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Examples Of Money In The Great Gatsby

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“Money doesn’t buy happiness” is a phrase used throughout history and is still effective in society today. This phrase conveys the American dream people strive for all their lives; wealth. Wealth seems so magnificent that people would do almost anything to obtain it. However, money isn't as extravagant as it may appear. It can cause the destruction of one’s character and dreams, as it does in The Great Gatsby. When the American dream first sparked in the 1920’s, people were so naive to the destructive side of having a fortune. People based their lives on drinking and having fun, ignoring the possibilities that would come to them in the future or who they would become. The story of “the Great American Classic,” or The Great Gatsby, ultimately suggests that the American dream of being wealthy causes corruption to peers, romances and relationships, and society as a whole. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses different symbols to show aspects of the American Dream. For example, the Valley of Ashes. This is a stretch of dull, grey land formed as a result of the rich making money and “tossing the waste”. It was a place where the failed citizens of poverty, and people of the working class, lived in New York City. “They …show more content…

In the book, Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom are very wealthy individuals. In spite of their wealth, they are all bleak due to the fact that they cannot be with the people they love. As a result, Tom and Daisy both had affairs, Daisy killed Myrtle and let Gatsby take the blame, and even Gatsby’s death. Daisy has had instances where she seemed to have genuinely loved Gatsby, when she didn't even attend his funeral, nor did she even offer to take the blame for Myrtle’s death. “She told him she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw.”(pg 119) The book shows that wealth causes corruption of romance and relationships due to the arrogant characteristics of the

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