Gatsby Wealth Quotes

It is evident that Gatsby was engaging in illegal activity to obtain money as quickly as possible. Although, when Gatsby’s illegal activities come to light, his image is tarnished. Daisy no longer sees Gatsby as the man she once loved, she begins to fear him. To her, Gatsby becomes a criminal, a thug, and someone who is capable of terrible things. Furthermore, Gatsby made many sacrifices to get to his desired financial state.

“He is truly great by virtue of his capacity to commit himself to his aspirations” (Fitzgerald 10). He worked extremely hard to accumulate a fortune through illegal activities such as bootlegging. Gatsby’s actions are motivated by his desire to win back Daisy. He becomes obsessive with this idea and uses his new wealth to try and impress her. “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams—not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion…No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart”

Gatsby’s ambition to achieve wealth may not have come in the most righteous way, as he is bootlegging alcohol, but the means to how he got the riches are not important to him. Gatsby’s wealth, richness, and extravagant lifestyle, along with the extraordinary parties, are simply an attempt to impress his dream woman, Daisy

Additionally, Gatsby engages in questionable and unethical behavior in order to achieve his

Gatsby seems to believe that since he has a large amount of money he is exempt from basic moral standards. He believes that whatever he wants he shall acquire, which is why Gatsby lies to Daisy without the slightest compunction because she is the idealized object of his projections and therefore not real. Therefore, he unthinkingly assumes that he need not tell Daisy the factual truth of who he actually was when they met five years earlier and who he is now: a criminal (Mitchell 4). Gatsby values nothing other than his own personal goals, his main one being to win Daisy back. He swapped his moral decency for money and wealth, since morals alone would not win Daisy over, what use would they be to him?

Although organized crime altered the American Dream’s initial image, much of society glamorized this reckless and exuberant adaptation, as several men gained their wealth through fraudulent methods. Thus, organized crime characterized the overall careless and wealth-seeking attitude in the twenties that is ever-present in The Great Gatsby. This mindset can be seen in most all of the novel’s party scenes, as well as in Fitzgerald's characterization of the Buchanan’s and Jay Gatsby, who is distinguished by his mysterious affiliation with the bootlegging industry. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald alludes to Gatsby’s role in organized crime being the source of his wealth. However, during Gatsby and Tom’s altercation, Fitzgerald discernibly accredits organized crime to Gatsby’s exuberant lifestyle, “‘I found out what your 'drug-stores' were.’

and I wasn't far wrong.” (Fitzgerald 83). Readers learn that Gatsby was in business with shady people and was a bootlegger, meaning

These lessons about money are not only relevant within this work of fiction, but they can be found in society. Whether it is through The Great Gatsby, Allan Iverson, or Micheal Jackson, people do not know how to act in public places when they are wealthy; their wealth can cause them to be

Gatsby is living a fake life which shows his lack of confidence in himself. This lack of confidence hinders his status of “great” because he knows what he is doing is wrong, but will not fully grasp the idea of being himself rather than this rich figure of power. His pursuit of wealth diminishes his title of “great” because all of the money is made through illegal bootlegging. The passage states, “bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold illegal alcohol over the counter” (Fitzgerald, 157). Gatsby has an “any means necessary” attitude that makes him fraudulent and not worthy of the title “great.”

Gatsby becomes wealthy through illegal means, such as bootlegging and dealing in stolen securities, as shown in the following passage: "It was a memorable day to Gatsby, for it marked the beginning of the one thing he had been working for since he was a young man… It was the fulfillment of a dream, a single dream that Gatsby had been pursuing for years, and now it seemed within his grasp" (Fitzgerald, 89). Gatsby's willingness to engage in criminal activities and his desire for wealth and status reveal the corrupt nature of his pursuit of the American Dream. Gatsby uses his wealth to try to win back Daisy, the love of his life, as demonstrated in the following passage: "Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams, that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men" (Fitzgerald, 182). Gatsby's pursuit of Daisy is ultimately empty and meaningless, as he cannot buy genuine happiness or fulfillment.

People pursue wealth as a means to gain power and influence, viewing it as a symbol of success. However, the relentless pursuit of wealth can lead to moral decay and corruption, causing people to sacrifice their moral principles in order to obtain material possessions. The character of Tom Buchanan in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel exemplifies this phenomenon. Tom's relentless pursuit of an idealized lifestyle defined by wealth causes him to abandon his moral compass, how wealth can have a corrosive effect on an individual's character and drive them to behave in ways that destroy themselves and those around them. Tom Buchanan views physical objects as tools to assert his superiority and dominance over others.

Gatsby has a lot of money, but the money he makes is from illegal business deals with Wolfsheim “ He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of

The Great Gatsby is a timeless novel that examines the decadence and moral corruption of the wealthy class during the Roaring Twenties. Set in the lavish lifestyle of the elite class of Long Island, the book follows the tragic story of Jay Gatsby and his hopeless love for the charming Daisy Buchanan. The novel displays harsh criticism of the wealthy's excesses and their inclination to act immorally to achieve their goals. Through the characters and their actions, Fitzgerald depicts a society in which the characters are immoral to reach a goal. In Fitzgerald’s

This makes people like Gatsby appear untrustworthy, yet he must do it to become wealthy, believing that unless he is wealthy like Tom, Daisy would not accept him. For instance, in chapter 1, Nick explains Tom's fortune as “His family was enormously wealthy – even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach…” (Fitzgerald 6), while Tom describes how Gatsby got his riches “I found out what your ‘drug-stores’ were… He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts.

PDF pg 46 Everyone who has heard of Gatsby has heard he was a bootlegger, and has heard other rumors about him. Gatsby has been accused of being a German spy, an Oxford grad, and a bootlegger. “The corruption of the 1920s saturates The Great Gatsby. Gatsby's "greatness" is constructed in part on illegal activities that are never fully and clearly defined-bootlegging in a string of drug stores? the handling of bonds from governmental bribes?