In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author implies that wealth plays a much lesser role in the decisions of individuals who earned their wealth. He demonstrates this through Jay Gatsby’s thoughts about his newfound wealth and Tom Buchanan’s beliefs about his old, generational wealth.
Jay Gatsby’s thoughts about his newfound wealth illustrates that wealth plays a much lesser role in the decisions of individuals who earned their wealth. In Gatsby’s economic uprising Daisy Buchanan was constantly on his mind and his image of her kept growing in its reputation, yet his wealth had little influence on his views and his decisions which is shown later in the day after Myrtle has ...view middle of the document...
During the early stages of the novel Fitzgerald makes aware that Tom’s character is an arrogant one and maintains this attitude throughout the story through his affairs and diction towards others. Tom was a careless person who was born into his wealth who acted in a very poor manner which Nick showed when he said, “I couldn’t forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were carless people, Tom and Daisy-they smashed up things and creatures 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). In this observant monologue Nick is stating how he views Tom and Daisy in a very negative light as they are carless and feel that others are responsible for the actions they do as shown when, “other people clean up the mess they had made.” This shows how Nick views the acts of Tom as repulsive by and how the old wealth of Tom influences his thinking into becoming an arrogant careless person as he has others cleanup for himself. Which in turn shows wealth and a certain attitude of arrogance one most...