Money In The Great Gatsby Essay

Words: 1574
Pages: 7

Money has always been at the center of American history. Without our focus on economics we would not be the global leaders we are today. However, America’s obsession with wealth has indisputably affected everyone in America. The majority of Americans fall into the lower middle class or middle class, and even though they can afford what they need their lives still revolve around money. For those in the upper and lower classes everything, down to their most core values and characteristics, is influenced by their income. Money is formative in our lives. This was never more true than in the 1920s, when the income gap was at its highest, the economy was out of the roof, and the country was in a material frenzy. This is the setting of the Great Gatsby, …show more content…
When she reunites with Gatsby she convinces him she will leave Tom and be with Gatsby forever. Gatsby makes plans to marry her and spend his life with her. He is so devoted to her that he even takes the blame for killing Myrtle when Daisy was the one who hit her with the car. After Gatsby is killed Nick calls the Buchanan house trying to tell Daisy about Gatsby’s death. “I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him… but she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and had taken baggage.” It is shocking, considering Gatsby’s deep devotion to her, that Daisy disappears with Tom and does not even come to Gatsby’s funeral. It begs the question, did Daisy ever really love Gatsby, or was it all a heartless ruse concocted out of boredom? Her wealth has made her restless, and she saw her chance to escape her boring, privileged life when she reunited with Gatsby. Yet it was never anything more than a cruel, childish fling. A wealthy, indifferent young woman dragging Gatsby around by his heartstrings, only to abandon him when their relationship becomes inconvenient. Growing up able to have whatever she wants and replace it with something else when it gets boring, she doesn’t know any