The effect of materialism on the main characters
In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses wealth and the process of gaining it as an important theme. This process of acquiring material wealth is known as materialism. Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan are both strongly materialistic and put a lot of value to possessions and wealth, while Nick Carraway doesn’t show any materialistic desires and therefore highlights the contrast between these characters.
Gatsby’s main desire and aim in this novel is to win Daisy back from Tom. A major part in his obsessive love to Daisy is her wealth and the status she represents. In an effort to impress her and win her back, Gatsby boasts with his possessions. This can be seen on page 89 (chapter …show more content…
This lack of materialistic desires highlights the contrast between the characters in the novel. Nick is prevalently used as a contrast with Gatsby in the novel, as they have a lot of differences. For example, Gatsby is constantly in search for more wealth and social standing, while Nick is not. This can be seen on page 83, where Nick respectfully denies a job offer from Gatsby by saying that “(he’s) got (his) hands full” and that “(he) can’t take anymore work”. Nick doesn’t show any interest in Gatsby’s “dirty” business, which shows that Nick doesn’t feel the same pull towards money that Gatsby feels. This difference between Nick and Gatsby helps to highlight the materialistic nature of Gatsby’s character. The same is true for Daisy in a different way. When Nick describes Daisy, his narration focuses on Daisy’s view on West Egg wealth and that she dislikes the “raw emotion” (134) of it and prefers the class and sophistication that she’s used to from the old wealth of the East Egg. Nick’s narration of Daisy pleasantly portrays her as a beautiful, rich, sophisticated woman who emanates wealth through her every move. Nick’s portrayal of Daisy as such is what so concretely differentiates her from Gatsby. Nick plays a huge role in allowing the readers to compare the alternate varieties of materialistic yearning shown by Gatsby and Daisy in this
In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses wealth and the process of gaining it as an important theme. This process of acquiring material wealth is known as materialism. Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan are both strongly materialistic and put a lot of value to possessions and wealth, while Nick Carraway doesn’t show any materialistic desires and therefore highlights the contrast between these characters.
Gatsby’s main desire and aim in this novel is to win Daisy back from Tom. A major part in his obsessive love to Daisy is her wealth and the status she represents. In an effort to impress her and win her back, Gatsby boasts with his possessions. This can be seen on page 89 (chapter …show more content…
This lack of materialistic desires highlights the contrast between the characters in the novel. Nick is prevalently used as a contrast with Gatsby in the novel, as they have a lot of differences. For example, Gatsby is constantly in search for more wealth and social standing, while Nick is not. This can be seen on page 83, where Nick respectfully denies a job offer from Gatsby by saying that “(he’s) got (his) hands full” and that “(he) can’t take anymore work”. Nick doesn’t show any interest in Gatsby’s “dirty” business, which shows that Nick doesn’t feel the same pull towards money that Gatsby feels. This difference between Nick and Gatsby helps to highlight the materialistic nature of Gatsby’s character. The same is true for Daisy in a different way. When Nick describes Daisy, his narration focuses on Daisy’s view on West Egg wealth and that she dislikes the “raw emotion” (134) of it and prefers the class and sophistication that she’s used to from the old wealth of the East Egg. Nick’s narration of Daisy pleasantly portrays her as a beautiful, rich, sophisticated woman who emanates wealth through her every move. Nick’s portrayal of Daisy as such is what so concretely differentiates her from Gatsby. Nick plays a huge role in allowing the readers to compare the alternate varieties of materialistic yearning shown by Gatsby and Daisy in this