Gatsby’s Pool: the Mirage of Wealth and True Happiness

Decadence and Deception: The Corrupting Power of Wealth in Roaring Twenties Society

“The Great Gatsby” is one of the most well-known American novels. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author, writes a story following the life of a midwestern young man living in Long Island's prestigious West Egg in the 1920s. The main character, Nick Carraway, is unaware of the social settings when he first arrives. He soon learns how shallow and complicated the uber-rich tend to be. While writing this novel, Fitzgerald uses his own experiences and contemptuous towards society from his own life.

He takes the relationships of characters like Tom Buchanan, Meyer Wolfsheim, and Jordan Baker to convey the hypocrisy and immorality of the post-war society of the 1920s, where partying, loose morals, and alcohol were constants in everyday life.

Adultery is a recurring theme in this novel. An example of this sinful behavior is Tom courting Myrtle despite the fact that he is married. There is also evidence of Tom previously being dishonest to his wife after they lived in Chicago. Tom, who is living a “fantasy” surrounded by luxurious things and beautiful women, cannot discover his happiness, which leads him to be unfaithful to his wife numerous times. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made”(Fitzgerald p.145). This quote describes the toxic relationship Tom and Daisy have created for themselves. Instead of mending their broken life together, they fill their voids with material things and project their problems onto other people. Fitzgerald uses this relationship while writing to demonstrate how money and power can tarnish your morals and the emptiness it will bring you.

Gatsby's Rise: The Dazzling Facade of Wealth and the Dark Underbelly of the American Dream

The American dream may be described as starting from nothing and eventually gaining multitudes of wealth from achieving your goals. This theme is constantly present in the novel. Born James Gatz, better known as Gatsby, becomes a famous mysterious figure in Long Island after starting out with no money on a poor farm in North Dakota. After moving far from the Midwest, Gatsby earns himself a fortune by bootlegging alcohol. He then proceeds to show off his new wealth by means of spending a fortune on his residence, which Nick Carraway defined as “it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. '' (Fitzgerald p.7). Opposed to purchasing a home that gives the simple necessity of shelter, he bought a show-stopping property to throw glamorous parties with countless amounts of people. He needed to flaunt his wealth so everyone on Long Island would know who he was. This proves how humans have always been infatuated with the idea of wealth and lavish things. Gatsby was so hypnotized by materialism and greed he opted to do criminal activities to please his financial needs.

Great Gatsby's Pool of Class Distinctions: The Unbridgeable Gap Between Old and New Wealth

Fitzgerald also writes about the struggle between the wealthy and lower class, which he illustrates through Nick and Jordan’s relationship. Society brings the two of them together unintentionally. Gatsby is a poor soldier, and Daisy comes from a wealthy family. Daisy and Gatsby face obstacles in their relationship because she comes from “old money” and he obtained “new money.” Their relationship over time became quite unfeasible because of how different they became from one another because of where they stood socially. The people from ‘new money” were visible as vulgar, tasteless, uneducated, and lacked social graces. The people born into “old money” were knowledgeable, socially inclined, stylish, and spent little time with people from different social classes. “I told that boy about the ice.' Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. 'These people! You have to keep after them all the time.” This quote taken from Myrtle Wilson is a perfect example of how the wealthy treated other people(Fitzgerald p.35). They were arrogant, careless, and cruel to those who worked beneath them. Due to these prejudices, Gatsby and Daisy were always restrained to just having an affair ever since the moment they met. Gatsby, however, refuses to accept this. Even after obtaining a new wealth, Daisy still will not accept him for who he is. His dream to live happily ever after with her will never come true because of societal rules. 'Oh, you want too much!' she cried to Gatsby. 'I love you now – isn't that enough?”(Fitzgerald p.142). Daisy, in this quote, is confessing her love for Gatsby. She understands that she and Gatsby can never truly be together because of their social classes and her marriage to Tom. Throughout the entire novel, Gatsby struggles with accepting that life circumstances will keep him and Daisy apart no matter how wealthy he becomes. Although he has more money than he will ever need and more, he will always be considered lower class in Daisy’s world.

Gatsby's Timeless Pool: Fitzgerald's Critique on Wealth and Hollow Gratification in Modern Society

Written 100 years in the past, Fitzgerald’s use of criticism within The Great Gatsby still relates to present-day culture. Through the characters' relationships in the novel, he communicates life-defining experiences that shaped him into the man he is. He wanted to prove to readers how money can tarnish the values of a person and how living a fast life with poor morals leads to dissatisfaction. His distaste for the wealthy is made clear. The characters involved in Gatsby’s world lead lavish lives, but in the end, they find out that money cannot buy real happiness, although it can buy temporary gratification.

References

1. Bryer, Jackson R. F. Scott Fitzgerald: New Perspectives. University of Georgia Press, 2012.
2. Churchwell, Sarah. Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of The Great Gatsby. Little, Brown Book Group, 2013.
3. Curnutt, Kirk (ed.). A Historical Guide to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Oxford University Press, 2004.
4. Prigozy, Ruth (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Cambridge University Press, 2002.
5. Mizener, Arthur. The Far Side of Paradise: A Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2003.
6. Tredell, Nicolas. The Great Gatsby: A Reader's Guide to Essential Criticism. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
7. Autumn, 2003), pp. 123-136.
8. Miller, James E. Jr. "Mythicizing versus Demystifying: The Great Gatsby." American Literature, Vol. 42, No. 1 (March, 1970), pp. 75-88.

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