As Jordyn Flows

[Enclosed is a piece that touches on Fitzgerald's incorporation of themes such as status, materialism, and happiness throughout The Great Gatsby].

To state it simply, I am infatuated with The Great Gatsby, a love story that takes place in Long Island during the Roaring 20’s. Fitzgerald paints a vivid picture of the lavish life style in the West Egg, a hotspot exclusively for the rich and the wealthy. The West Egg is filled with estates overlooking the beach and middle aged men driving coupes. Clearly, members of this social scene are not concerned with national concerns such as poverty or war. In fact, the main characters (including the narrator Nick) are only preoccupied with their own “concerns” or their friend’s “concern.” Often when discussing The Great Gatsby with a peer, he or she describes Fitzgerald’s novel as "superificial" in that it is a depiction of self-absorbed characters that live in a wealthy bubble.

 I concur; there is some truth to this opinion. However, Fitzgerald’s novel is not just filled with fluff. In someway it as though Fitzgerald writes about these wealthy characters (with all the riches in the world) in order to prove a point. In my eyes (and possibly Dr. T. J. Eckleburg's eyes), The Great Gatsby demonstrates that there is no correlation between wealth and happiness. This underlying message is incoporated in the the reoccurring themes in this novel: status, materialism, and happiness.

In both the West Egg and East Egg status defines an individual in their high societiy/social scene. Status is viewed as a reflection of importance, wealth, and success. As described in the beginning pages of the novel, Daisy highly regards her status, which is associated to her husband’s football career and her family’s wealth. Once reunited, Daisy declares to her cousin Nick that she is, “Sophisticated—God, I’m sophisticated!” (17). He then continues to describe his cousins facial expression, “. . . she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face, as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged. (17). Despite that she is unhappily married to Tom and is aware of his on going infidelity, Daisy is willing to sacrifice her dignity for a “membership” that only can be obtained by people of a high status. Daisy continues to act naïve to Tom’s affair with Myrtle because she is in the marriage soley for this status and all of the resulting benefits. If she were to approach this issue with Tom, Daisy would be jeopardizing her status.

Moreover, Daisy’s fixation on status serves as an incentive for Gatsby to acquire wealth and to obtain a status as well. When the two lovebirds met at a young age, Daisy did not focus on her reputation nor Gatsby's reputation. However, while Gatsby is in Oxford Daisy, "wanted her life shaped now, immediately–of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality–that was close at hand. That force took shape in the middle of spring with the arrival of Tom Buchanan" (151).  As a result, Gatsby becomes wealthy and leads a life filled with affluence in order to win back the girl he truly loves. In some respects leading a lifestyle filled with materials, entertainment, and RR is fullfilling to these individuals.

Nonetheless, it seems as though Daisy and Tom continue to lead a fabulous lifestyle as an panacea for their unhappiness. As for Gatsby, he uses his wealth to reel in Daisy. Now that Gatsby has somewhat of a status, Daisy begins a love affair with Gatsby. Yet, their affair is only temporary and Daisy returns to the man that can support her more-Tom.