of the upper class were so rigid, Jordan had never seen a woman this uncomposed. Seeing Daisy in this emotionally raw state genuinely “scared” her, because it disagreed with society’s norms. Daisy tells Jordan to tell the people that she had changed her mind about the wedding and begins to cry. Jordan recounts that she got Daisy’s “mothers maid” (60), and they “locked the door” (60). Jordan did not get Daisy’s mother for help, but instead her mother’s maid, Daisy being in such an unrefined state was so socially condemned Jordan didn't want Daisy’s own mother to see her. This idea continues as they ‘lock’ the door and put her in a “cold bath”, making sure to

Determined to get Daisy ready for her marriage Jordan gets her into a “cold bath” (60). The “cold bath” is meant to sober Daisy up literally, as she also sobers up metaphorically to a “cold” reality. Daisy brings the letter into the bath with her unable to let go, but ultimately “[squeezes] it up into a wet ball” (60). In this moment, by destroying the letter Daisy forsakes her love, succumbing to social expectations and the promise of wealth. When Daisy left the room the “pearls were around her neck” (60). She had accepted her place at Tom's side, the image of her wearing a symbol of his affluence around her neck, highlights the ‘chokehold’ he now had on her, she is under Tom’s control. The next day “she married Tom Buchanan without so much as a shiver” (60). Daisy adapted to the cold reality she is in, now able to be as cold and shallow as her society needs. Daisy gave up her love in order to achieve what was expected of her, succumbing to the endless wealth and subsequent power offered by