The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald Conference Assignment

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The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Argument 1
Material wealth forms a major theme in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The American lifestyle at the post World War 1 inclined in the Jazz culture hence owning material wealth and property at the time was the precious value at such lost generation of imperialism and individualism. Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan love material wealth and desire to possess more of it to suit the Jazz lifestyle (Harbison 4). Therefore, Gatsby and Daisy get their satisfaction in the material world. The lovers make themselves comfortable in different ways. Gatsby opens more guts to obtain civility and wealth and struggles to get Daisy by his side as an accompaniment to the wealthy status. On the other hand, Daisy gives the reality of the materialistic lifestyle and extravagance hence she desires to maintain the wealth status that keeps her happy. Most characters especially Daisy and Gatsby in The Great Gatsby are slaves of corrupt Jazz culture driven by the material wealth and extravagant life, not by their contentment and ethical behavior in life.
Sub-argument 1.1
Gatsby in his life is determined to live a wealthy life whether in a corruptible way or not. Initially, he changed his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby as a way to conform to new life and become a wealthy person and obtain civility. While living in his parents’ house, Gatsby usually creates busy schedules to create wealth to live a different life from his parents. Besides, he behaves like a participial and the father acknowledged such behavior (Fitzgerald 89).
One of his motivations to acquire wealth is to be in a position to win Daisy from Tom since Daisy is the true reflection of civility, status and wealth. Daisy is a true representation of great Jazz lifestyle that he is striving to accomplish in the entire life. Therefore, Gatsby usually shows off his possessions to impress and win Daisy. Thanks to the lifestyle that Daisy aspires; high value and possessions, Gatsby accomplishes his desire and wins Daisy back. On the other hand, Daisy is a spendthrift who has money to fulfill all her needs. However, she cannot get enough of the extravagant and classy lifestyle. Disy is obsessed with maintaining her wealth instead of investing more to increase the wealth. She needs not to work since the wealth is enough for her whole life. Besides, she is attractive with an enchanting voice. Thus, she quickly draws Gatsby to her company since he is a person who desires for more wealth and possession. However, it is not wise to be obsessed with wealth since all is just an illusion of the innocence and the corrupt reality of the Jazz culture of the American society (Fitzgerald 89).
Primary Source Quote 1.1.1
“His house looks well doesn’t it?”(Fitzgerald 89), and asks if they can “see how the whole front of it catches the light?”(Fitzgerald 89).The quote indicates that Gatsby is loved possession and wealth hence the values all that he has and yearns for more. Therefore, his life is centered on wealth and usually gets motivated by the material gains that Daisy can admire. Besides, Gatsby can go through numerous big parties and shiny yellow Rolls-Royce as a show of extravagance and wealth to get what he wants especially Daisy. Therefore, in most of the novel, Gatsby shows the true nature of obsession with wealth which is the lifestyle of the American people at the post WW1 with the Jazz culture (Seed 117).
Primary Source Quote 1.1.2
“Her voice is full of money... That was it. I'd never understood before. It was full of money - that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbal's song of it..." (Fitzgerald, 120). The quote shows that Daisy loves the wealthy lifestyle and can meet the Jazz lifestyle that Gatsby needs. Besides, the quote is an imagery of illusion of Daisy's innocence as well as the corruption in the American society. Daisy loves the wealthy life though she is unable to work to attain such wealth. However, she only exploits the fortune of her father who worked tirelessly to achieve such wealthy life (Seed 117).
Secondary Source Quote 1.1.3
“The idea staggered me. I remembered, of course, that the World's Series had been fixed in 1919, but if I had thought of it at all, I would have thought of it as a thing that merely happened, the end of some inevitable chain. It never occurred to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people – with the single-mindedness of a burglar blowing a safe.” (Pauly 225). The quote shows how Wolfsheim uses material wealth and the connection to the underworld to be without problems. Thus, it proves that a person does not need a class exceptionally high lifestyle to benefit from wealth. Nick in the novel reveals such behavior whereby he does not bother about the wealthy lifestyle and is usually mesmerized with the wealthy and corrupt society hence he portrays the good life or control that a reader compares to the wealthy life seen in both Gatsby and Daisy. Daisy is not ready to lose anything she has in her possession while Gatsby has an unending thirst for wealth. On the contrary, Nick has no feel and enthusiast for materialism. Therefore, Fitzgerald uses Nick to show an existing contrast between materialistic characters and characters who are not materialistic as well as the ultimate impacts of wealth in their lives (Pauly 225).
Sub-argument 1.2
Wealth brings greed and problem in the American society as exhibited in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby thinks that wealth is the cornerstone of love hence he works hard to get Daisy. However, Daisy only shows the material love. Therefore, as their relationship becomes hard hit due to the reduction of material wealth, Daisy can confront Jay Gatsby and tells him that he is no longer wealthy enough to get her. Gatsby plunges himself into hard work to make money and becomes a bootlegger (Dykes 62 ). Worst of all is that Daisy reminds him that rich girls cannot marry poor men. However, Gatsby becomes rich through illegal and immoral ways after being rejected by Daisy. Thus, wealth makes different characters such as Gatsby, Daisy, and Myrtle to choose unlawful life, bad behavior, and immorality to have a woman or good life that they miss in the end. Besides, Gatsby loses his wealth and life as a result of unending yearn for wealth (Dykes 62 ).
On a separate note, George Wilson who resides in the Valley of Ashes in New York meets his death as a result of lavish life and wealth that his wife yearns. George is married to Myrtle and owns a gas station. Even though he is...