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Nick's Use Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

1254 Words6 Pages

In the book “The Great Gatsby” F. Scott Fitzgerald relentlessly attacks the lifestyle of the wealthy. Fitzgerald does this by expressing his characters as symbols, and characterizing them to be able to effectively critique the lives of materialistic people. Firstly, throughout the book one of the major characters serves as a gateway, this character is able to take Fitzgerald's opinions, and pass them on as his own throughout the story. This character is Nick, he is characterized as a more judgmental character, and this is because he is expressing Fitzgerald's opinions in the book. An example of when Fitzgerald uses Nick to express his own opinions on the wealthy lifestyle, can be found in the first chapter of the book, where it reads “Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.” This is very early in the book, and at the time Nick did not really know Gatsby, but the image he evoked, was of a materialistic man who would waste money on luxurious, …show more content…

These characters are, Tom, and Daisy, who both have been expressed as uncaring in the book. This can be found towards the end when Nick calls Daisy to inform her of Gatsby's death, the text reads “I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them.” Fitzgerald's purpose in characterizing these characters like this, is to make the repercussions that are present when someone is exposed to a wealthy, materialistic lifestyle clear to the audience. As shown in the text Tom, and Daisy are uncaring people who have been exposed to the wealthy lifestyle. Additionally, because they are characterized as uncaring, they are able to be viewed as the evil within wealth, consequently implying an impurity in the wealthy lifestyle, overall making Fitzgerald's opinions even more

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