To all people in the future, to my parents, and to my Best
Professor Dr. Omar Bsaithi.
Acknowledgment
For most, I wish to present my special thanks to my best Professor and my supervisor Dr. Omar Bsaithi for the continuous support of my research, for his motivation, enthusiasm, patience and immense knowledge. His guidance helped me in all the time of my research and writing of this thesis. I could not have imagined having a better supervisor and mentor for the research.
My sincere thanks also go to Dr. Boujamaa EL Kouy, Dr. Abdellah Elboubekri, and Jawad Radouani for their full support and leading me working on the exciting topic.
I would never forget all the chats and beautiful moments I shared with some of my friends and classmates. They were fundamental in supporting me during these stressful and challenging moments. Other close friends I would like to mention here in Morocco: Ilyas Lahjouji, Mohamed Akouaouach, Astitou Abdelkarim, Himmich Mohamed, Achalhi Mohamed, and Doha Eluahabi for their assistance.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my family: especially my parents for supporting me financially and spiritually throughout my life.
Author’s note:
Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Fahmi Yassine:
Table of Content
I: — The analysis and discussions of the theme of money in The Great Gatsby. 6
A- The role of money in The Great Gatsby. 6
II: — The Analysis and Discussions of the theme of money in The Rich Boy. 9
A- The role of money in The Rich Boy. 9
III: — The characters analysis. 12
Introduction
Fitzgerald is one of the symbols of American literature. His works are highly connected to two concepts of money and wealth. In 1938, Fitzgerald reflected “I have never been able to forgive the rich for being rich, and it has colored my entire life and works.” (Berry) The affection of “the world of high finance” in his life made him produce such works like The Great Gatsby and The Rich Boy. Money and wealth have developed a vast illusion into the character’s mind. Fitzgerald succeeded to employ the role of money in his both work, yet they are represented differently. Besides, these two works are the primary focus of this research paper. Money and wealth are central themes in The Great Gatsby and The Rich Boy by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The role of money in The Great Gatsby relates to Gatsby most. The novel is a phenomenon in which money represented as a means to reach a particular goal or dream. The creation of Jay Gatsby’s money comes from bootlegging, and he attempts to cover it by saying that his wealth comes from a wealthy Midwestern family. Money creates an illusion of Gatsby’s mind because he follows the dream to win his lover Daisy again. It plays as if Gatsby wants to live in the future and the past at the same time, and what it makes it worse is that he relies on his illegal money. It is an incredible hope for Gatsby. Money is not the final goal for him, yet it is a tool to accomplish his dream.
Also, The Rich Boy is a materialistic short story; money is represented as means to make Anson Hunter act superior to the other gender, women. The life of Anson Hunter is not healthy because he adapts the sense of superiority. The story is merely about the one who cannot dislocate his money from love and romantic life. The destruction that money makes to Anson leads him to lose his fiancé.
The comparison of these two works is represented regarding money. Through analysis and collection of data is being clear that money has a strong influence on characters. The use of money in the novel is used to achieve a particular dream; Gatsby wants to win Daisy back. Likewise, the use of money in the short story is used to act superior; Anson works superior using his money to use women in the story. Each work marks the idea of how money is represented either as acting superior or achieving a particular dream.
I: — The analysis and discussions of the theme of money in The Great Gatsby
This part aims to highlight the role of money as a means to reach love and satisfaction in The Great Gatsby. The reader may learn from the beginning of the novel that Money is depicted and introduced by a quote in which it gives a glance to the reader that the work of Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby will be mainly about money. It is one of the most remarkable themes in the novel; of course, there are other themes like love and hope. However, this part will focus mainly on two subject’s money and wealth, and their crucial part.
A- The role of money in The Great Gatsby
Fitzgerald has a significant presence in American literature with a vast imagination. The most dominant concepts of his work are money and wealth, and they are the most prominent figures in Fitzgerald life. The role of money in The Great Gatsby is an important medium to reach love and satisfaction. For instance, in this quote, Money is presented as a gold hat.
Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
Till she cry ‘Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!’ (qtd. In Fitzegarld).
In the epigraphic of The Great Gatsby, you can notice the quote that can give to the reader a clear idea about the novel. The quote is about a golden hat. It may be the idea of impressing someone, mainly, SHE, whereby having more power and wealth enough to bounce high. Impressing somebody has a strong mark to show the high status to someone; it requires a colossal status of wealth to show off and to provide the other person with a touch of magic that he had extra money that made him buying the massive mansion. Additionally, it can also be a gold ticket to reach the lover. Observing, the Gold can denote having more money to get the lover. In her article “Best Analysis: Money and Materialism in The Great Gatsby” Wulick, says that “wear the gold hat” implies that “wealth is presented as the key to love.” Ultimately, the idea of Gold is to make the other more attractive to their charm, wealth, and money.
The incredibility status of wealth depicts at the beginning of the third chapter “There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights” (Fitzgerald 41; Ch. 3). Gatsby invites Nick, and he goes to the party. Then, he is totally surprised of a wealth of his neighbor. Materialism is presented in the third chapter as an important medium to attract different kind position people in New York. What is more interesting in this chapter is that Gatsby intends to get Daisy’s attention to make her attending one of his lavish parties. Gatsby has desired Daisy to make her his own after a long absence. Because of the war and the poverty, Gatsby cannot returns on time to marry Daisy. And, she waited for him patiently; unfortunately, he did not marry her. What most critics may forget is that Gatsby made enough wealth and waited a moment to know somebody that he knew his lover Daisy. From my perspective, I see that money gives him that hope to reunion Daisy again after five years. In some extent Gatsby accomplishes one step toward his lover; Like in the novel “Daisy put her arm through his abruptly, but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of the light had now vanished forever.”(Fitzgerald 90). It seems in the quote above; the idea of money is that it moves Gatsby to believe and to hope for the coming days that it is needed to wait for a while till he gets her back again. One of his enchanted objects is between his hands because of his status of his fortune that made him so crystal character as “newly rich.” After all, in this chapter Money plays a significant role which is to attract the lover attention by throwing extravagant parties to unknown guests hoping someone would attend his party that he or she knows Daisy.
Swimming in the river of gold not always brings happiness. Money can be an attraction to adapt a particular class in society, or it can be the bridge to reach love and repeating the past. Most of the characters in the novel are not materialistic because money is not their final goal. It is about to reach a certain goal that it may be repeating the past for Gatsby to love Daisy again. And, for Myrtle Wilsons wants just to arrive at the high class. Money creates a gap in their existence in such society that money made these characters forget to live a stable life. Therefore, it invades their mind. For example, in a moment money blinds Gatsby reality and asks to repeat the past using his money. “Money is the demiurgos of Jimmy Gatz’s platonic universe” (Ornstein 56). He thought money was everything to make everything real. If the reader notices the word Demiurgos, it describes that money has strong presences and has the power of God. In fact, money cannot buy the past, yet Fitzgerald stumped on Gatsby’s mind that extraordinary hope to make him think that making money is an easy medium to reach his lover again. Money has some privileged to buy a yellow tie and huge mansion, but it cannot purchase the happiness that Gatsby wanted.
Wealth and the presence of money in the novel are highlighted that can be the purpose of the Author. “Why they came East I don’t know. They had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together.” (Shmoop Editorial Team). From the reader perspective may think that Money has a strong mark to which they can see the Buchanan’s travel unrestfully. It is like spending money without a purpose. Polo is a game that is played by rich people. The narrator (Nick) describes Tom Buchanan. He said that he was able to bring down a string of polo ponies from Lack Forest. To imagine that is a huge amount of money. Then, Nick realized that Tom Buchanan was wealthy enough to do that.
II: — The Analysis and Discussions of the theme of money in The Rich Boy.
