Gatsby's character as well as his strife to achieve wealth and power makes him a perfect idealization of the American dream as well as a typical person of the 1920s era. He started out with little in his childhood and eventually worked his way up to the top of the social strata. When he fell in love with Daisy, he knew that the only thing that was keeping them apart was money. Therefore, he was motivated to make money so that he would be able to win her hea

Fitzgerald's focus on the corruption of the elite class and their attitudes towards money and power makes the point that life in the 1920s was very corrupt, "organized crime ran rampant, people were partying all the time, and affairs were common play." Fitzgerald's portrayal of society and the people of the 1920's in The Great Gatsby is realistic of the time period because people during this era were characteristic of either being extremely wealthy or extremely poor, and the people who did have most of the money may have earned their money in a corrupt way. The author makes the point that "the social elite of Gatsby's time sacrificed morality in order to attain wealth." Fitzgerald makes this idea of the sacrifice of morality in order to attain wealth evident through the characters in the novel, especially through Daisy and Gatsby. Daisy merely has a love affair with Gatsby because of his newly gained wealth, and the reason that she marries Tom is because of his superfluous wealth. Even though Gatsby has worked hard to gain his wealth, he has done so through organized crime, therefore sacrificing morality for money and power. There were many people during the 1920s that had the same attitudes towards wealth that Daisy and Gatsby had, and therefore Fitzgerald's portrayal of society is accurate for the time period that The Great Gatsby was written in.

rt. His "rags-to-riches" success story and his motivation and persistence to achieve his goal make him very admirable. In the book, we learn that even from his younger days, Gatsby was always motivated to improve himself and his life. After Gatsby dies, his father says, "Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he's got about improving his mind? He was always great for that"(182). In the 1920s, many people were motivated as Gatsby was to "get rich quick". The idea of this American dream that Gatsby so well fulfills was a very prominent concept during this era.

The character of Daisy is also a good portrayal of a wealthy person in the 1920s and the immoral characteristic of the "old money" people. At the beginning of the book, Fitzgerald portrays Daisy as very innocent, but throughout the book, we realize just how selfish she really is. She tells Gatsby that the reason she didn't want to be with him before she married Tom was because he didn't have a lot of money. For Daisy, money is an essential thing for a man to have since it is what makes her feel important and superior. Even though she knows that her husband Tom has been having affairs for years, she doesn't do anything about it because she enjoys the benefits that she receives because of his money and power. We know that she is very materialistic when she says, "They're such beautiful shirts...It makes me sad because I've never seen such - such beautiful shirts before"(98). When she says this and cries over Gatsby's shirts, we know that she has realized that Gatsby does have money now, and this brings her satisfaction. She doesn't cry because she can finally be with Gatsby, but rather because of the happiness that his wealth brings her. Gatsby knows that money brings Daisy satisfaction, and he acknowledges this when he says, "Her voice is full of money"(127). Also, when Daisy is unable to deny that s

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Approximate Word count = 2216
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)