The Role of Money in the Great Gatsby

1115 Words5 Pages
The Green Magnet Money is the finish line of life’s race. Money is the magnet that pulls everybody, irrespective of class and gender. It has been the central motive of people’s lives in past and is still thriving. People appear to have drowned in the pool of money ignoring all other moral values of life. We see examples of this pull of money in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby, through Nick’s eyes. It is through the narrator's dealings with high society that readers are shown how modern values have transformed the American Dream's pure ideals into a scheme for materialistic power and further, how the world of high society lacks any sense of morals or consequence. Fitzgerald shows the influence of money in decision making and motivation for people in every character of the book; money pushes Gatsby to get what he has lost, it leads Daisy to marry a man who she does not love, and money influences the actions of Gatsby’s friends after he dies. Gatsby, the protagonist of the book is attracted to Daisy, her social standing, and wealth, but he realizes that he did not had the influential charm of money or power that could create a similar pull in Daisy’s heart for him. Gatsby puts away every other aspect Samra 2 of American Dream and focuses on earning enough money to get his Daisy to him. Fitzgerald shows that Gatsby is not enough to be with Daisy by writing, “He took what he could … he had no real right to touch her hand” (Fitzgerald 149). This tells readers the difference in the social standing between Daisy and Gatsby, and Gatsby gets motivated by the power of money Daisy holds to be the man who has same social standing and money as Daisy, so that he could cope up with the idol man of Daisy’s life. Fitzgerald even writes, “He knew that Daisy was extraordinary … into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby-nothing” (Fitzgerald 149). This
Open Document