This part aims to filter money as means to be superior to the other class. As Fitzgerald has deep experience with Money and Wealth in which he cannot marry the one he wants, for it is the issue of money. Money stamps on his mind which through his writing expresses the notion of money into his characters. Money leaves a massive wound in Fitzgerald mind. Being materialists is the sufferer at that time to Fitzgerald in which it creates a sort of greed to his characters to possess things and turn people into objects using their money and their superiority.
A- The role of money in The Rich Boy.
The money in The Rich Boy plays a very interesting role because it is concerned to be a materialistic short story, and it is similar to The Great Gatsby. According to the analysis of Berry, he says that “As most commentaries on Fitzgerald will tell you, The Rich Boy is one of the best observations of Fitzgerald’s perceptions of wealthy.” It has a sort of difference of using the purpose of money. The notion of wealth and having a position and inheriting wealth are depicted in this short story. The extreme purpose of this part is to filter the two concepts of money and wealth as a crucial part in The Rich Boy.
Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. (Fitzgerald 1; ch.1).
The distinction between the very rich and low class, in general, might be the idea; people cannot be on the very wealthy level of wealth and joy of the lifestyle that they possess. There is no opportunity for the low class to compete with “the very rich” in such way you cannot imagine that the rich are superior to the low class. Money depicts where the rich are born with many privileges that imply more money and excellent position. “It is very difficult to understand” it may mean that if you were born rich, you could understand the lavish lifestyle that they are enjoying. All in all, the quote gives attach to a new perception that might be the idea of this very wealthy is not handling the wealth well. They are using it to be superior above the others.
“They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different.” (Fitzgerald 1; ch.1).
The acceptance of the very rich is not guaranteed to let the low class be on the same level. Because the very wealthy are born rich, it is hard to accept newly rich or middle-class. The sense of belonging to a class has to do with the originality of the wealth in The Rich Boy. That is why it has been said above “They are better than we are.” Furthermore, the idea of “they are different” is that the very wealthy are the superior race. The transformation of the vast status of the rich makes them think that they are better than the others because wealth makes them act in this way. That’s why Fitzgerald believed that if you were born rich, you do not need to think or to discover the compensation. The reader may think that being a materialist’s person can grow and set up the sense of superiority from a very young age. It is a bit hard to reckon that Anson’s time and his environment change his identity as an average person, the cause of that is the money. It is built inside of him the feeling of power to continue smashing things and using mainly women to satisfy his ego. The carelessness dominates over Anson in which he cannot trust women and proceed, money taught him to believe that women are not valuable. The ability to carry on his life is that the source of money makes him move forward how matter is the predicament. Money portrays a strong image in this short story. It connects with the character more than anything else.
In conclusion, Fitzgerald successes the way he introduces his perception of “the very rich” in lights of the sense of superiority. Money is associated with Anson more than anything else in the short story. Thus, Money and wealth status make Anson creates “his very superiority” which leads him to loneliness and alcoholic. From the beginning, the reader may grasp the idea that money plays the role of a supporter of Anson. Nevertheless, it is somewhat destroying his emotional part if he has any. For sure, Money can be understood in various ways. Besides, it highlights the idea of how it works as a means to have super status in society, or it can be a tool to possess others, women. The connection of money leads Anson to adapt the superiority that what will be the focus of the following chapter of the characters.
III: — The characters analysis
A- The Superiority of Anson Hunter and the Inferiority of Jay Gatsby and their relationship with the money
The Great Gatsby and The Rich Boy are full of concepts that may change readers the way they look to money or use it. Fitzgerald creates big goals in characters mind to make Gatsby believes reaching a goal requires a lot of money to make things happen. Anson has a different world where Fitzgerald makes him born into “the world of high finance and high extravagance”; he makes him lose his sense of belonging to adapt the superiority. Money inferiors Gatsby in which it makes him blind to follow the dream which is, in fact, the death. His money and the high hope lead him to death. It is not easy to repeat the past, yet in the eyes of Gatsby, it is possible. Again, it is the money which plays on characters destiny, Anson lost what to follow superiority with the money, love or being single in his mid-thirties, and hope, Gatsby’s purpose is to win Daisy back. It is a huge climax that money creates for both characters.
