The Great Gatsby Materialism Essay

“Money cannot buy happiness”. This statement summarizes the passage, as Fitzgerald attacks materialistic Americans. Gatsby is the victim of materialism and cannot overcome his own isolation, even though he is extremely wealthy. Not only does Fitzgerald demonstrate that money and material goods cannot overcome Gatsby’s isolation, but he also denounces those who create this isolation because of their own materialistic desires and ideas. Overall, the audience sees that Gatsby is alone, even at death. Fitzgerald’s central mode of transportation for these ideas are a solemn to irritated tone shift, dialogue and denunciative symbolism.
Fitzgerald uses the hundreds of people who go to Gatsby’s parties to symbolize materialists in his society. One

At the beginning of the passage, the audience feels solemnity for the death of Gatsby, but as no one arrives, Fitzgerald creates tension and irritation through the dialogue of Nick and “owl-eyes”. The audience sees that Nick truly never had anyone close to him and his money was not enough to garner all the people that came to his expensive parties. Fitzgerald uses the theme to attack materialists because of how much their lives are dictated by money and how little they care for others. Another interesting aspect of this passage is the entrance and dialogue of “owl-eyes”. He barely even knew who Gatsby was, but he still appeared at the funeral. Not only does he appear but he speaks on account of Gatsby’s isolation, “The poor son-of-a-bitch”. This develops the idea that materialists are indeed ungrateful people and Gatsby is truly alone.
Fitzgerald’s comparison between materialism and isolation is created through tone shift, dialogue, and symbolism. By using these, he attacks materialism and those who follow it incessantly. Furthermore, he uses Gatsby to illustrate the negative effects of extreme materialism on a human. Gatsby is ultimately left alone, even at death, and thus is the cycle of