Preview

Theme Of Happiness In The Great Gatsby

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
513 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Theme Of Happiness In The Great Gatsby
Money cannot buy Happiness The Great Gatsby is a classic novel in which many characters lives revolve around money, however money cannot buy happiness. F. Scott Fitzgerald pursued many things writing the book The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald offers many themes in the book he shows power, greed, and betrayal. Fitzgerald showed Gatsby as a Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into distinct groups but, in the end, each group has its own problems to contend with, leaving a powerful reminder of what a precarious place the world really is. By creating distinct social classes old money, new money, and no money Fitzgerald sends strong messages about the elitism running throughout every strata of society.
Just as he did with people of money, Fitzgerald …show more content…
Happiness is the state of being happy, and being happy means that you are proud of things you do and joyful all the time. Everyone has their days of being unhappy, but you are not happy because you have lots of money. Everyone loves money, and lots of it. If your not happy then what is money? It is just a piece of paper that has value and can buy you things. The real question is what is happiness? Some may believe that happiness is just another everyday thing, but it’s not. Some believe that things can buy your happiness, while others don't. I believe that people can make you happy, but they can also make you upset. If you find that one person that makes you happy then that is a person you need to be around everyday. Jay Gatsby was a wealthy man, but he was also a miserable man. The day he saw Daisy his world changed. He did become happy because that specific person makes him happy and who he was. Although, Gatsby did get murdered it was because of her because she made him happy and he would have done anything for her and he did do something for her he died for her. Our sense of humanity can be blunted and distorted by artificial desires and misguided values. This is one of the messages of the novel. Gatsby almost literally loses himself in the pursuit of wealth. Daisy is prepared to leave her husband, in part, because Gatsby has such beautiful shirts. Love becomes just another facet of
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Why Is Nick Carraway A Failure In The Great Gatsby
    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Why Is Nick Carraway A Failure In The Great Gatsby

    The Great Gatsby, a classic written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, exposes the frailty of humanity. Fitzgerald’s narrator, Nick Carraway, tells a gritty story in which he learns about the corruption of money. Though Nicks strives for perfection, he is a failure because he fails to become the savior he aspires to be, cope with city life, and realize that people are humans and not perfect.…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Is Nick Carraway Important In The Great Gatsby
    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Why Is Nick Carraway Important In The Great Gatsby

    F Scott. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby follows narrator Nick Carraway's life after meeting Jay Gatsby, an extravagant man with an unknown past. By comparing and contrasting Nick Carraway’s interactions with people of different wealth, social class, and background, Fitzgerald explores the differences between those with different backgrounds and current wealth along with the role that it play in their social interactions and marriages.…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Fitzgerald's View Of Money In The Great Gatsby
    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Fitzgerald's View Of Money In The Great Gatsby

    Money can symbolize certain statuses in the world. In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays these views of money among the characters in the novel. Wealth and money becomes an issue as the novel progress, once you begin to analyze each character.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of Old In The Great Gatsby
    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Examples Of Old In The Great Gatsby

    The Great Gatsby delves into “the most expensive orgy in history” (Pruitt), exploring the jazz age from an insider’s point of view. An innate dissimilarity between old and new money is explored through Fitzgerald’s characters, a point emphasized at the end of the novel. Fitzgerald showcases the distinct behavior and carelessness of generational wealth breeds, ultimately deepening the novel’s theme of Old vs. New money. In the novel, Fitzgerald emphasizes that how money is acquired does matter. This is because there’s a difference in the behaviors and mannerisms of old and new money, allocating them into different social classes regardless of wealth.…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Can Money Buy Happiness In The Great Gatsby
    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Can Money Buy Happiness In The Great Gatsby

    In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, he discusses the concern for social issues. Additionally, Maya Angelou’s poem, “Alone,” and Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem, “Richard Cory,” are similar to the social concerns of The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald, by means of The Great Gatsby, discusses how money is the root of all evil.…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Role Of Morality In The Great Gatsby
    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Role Of Morality In The Great Gatsby

    The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald focuses on the wealthy class that live in New York, and takes place during the “Roaring Twenties”, and era of economic prosper and recklessness after World War I. Fitzgerald highlights the irresponsibility and lack of morality that derives from wealth. Throughout the novel, there are a number of characters that abuse their wealth or power in a way to excuse their moral irresponsibility. Through Gatsby’s disputed accumulation of wealth and Tom’s unceasing trysts, Fitzgerald paints a vivid picture of two men who choose to use their wealth and objectives as an excuse for their immoral habits.…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Great Gatsby Materialism Essay
    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Great Gatsby Materialism Essay