Gatsby
Money creates a gap in Gatsby’s life in which he lost his life at the end of the novel. It is all about money, from the beginning he was looking for money to become that rich man with a wealthy background, he is such a greed person. It was a great time when he met Daisy at Louisville. Then, he falls in love with her; he wants her money. The time makes Daisy to take a decision to marry Tom Buchanan, just, the extravagant life of what he can provide to Daisy. Tom was a brand of wealthy man. Money to some extent slaves Gatsby in which he forgets his past and his family for the sake to win his lover and become “Newly Rich.” It is the money that makes Gatsby inferior. He cannot proceed to plan for winning Daisy without money; it is an essential mean to reach his final goal. Money that Gatsby owns, it comes from crime and bootlegging. Gatsby becomes inferior to money. His relationship with the money changes his attitude to satisfy his greed and possess others as objects, Daisy.
Money blinds Gatsby from reality in which he lived in an illusion of unreachable hope to accomplish his goal. In the end, he lost everything including his life. He was born in a low-income family; he was lucky to go far away from his poor status to become a new man with a new wealth status in West Egg. Can I say it is false hope? In my opinion, it is not fake, yet the money which makes it appear fake to the reader. He was waiting for five years to reunion Daisy when he used her cousin Nick to make that meeting happen in his house. Well, how did he manage to do that? He uses the bootlegging money to throw those lavish parties and to make Nick attends one of them. Gatsby’s money makes him that slave of building that status which makes him think that he is almost to win his lover again.
Money is not only made Gatsby inferior, but it gives him the ability to buy things like the enormous mansion in West Egg and yellow car. “Fitzgerald was very fascinated by earning and spending money and during this time a change in how wealth was measured started to occur.”(qtd. In Fälth 5) the money itself is flexible in a way that even Fitzgerald himself believed in much of the presence of money can save him and brings him charm and lavish lifestyle. The difference between Gatsby and Fitzgerald is that Gatsby earns money from crimes whereas Fitzgerald earns money through writing. It gives for the reader the idea of unbalancing lifestyle of Fitzgerald and his character Gatsby.
After a “haughty career as the army’s worst aide-de-camp” he got in an advertising agency. Here he lived a life curiously suspended between the rich friendships of Princeton and the painful reality of his salary. Poverty meant to him no actual privation; what it meant was the realization that others were much richer then he, and that it mattered. (Wanning 58)
It is important that Fitzgerald past changed the way he looks to “the very rich” and to the poor. He grew up in an environment between middle-class and rich family which affects him in a way that once he said he would not forgive “the very rich” for being rich and for the poor of being poor. Moreover, it is the money again that can change a person’s life.
The belief of insecurity and inferiority that money can make, it is incredible. As Wanning said that “there was certainly a painful sense of insecurity and inferiority.” Gatsby and Fitzgerald have the same attitude toward money because it was the only way to achieve their goals. Gatsby adopts the catchphrase “old sport”; it is a sort of imitation to stand in the line of “old money.” It is incredible to imagine that Fitzgerald creates a copy character which is based on his life.
It is merely an illusion created by money. The most prominent colors at the party are silver and gold (or yellow), representing the wealth that has made it all possible, just as it has reconstructed “the Merton College Library” full of impressive volumes that are unread and uncut. (Coles notes 26)
The presence of money will not be left simply, yet it marks itself as a mark of making Gatsby inferior. Money makes Gatsby dream about getting Daisy back; he thinks that money or his status of wealth will get him to achieve that golden goal. Additionally, “the expensive illusion” makes Gatsby throw those entertainment parties just to attract Daisy interests. It is hard to imagine how much money is spent there, simply, for the sake of getting attention.
In conclusion, the dream to regain Daisy and the new status all are related to Money. It is shown through novel what money can do to the characters. It makes Gatsby less important; It is a disease in which it makes a person greedy and asking for more. Gatsby is a victim to money which makes him step and to enter Daisy’s world. Furthermore, Fitzgerald creates a unique character where he puts him in that “gaudy” mansion to play as a symbol to search for The Holy Grail. With that bootlegging money allows Gatsby to do the job unconfidently because Daisy is already rich, and she marries the richest man. The idea of believing and holding hope using money are the main factors which make Gatsby inferior unconsciously.
