Examples Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

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F. Scott Fitzgerald makes many arguments about American society in The Great Gatsby. American society in the 1920’s was known around the world as the “roaring twenties.” This time period was know for the gangsters, prosperity, and prohibition of alcohol. However the twenties were also a time of the haves and have-nots. The three main arguments that Fitzgerald makes include that American society is materialistic, selfish, and greedy. Materialism is to consider material possessions and physical comfort more important than spiritual values. This is shown often throughout the book in many different situations. One example is that Gatsby does not acknowledge his parents and be associated to their lack of wealth and success. Another example is when …show more content…
Tom is a good example of how he selfishly had an affair on Daisy with Myrtle who was also married showing their lack of care for other people's feelings other than their own. Jordan Baker is another example of how people in general are selfish. Nick finds out that Jordan cheated in golf tournaments to help herself get better shots. This shows how Jordan does not how she gets to the top of her golf game even if it involves her cheating. Gatsby however shows a bit of unselfishness when he takes the blame for Daisy hitting Myrtle with his car. This was the reason Gatsby died, showing how he was so unselfish that it killed. This was also selfish of Daisy to let Gatsby take the blame for something that he did not do, that ultimately killed him. Daisy is shown to be selfish because when Gatsby left for war she married Tom instead of waiting for Gatsby (Daisy’s true love) to come home. All of these examples of selfishness in The Great Gatsby show how Fitzgerald wanted to show how selfish the American society is. However I think Fitzgerald wanted to make a larger point about humans in general about how we all are selfish. Even though we are all selfish Fitzgerald wants to show how the American society magnifies selfishness by making life a game of who can get the most money and possessions. Making people do whatever they think is necessary to get what they
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