Greed in The Lost Beautifulness and The Great Gatsby Essay Example

Gilbert Keith Chesterton, an English writer and philosopher, once said “the richer one is, the easier it is for him to be a rascal.” Rich people believe that money is everything to life and use that as a shield for the decisions they make. When one is so rich to a point that he is blinded by materialistic things, he loses his morality. Although being financially successful is crucial in surviving in the modern world, ultimately, people of power and wealth serve as an obstacle for immigrants and workers pursuing their dreams.  In The Lost Beautifulness and The Great Gatsby, Anzia Yezierska and F.Scott Fitzgerald highlight how people of wealth and power become greedier the wealthier they get, take advantage of the most vulnerable, and show no sympathy to the less fortunate. 

The landlord, a representation of a person in power, acts as an obstacle in Hanneh Hayyeh’s journey in pursuing her American Dream. At the beginning of Hanneh’s journey of painting her kitchen to welcome her son back from war, she is optimistic. Hanneh believes that “democracy means that everybody in America is going to be with everybody alike” (Yezierska 130). She starts saving all her pennies to buy paint for the wall to paint on, hoping for a new sense of self in America after escaping the burdensome life in Russia. However, Hanneh is met with a sudden increase in rent by her landlord instead of admiration for her work of art. As the landlord talks to Hanneh , he tells her that “the minutes is money” while “extending a claw-like hand for the rent” ( Yezierska 132). Thus, the landlord is the obstacle blocking Hanneh from achieving her dream. The landlord’s heart is only filled with wealth and has no compassion. He tells Hanneh that “because the flat is painted new, [I] can get more money for it” (Yezierska 133). The landlord does not care about how much Hanneh is suffering to make money just to survive, he only cares about getting richer. 

Furthermore, the day before her eviction, Hanneh contemplates to herself and says, “is this already America, what for was my Aby fighting for?” (Yezierska 136). Originally, Hanneh thought that America was different from America and that she had the opportunity like everyone else to pursue a dream of her own. But in the end, the social structure and the societal standards are the same everywhere: the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. The wealthier one gets, the more merciless his heart turns. Thus, because of the landlord’s lack of sympathy for Hanneh, she has no choice but to destroy her work of art and let her American Dream die in the midst of the destruction. The demolished beauty, like her soul “though killed, still quivered and ached with the unstill pain of life” (Yezierska 136). The landlord’s words and continuous raise of rent are like spears bursting every last hope of Hanneh’s desires. Therefore, the landlord, immensely blinded by greed, lost his morality for people struggling to survive. 

Similarly to the landlord, Tom, as a person of wealth and power, victimizes George Wilson by having an affair with his wife, controlling his chance to earn money, and tricking him into suicide. Because Wilson is less financially stable and cannot defend himself, Tom lies about giving Wilson an opportunity to make a sale just so that he can meet with his wife Myrtle more frequently. When Wilson asks about the car that Tom is going to sell to him and complains that it’s taking a while, Tom replies by saying, “ if you feel that way about it, maybe I’d better sell it somewhere else after all” (Fitzgerald 25). Tom’s words show that he has the upper hand in Wilson’s life and can control Wilson’s business because he is a lot more wealthy than him. In this way, the landlord and Tom are similar because they both have control over the people who are less fortunate in their lives. Furthermore, Tom’s authoritative and abusive nature as a wealthy person is reinforced when he tells Wilson that Gatsby owns the car that killed Myrtle. Instead of feeling ashamed when he admits to Nick that he was the reason for Gatsby and Wilson’s deaths, Tom says, “that fellow had it coming to him” (Fitzgerald 178). Thus, Tom is so wealthy to the point that he has no sympathy and morality left for others. Tom simply believes that as long as he has money, he has the power to do whatever he wants. 

In addition, Tom parallels Trump; two people who use wealth to justify and defend their actions. As a leader figure and a person born into a wealthy family, Trump is unable to deeply understand the concerns of the poor, workers, and immigrants. He crushes the dreams of the most vulnerable by stating his “anti-immigrant rhetoric'' and promising “to ban Muslims and deport Mexicans” (Smith). Tom and Trump both believe that they can say and do whatever they want because they have the power to do so even if it is unjust. As Nick states, Tom and Daisy were “careless people” who “ smashed up things…and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made” ( Fitzgerald 179). Therefore, these two powerful figures use “money as a shield for the consequences of their actions” (Smith). Furthermore, Trump and Tom both share this idea of “wealth means less if you have to work for it” (Smith). Tom looks down on Gatsby and realizes that he is not a threat when he finds out that Gatsby earned his money through illegal businesses while Trump disregards realism and speaks about things like “it is when it isn’t” (Smith). Because they believe they have the upper hand, “Tom attacks Gatsby’s origins the way Trump demanded Barack Obama’s birth certificate” (Smith). 

Furthermore, Daisy also contributes to Gatsby’s death as a person thriving off of greed. During Daisy and Gatsby’s reunion, Daisy only shows interest in Gatsby's lavish house and his beautiful clothes. She says, “They’re such beautiful shirts…It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald 92). Daisy’s words suggest that she would’ve indisputably married Gatsby instead of Tom if Gatsby was as rich as he is right now. In addition,  Gatsby states that Daisy’s “voice is full of money” (120 Fitzgerald). His words highlight how greed deteriorates the goodness inside of humans and turns into an iniquitous trait like a siren luring its prey. Daisy is a physical representation of wealth and material prosperity. Moreover, if it wasn’t for Daisy driving over Myrtle and making Gatsby take the blame, Gatsby would not have to die. Therefore, Daisy manipulates Gatsby because she takes on a higher social status than him. Daisy only cares about saving her own image and has no sympathy for others. She claims that she loved Gatsby, but in reality she was just playing with his feelings. If Daisy really loved Gatsby then she would have waited for Gatsby to return from the war to marry him instead of Tom. Daisy is blinded by wealth and power; thus, she chooses to marry Tom because of his social status and money. 

In contrast, because Nick does not focus solely on earning money, he still has some moral sense and sympathy for Gatsby unlike Daisy who doesn’t even attend Gatsby's funeral. Thus, Nick serves as a foil to Daisy and Tom. Daisy and Tom just left after the whole fiasco they caused because they think that money can solve all problems. Because they are wealthy, they believe that they can “pay” their way out.

Through the landlord, Tom, and Daisy, Yezeriska and Fitzgerald emphasize on how wealth deteriorates people’s sympathy for one another. Money is not the ultimate goal in life. People with money are not happy. They are simply blinded by greed. Individuals should strive to be more like Nick, honest and cautious of life. Being rich in health and happiness is so much more valuable than being rich in terms of material objects.