The Wealth and Riches The Great Gatsby
Uploaded by BrittanyHarris on Dec 06, 2011
The Wealth and riches in the Great Gatsby
Wealth and greed cause many of the problems in The Great Gatsby. The book involves relationships that develop because of money and the impact it has on the characters and the way they treat each other. There's big houses, very nice cars and a rich lifestyle. In the beginning money is the key to a fancy life and great wild parties. In the end, it brings everyone down and the money creates more problems than it's really worth.
Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan love each other. But money becomes a problem when Daisy tells Gatsby that he isn't rich enough for her. Gatsby spends years making money by becoming a bootlegger. He believed that he could buy Daisy's love. Daisy had told him that rich girls don't marry poor boys. So Jay Gatsby became a very wealthy man after Daisy's rejection and marriage to Tom Buchanan. Gatsby wants his old life with Daisy back so much that he uses illegal ways to get his money. He chose a life of heartache and illegal behavior to get a woman back, who in the end, he never even got back. He looses everything, not just Daisy but also his life.
Gatsby's parties can also be seen as a symbol of wealth and power. Every weekend, Jay Gatsby, threw lavish parties in an attempt to attract Daisy's attention. At these parties there were many people, most hadn't been invited and didn't know Gatsby. These people used Gatsby for his money. Klipspringer, even stayed permanently at Gatsby's house after a party. They thought if they were at these parties, they would be happy, more rich and feel perfect. After Gatsby's death none of these people attended his funeral because he wasn't useful to them any more.
Gatsby wasn't the only character in The Great Gatsby that was effect by wealth. George Wilson, a man who lived in the Valley Of Ashes with his wife, Myrtle, is also the victim of wealth. This community is full of poverty, its a industrial wasteland. This area is the total opposite of where wealthy Daisy and Gatsby live. Wilson owns a gas station and his wife is Tom Buchanan's lover. Myrtle becomes part of Tom's rich lifestyle and is drawn in by the money. She anticipates to leave Wilson, but instead gets killed. Myrtle runs into the street and is hit by Gatsby's car. Wilson then kills himself, but...