Anson
“Anson’s first sense of his superiority came to him when he realized the half-grudging American deference that was paid to him in the Connecticut village.” (Fitzgerald 2; ch.2) It is clear enough to the reader to find out that Anson’s money makes him superior and egotistical person. Money creates a sense of superiority, for it is the society which has a part to contribute to shaping his new identity. He is the controller to low-class. Money is the source of power, and it is the door to his power among others. He gets paid without hardworking; it is mainly available thanks to his father.
Anson is controlled to act superior because his father wants him to be “successful man.” The contribution of the environment and his home makes him compelling in a way that he becomes snobbish. Therefore, He grows without the struggle of what poor ones want; it is available for him. He learns to be higher and controller over others, yet he does not learn how to be successful in College. Just, his egoistic self-does not allow him to be the man that his father wants.
Serving in a war is the honor to gain respect from the instructor and among his friends. Anson serves in a war, and it is the time when he met his friend, the narrator. His superior class attracts people attention, and it provides him the respect. Again, the environment keeps him from being the perfect guy to Paula, his lover. The reader may learn that Power and carelessness are the highest reason to turn his life upset down in a way he lost everything. The sense of love for him is not that what people believe that it has existed. His superiority stays to ruin his future with Paula.
Through the story, the reader may discover with a series of event where Anson turns to be superior over women that he meets. He misses many opportunities. First, Paula is the first love; Anson falls in love with her. “Whenever they were seen together they were engaged in a long, serious dialogue, which must have gone on several weeks.”(Fitzgerald 4; ch.2) It is a serious relationship at the beginning; the narrator describes her as “a conservative girl.” Berry may forget Anson’s dual personality, a strong, attractive side and a wild, reckless side, which makes him to delay the marriage and to leave for Wall Street. It is fair enough to understand and convinced by the narrator that the first lover has nearly a million dollar. It may be for the reader that to ask why cannot they marry each other and to be the perfect couple? They are rich enough to live an enjoyable life. However, the story drifts the reader to an unexpected route which is full of disappointment, tiring, broken feeling, and sadness to Anson toward women, Paula. Unfortunately, she cannot wait for that much until one day he receives a telegram from Paula told him that “she was engaged to Lowell Thayer.” It is a sort of relief to the reader, for she is waiting a superiority of Anson to vanish to get back to her yet none of that happened. Besides, what happens is that the news makes him “cry like a child.” Second, Dolly Karger is the second woman who enters Anson’s life to replace somehow Paula. The game of Anson’s is somewhat covered to Dolly because he pretends that he falls in love with her. They meet after the marriage of Paula. “He was not in love with her” (Fitzgerald 17; ch.5) the narrator knew that Anson is not in love with Dolly, and he is not satisfied to be with her. He has been clear to her that he wants her to forget him. However, Dolly calls “Anson, darling” to say that she loves him, and she asks him to say it back, yet he does not answer. Love and superiority destroy the relationship between the couple. Fitzgerald believes that The Rich Boy is “one of the best things I have ever done” (qtd. In Berry) the presentation of the character Anson is related to Superiority over Women, and money creates disorder in Anson’s life.
The pride and power will never allow to Anson that to find love and to have a happy marriage. “He will never marry,” he came to say; “I’ve seen too much of it, and I know a happy marriage is a very rare thing. Besides, I’m too old.” (Fitzgerald 23; ch.6) It is a strong statement from Anson to his friend. The reader may understand the idea of marriage in a way that his experience with women makes him give up looking for more, and he is afraid to play the same game that he played with Dolly; he had enough with Paula. The regret damages the life of Anson, For instance, he was “crying like a child.” It is firmly clear that he carries Paula’s love with him. It gives him the connection with the first lover. However, his money and power make him destroy his love and regret for the rest of his life. It is ambiguous to the reader in which Fitzgerald did not make it clear that Anson’s superiority drifts him to be alone all this way, just, he misses the opportunity to build a stable future. It is bizarre that money, nearly fifteen million dollars, can do all this. As most of the readers to this story, money is behind every event in which the character infected and injured by the materialistic world or batter to say “the high finance world” that he was born. The requirement to build his life again is taken by Anson’s superiority. When he says “I’m too old,” it is evident to the reader that there is no way back to start over.
