Love, Wealth and Dreams in the Great Gatsby Literature Essay Example

The novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is narrated by Nick Carraway detailing the accounts of the great Jay Gatsby whom the plot is centered around. Interluding characters, such as Daisy and Tom Buchanan from the East Egg are documented in the narration of the summer of 1922. The Great Gatsby is a novel that deals with many aspects of the human condition, specifically detailing love, wealth, and dreams. Whether written in 1925 or 2022 these human conditions still apply today.

The Great Gatsby is about Jay Gatsby’s pursuit of his ex-lover Daisy Buchanan who Gatsby wants to get back together, making the topic of love a main focus in the elegant story. These characters experience different conditions of love whether it led them to bad decisions, brought death, or never lasted, all of which are experienced by many of the same characters. Throughout the novel, Gatsby allows his passion for Daisy to influence his lifestyle and actions; the lavish lifestyle that Jay Gatsby lives is only for his ambition to win Daisy over, while his actions are also influenced by his wealth which is rooted in his love for Daisy. George Wilson is also fired by love and passion causing him to murder Gatsby in vengeance. Towards the end of the novel, death is an occurring theme brought upon by the love from individuals in this story. Beginning as the first death in this novel, Myrtle Wilson was killed in an automobile accident after fleeing from her husband, George Wilson; she was killed by Daisy Buchanan in Jay Gatsby’s yellow car. Believing that Jay Gatsby killed Myrtle - acting as a supposed jilted lover - since it was his car who hit her, George Wilson killed Gatsby in cold blood and killed himself immediately after. Additionally, the thought that love never lasts, has a heavy presence throughout the novel. Tom Buchanan has an affair with Myrtle Wilson, both married, and enjoy their time with each more apparent than with their own spouses. Jay Gatsby, madly in love with Daisy Buchanan, wants to recreate an old fling from before he left for the war; eventually winning her over, they have a little less than a summer together before Daisy Buchanan states her loyalty to her cheating husband. Furthermore, Daisy Buchanan never truly loved either man; though she may have loved Gatsby when she was younger and before the war, as she grew older she did not love him the way that Gatsby loved her. Additionally, Daisy isn’t truly in love with Tom but in love with his wealth and aristocratic status. These themes of love are present throughout the novel along with the factor of wealth.

A second prominent aspect of the human condition shown in The Great Gatsby is wealth; many of the characters’ lifestyle choices are influenced by money & aristocracy, some even throw lavish parties to flaunt their riches. The location of where they live is Long Island, New York, but the characters have a very distinct division between the rich & richer; the East Egg is a place of inherited wealth, people living there have higher standards than those in the West Egg and often look down upon their neighbors. The West Egg represents the people who’ve made their living and earned their money themselves; Jay Gatsby & Nick Carraway are both representations of the West Egg still living quite different lives from one another. Additionally, the characters’ lifestyle choices are influenced by money; continuously throughout the novel, Daisy leads an extremely shallow life showing not much interest in anything in particular except for her presentation and wealth. Similar to Daisy, Jordan Baker lives a superficial life with most of her actions caused by the power of money; she lives a lavish lifestyle in pursuit of benefits pertaining to herself only, so she can continue to discreetly cover her intentions and dishonesty. Jay Gatsby is another excellent example of a character influenced by money, he uses his wealth in flashy ways hoping that this will draw Daisy back into his life, desiring to continue where they had previously left off together. Furthermore, Gatsby and a few other characters use their wealth to throw luxurious parties; one of Gatsby’s attempts to catch Daisy’s attention is throwing enormous, extravagant parties at his mansion inviting people from all over to attend these sumptuous parties. Tom Buchanan is seen throwing multiple parties during this exhilarating summer but often not for the same crowds; on one side Tom hosts fellow East Eggers with familiar faces being Daisy & Jordan, and on the other hand, he also throws parties with Myrtle Wilson - who Tom is seeing concurrently with his wife- her sister, and others more in that crowd of people. Although his parties weren’t as grand as Gatsby’s he used his wealth to spend time in expensive hotel rooms, for example. The desire to have the wealth associated with many characters in the exceptional novel is a dream that many wish to achieve.

A third aspect of the human condition, that is often overlooked in The Great Gatsby, is dreams; dreams about prosperity and the influence it has on lives, aspirations about relationships blocking people’s sapience, and a constant variation of the American dream that so many people sought to fulfill. People throughout history have dreamt about prosperity; Tom Buchanan solely cares about his social status and wealth which influences his life, but by making this his main achievement he will forever be personally driven in the direction of what will make him the richest. Besides, Jordan Baker only wants to live the luxurious lifestyle that she has grown accustomed to, her dream is to stay rich and have others please her. Contrasting from the other two, Gatsby does have the dream of prosperity and it is for personal gain, he wants to be with the woman whom he loves and hopes that a perusal of a flashy life will grab the attention of his beloved. In like manner, relationships can cause people to lose sight of their perception. Once George Wilson learns of Mrytle’s affair he wants to gain control over her and her actions; implicating Gatsby as the murderer of his wife, George loses his sense and is desperate to end the life of whoever killed his wife, ultimately ending his own life as well. On a less extreme side, Tom Buchanan wishes to have both Daisy and Myrtle in his life; his lust for both women overpowers his loyalty. Similarly, Jay Gatsby only cares about getting Daisy back; his love for this woman blocks his common sense in practical situations, such as using his money in what some may call a reckless way. Moreover, the American dream is a consistent motif over the course of Fitzgerald’s piece; Tom Buchanan’s American dream is to stay where he is a high member of society or surpass where he is at the movement; idealistically for him, he wants material objects. Correspondingly, Nick Carraway also has an American dream but his dream is to gain fortune to be in equivalent positions as the Buchanans or Gatsby is, but he fully well knows the despair that comes with the wealth of the upper class. Not to mention, Jay Gatsby’s American dream; Gatsby achieves what many people consider the definition of the American dream to be: “a happy way of living that the opportunity is available to any American allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved, especially by working hard and becoming successful.” Jay Gatsby built his fortune himself acquiring opulent wealth, by working hard and becoming successful; however, for Gatsby, he never fully acquired his aspiration of living his life with the women he loved and desired so dearly.

All things considered, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a masterpiece of literature and conveys many important themes and lessons that should be of note to all readers. Powerful ideas about love on how it brings misery, through decisions, death, or heartbreak, ideas on wealth and the influence it has on our lives, whether its throwing parties, hosting events, or a person’s social status, both shape the way people live; likewise, dreams have often shaped the way we think and act, along with having things in common with folks you’ve never met before. Given these points, ideas of love, wealth, and dreams are all aspects of the human condition portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary triumph. After all, “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” (Fitzgerald, 26)

Upon completion of The Great Gatsby, with additional time to thoughtfully think about the novel as well, I still do not see why the book was ever banned. Establishments that attempt to ban this book use the claim that there is sex, violence, language, & vulgarity, which may not be appropriate or upset readers; however, there is never any explicit sex that occurs throughout the novel, at times sexual references are made but no actions are described. Although there is violence there is very little of it and there are plenty of other books with violence far worse than the fragments in this novel. Additionally, the book was written only a few years after this story supposedly took place, depicting the Jazz Age Era where all the language used in the novel is frequent and appropriate for the time. All in all, I do not see why the book was ever banned nor as to why it should be either.