High School Dropouts Essay

In The Great Gatsby money is a symbol of success. Money controls the lives of the characters in the story, but it is easy to see that it could not bring happiness. Each of the characters thinks that having money will solve all of their problems and make them successful, but that is not true. These are a few examples of characters in the story who think that money is the answer to being successful, when it actually does not bring them true happiness. Daisy is a character who was born into a wealthy family, but she does not have any good values or purpose in her life. Her life is boring, so she tries to use her wealth to make her happy. She is a socialite, always goes to parties with her wealthy friends, and she wears clothes that are white with a lot of gold and silver. Even though she thinks that these things will make her happy, she is still bored and always wonders what she will do next. She has an affair with Gatsby even though she is married to a wealthy man, Tom, because she is bored. She does not value herself or anyone else. Her money has not made her a happy person even though everything she does is based on wealth. Gatsby has a lot of money. Even though he has a huge house, fancy cars and clothes, and has parties all the time, he is not really corrupted by the money. He does everything he does just to get Daisy and prove to her by his wealth that he is good enough for her. He thinks that all he has will get her to marry him, but he does not realize that Daisy will never leave her husband because he is so wealthy. Daisy’s husband Tom is very wealthy. He gambles, goes to horse and car races, and has many affairs. He has a mistress that he supports, but obviously not happy with his life. When he finds out that Daisy has been having an affair, he gets angry with her even though he is guilty of doing  the same thing. Daisy and Tom are not happy, their money and success have not made them happy, but daisy will not leave Tom because he is wealthy. In The Great Gatsby money is seen as a symbol of success by the characters. They have all of the clothes, cars, houses, and social events that they want and that money can buy. Despite all of this, they are unhappy, have no real values or friends, and no real purpose in life.