All in all, money creates unbalance in Anson’s life; it is the reason behind the disorder of love relationship with women, especially Paula. Besides, his sense of superiority drifts him to the big down whole which is hard to get out and stand again on his feet. Fitzgerald creates a significant gap in Anson’s heart which makes him cruel, careless, and unemotional toward people and things. Also, money makes him delay things simply he is a powerful man. Fitzgerald experiences the lack of money that makes him write his works. Thus, he made a fortune by his writing, and his writing is highly connected with the concept of money.
IV: — The Comparison
A- The comparison between The Great Gatsby and The Rich Boy in terms of the representation of money
The affection of “the very rich” changes Fitzgerald life. Money is depicted in almost his works; it gives a reader an idea about Fitzgerald social status. The wealth that is given to his characters is absent in his reality. Money is articulated differently in these two works The Great Gatsby and The Rich Boy. This part aims to stress the way money is represented in both works The Great Gatsby and The Rich Boy.
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is considered to be one of Fitzgerald finest novels; it is full of concepts that are concerned to be the discussion of the society today. Money is represented in different ways in Fitzgerald works, yet in The Great Gatsby, money is depicted to be the means to reach and to accomplish a particular goal. The Great Gatsby stresses the concept of money, yet it settles in different routes and purposes. Money is used in three dimensions, first, to reach love, second, to adopt a particular social class, and third, to cause death.
Firstly, money takes the shape of love. Money allows Gatsby to build high social class status in which it gives him all the possibilities to possess things. For example, he bought an enormous mansion, yellow car, and nice shirts, yet he could not buy love again after five years ago. The sense of the ability to do so is impossible, yet Fitzgerald stamped that undisputed hope to Gatsby’s mind in which he claims “that he can fix everything.” The wealth is the highest motive for Gatsby to get into the world of “The very rich”; it comes from bootlegging and crimes. Additionally, Gatsby desire was not final to gain money, but it was the bridge that will allow him to return Daisy. Unfortunately, it has never happened. The principle of money is the fuel to Gatsby to climb the ladder of love and satisfaction, yet the use of money destroys Gatsby at the end. Sadly, Money creates an illusion in which he forgot everything around that was real for the sake to stick and hold the unreachable dream.
Secondly, Money is another way to reach a particular social class. The reader may notice that money has many images like the illusion, love, social status, and death. For instance, Myrtle is a car mechanic’s wife; she is living in the valley of ashes. Besides, it is a poor land where people look gray because of the dust. Myrtle is greedy to climb the social status; to get there, she makes an affair with Tom Buchanan. It is miserable to be born poor. “The old money” always has the ability and privileges to amuse and to live that extravagant lifestyle. Myrtle wants to marry Tom Buchanan indirectly. Once they were in a hotel, and she mentioned the name of his wife Daisy; he was not pleased about it. However, she said it many times until he broke her nose. (Fitzgerald ch 2, 39) Again, it is the power of “old money.” The reader may think that it is impossible for Myrtle to get that social status. She is desperate for her to be at the level of the very wealthy.
Thirdly, money causes death to the ones who profit or wants to climb that level of being the richest in all its kind. It has been the issue for most characters which they died hoping that money will “fix everything” or will take them to live the extravagant lifestyle. To illustrate, Gatsby is connected to the money in a point which he follows five years lost love blindly to win it back. All those years passed searching desperately for the Grail, Daisy, which is in fact hard to find. Nick Caraway pointed out that Gatsby wants to repeat the past. Hopefully, Gatsby was almost there because the green light had vanished. The reader may connect the green light with Daisy. Money leads Gatsby to death just because of the hope in it to do the job. Similarly, Myrtle has died searching for real life. She died by the careless class, Daisy. It is cynical that Myrtle died by Daisy as if Daisy revenge to kill her. Money leads Characters to death.
Ultimately, Money shapes the events of the novel in which it gives hope, reaches the social class, and the nightmare for causing death. It gives the doubtful ability to win the love as Gatsby tried to with Daisy. It also gives the illusion to adopt a particular social class. Also, money presents death that most of the characters follow that route which is full of thorns to provide them with a bad ending to their life’s.
The Rich Boy
The Rich Boy is one of the best visions of Fitzgerald’s insight into wealthy. (Berry) The representation of money is highly related to Anson Hunter. It is used in the short story in two main critical dimensions. First, it is used to destroy Anson’s life and love relationship. Second, money makes Anson act superior especially over women. It destroys one of his valuable and serious relationships with Paula.
Anson Hunter fails to protect his first relationship because of his superiority. Money develops the sense of Anson’s superiority; it blinds him to discover the beautiful things around him. One of the nice things is Paula Legendre; it is a valuable relationship that can stand for years; they are rich together. Again, the superiority makes Anson lose the serious relationship with Paula. Besides, money creates the gap to the Fitzgerald man, and he adapts the fortune which outside looks golden and inside looks harmful to the person.
The absence of maturity leads Anson to lose his credibility in the eyes of his lover, Paula. It is hard for Anson to stick with Paula because of his sense of superiority and the dual personality. Fitzgerald makes money the priority in Anson’s life. Besides, the reader may notice the idea of how the sense of Anson’s superiority has developed through the plot of the story. It is “the world high finance” that shapes his identity forever. The destruction is more visible than his successful small business on Wall Street. The fortune changes his life; he drinks too much alcohol especially after the marriage of his first love Paula.
After all, Anson fails to articulate money in his life properly. Money impacts the life of Anson in different ways in which no light can come into his life. The use of money shapes the events of the story to drift the reader to Anson’s world which is full of egoistic, darkness, superiority, and loose of the serious relationship. The money will never drive Anson to the right woman or the right path. Fitzgerald succeeded to make Anson life in that world of emptiness soul; he made Anson single in his mid-thirties with no love to fill the emotional gap.
Conclusion
The twentieth century is the time when Fitzgerald created the Jazz age. His work spread in the world by using the vast imagination. One of his “extraordinary novels” is The Great Gatsby. He wrote it with a sense of looking to something not normal. It has been proven through American literature that his work is still inspiring the reader to discover more rich literature; they are worth reading. Fitzgerald’s vision is beyond reality in which he expressed through his writing the gap that “money colored his life and his work.” Besides, novels, he wrote a collection of short stories; one of these short stories, The Rich Boy is considered to be an amazing story in which he represented money and wealth heavily to the character. The Rich Boy is one of his best short stories; he wrote it while waiting for the publication of The Great Gatsby.
As the reader may learn from reading the novel, money causes death to Jay Gatsby; only, he wants to “repeat the past and win his lover.” Money was the only option that makes Gatsby think of “fixing everything.” Fitzgerald worked on the materialistic side more than romantic side; in other words, the money has importance in the novel to reach that romantic love. According to me, money and romance should never be separated. If one is born rich, the future is guaranteed, Tom Buchanan as an example. These both works may influence the reader by the idea of being rich allows a person to possess anything and get to the extravagant lifestyle.
The perception of Fitzgerald man, Anson Hunter, toward money is entirely different from Jay Gatsby. Anson is born rich in which he adopts the sense of superiority. He was not successful in college and having a good relationship because of his egoistic self. Being superior gave him the power to expose others, Anson’s aunt. The idea is so clear that even if a person is born rich, the environment may change his character and adopts a particular personality, Anson Hunter. Fitzgerald life influences reader to sight the money as their primary source of happiness.
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