    In The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald one see a story of a man with hope to reunited with his long last love that wasn't meant to be. Tom a incredibly rich man marries Daisy who was once a lover with Gatsby. Gatsby builds a business empire buy an enormous, luxurious house near Daisy and throws banking breaking, massive parties hoping that one day Daisy will come to his party and he can once again united with her. Nick is in the middle of it helping Gatsby on his quest for true love. However a darker aspect is shown in this story this darker aspect is how materialism corrupts and dehumanize a person. Gatsby has mysterious business meeting doing shady business, Tom Buchanan thinks he can throw money at an problem that comes his way. Gatsby can instantly get out of trouble with law enforcement with the snap of his fingers In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald shows that materialism of the wealthy and privileged is corrupting, toxic and disillusioning to one's life.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Representation Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby
    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Representation Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    Gatsby a man of tremendous wealth and power could have chosen anybody to be his wife he wanted Daisy. Although he failed to see that part of his attraction to her was because of what she represented for him: money and the upper class. In a way, Gatsby believes that if he can get her to love him, he can prove to himself that he belongs to the upper class. Though he learns too late that both Daisy, and, therefore, the American Dream, are unreachable goals. In conclusion, Gatsby follows the American Dream model to a point and is a perfect candidate for representing it. Though not in the storybook happy ending version, Fitzgerald wanted to show how hollow the idea of the American Dream is and how even if it is obtained its outcome would not be anything that a person would necessarily want which, in this case, was…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of Happiness In The Great Gatsby
    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Examples Of Happiness In The Great Gatsby

    Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby it is evident to see that money cannot buy happiness and it will never allow those to achieve the American Dream. The superficiality of the 1920’s society is clearly evident through the characters including Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson. As the novel continues to develop it is seen that the excitement in this era overall leads to one's downfall and unhappiness.…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Gatsby Define Happiness
    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Does Gatsby Define Happiness

    James Gatsby was man who had completed the first step in achieving the American Dream. He had money, lots of it. He also had an enormous house with a huge property. Unfortunately, he didn 't achieve his money the good old "American way". He didn 't work honestly for his money. He was a bootlegger who used Drug Stores as a front to sell liquor. His motivation in making all this money was his only love Daisy. On the outside, Gatsby was living the life and there was nothing more a man could want in life. On the inside he was lonely, and the only thing he wanted, money couldn 't buy.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Power Of Money In The Great Gatsby
    • 1337 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Power Of Money In The Great Gatsby

    The concept of money creating power is a characteristic seen far too often in society. The news always has different stories of wealthy individuals acting irresponsibly or obtaining money unethically. This is a trait highlighted in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. In this fast-paced novel about the life and struggles of the 1920s elite, it is clear to see the idea of money causing character to darken and motives to become less ethical. Whether it is Tom abusing the system of marriage and the lower class or Gatsby’s suggested illegal income source, the flaws money creates are entirely shown. While Fitzgerald’s main purpose of writing such a novel may not have been to highlight these flaws, he accurately portrays questions of character in and out of the family and the greed driven questionable business ideas that have perpetually plagued society within his novel.…

    • 1337 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Happiness In The Great Gatsby
    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Happiness In The Great Gatsby

    Why is it that when writing the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson stated that American’s had the right to the pursuit of happiness instead of automatic happiness? Did he believe happiness was unachievable? In the book , The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is in the pursuit of happiness trying by all means necessary to achieve this goal, the goal that all human kind shares, happiness. For his entire life, Jay Gatsby has been striving to find happiness. From when he was a young boy keeping a journal on how to better himself, until his adulthood where he worked as a bootlegger. All of these activities had one main goal in the end; to better himself and to acquire a higher social status.…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Happiness In The Great Gatsby
    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Happiness In The Great Gatsby

    Money isn’t the source of making someone happy. Happiness is achieved by people accomplishing their goals in life and becoming successful. In the book, The Great Gatsby, the main character Jay was dedicated to being rich, but that wasn’t his goal. In order to reach his goal in life and be truly happy he needed to be with the one person he loved and that was Daisy. Similar to this idea in the book, The Wolf Of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort the main character always wanted more and more as he could never settle for what he had. Because of this, he continued to get wealthy. Even with all the money he made, Jordan realized that to actually be happy he wanted to have power over everyone and be able to do what he wanted. Money can always buy materialistic…

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Great Gatsby Daisy
    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Great Gatsby Daisy

    The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald is a critique of American prosperity, and the endless drive for wealth brought on by the economic growth against the background of Long Island, New York City. The Great Gatsby critiques materialism and the new American Dream, no longer defined by prosperity for equality, but by prosperity for the goal of excess wealth. Nick Carraway, the protagonist, views Jay Gatsby’s disillusionment about Daisy Buchanan, the object of his affection. The tale is not a story about past lovers, but instead represents a cast of characters chasing the American Dream which destroys them. The theme suggests that Americans have created a second form of aristocracy that the original founding fathers tried to escape. Each character…

    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Great Gatsby Essay
    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Great Gatsby Essay

    Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby portrays a very successful live that is full of wonderful material things if looked at on the surface level, but if we go below the surface we would notice a whole array of emotions that are not very pleasing to the eyes. Greed and incredibly sadness are some of the emotions that can be seen below the level in the Great Gatsby and it drives some of the characters to do some things which they were not meant to do. In the case of how his style showcases his understanding of the lives that are corrupted by greed, Fitzgerald wrote, “She never loved you, do you hear? he cried. She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me” (Fitzgerald 130). In other words, Daisy is been greedy and self-centered when she chooses to marry Tom because of his money and not love, because greed affects not only the person but also hurts the loved ones to that person. Identically, we see greed being the underlying theme in the Great Gatsby when Fitzgerald wrote, “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: I never loved you” (Fitzgerald 109). Although Daisy shows a sign of greed in her actions, Gatsby also follows suit in his incessant desire…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics