Why Is Money Important In The Great Gatsby

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, embraces a concept that money is the centre of many characters’ lives. Good morning/afternoon and welcome to the youth forum. Throughout history, society has been separated into three specific classes, upper, middle and lower, more commonly recognised as wealthy, average and poor. In our censorious world, the wealthy individuals are recognised as superior; similarly poorer individuals are classed as being inferior. Why is it that we are we lead to define individuals based on their wealth? In reality, the amount of money we possess does not define us, it does not determine our wealth in society and it does not define our happiness. Wealth is a controversial theme, some believing it originates from how rich you are and others believing it is …show more content…

Several situations presented in The Great Gatsby provide evidence refuting this and demonstrate that all the money in the world could not buy Jay Gatsby’s happiness. Jay Gatsby’s perception was that if he became rich, he would gain all desired happiness and win over the love of Daisy. Through illegally gained wealth, extravagant parties, fancy cars and expensive clothes, Gatsby learnt that no wealth in the world could win over someone’s heart and no amount of money could make a person truly happy. The green light is used to symbolise this, he sees the light shine vastly in the distance at the dock of Daisy Buchannan’s house. It is used by Fitzgerald to portray the physical and emotional distance between Gatsby and his love, Daisy; it also represents his pursuit of the American Dream and the journey to gain wealth. The flash of the light across the pier at Daisy’s house is a constant reminder to Gatsby of how far he has come in attempt to win over her love. Yet regardless of his immense riches, his happiness and true wealth turns out to be something Gatsby is never able to

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