Old vs. New Money

Over the years the ways money has been earned and spent has changed dramatically. In the Great Gatsby money was spent carelessly and earned through many ways such as being a professional athlete for Tom Buchanan and through bootlegging or selling alcohol illegally for Jay Gatsby. The characters often
hosted elegant expensive parties and drove very nice cars and wore very fashionable clothing.

Today money is earned and spent with a little bit more responsibility then in the 1920's. Most wealthy people today drive nice cars as they did in the old days but rather then buy a lot of gold products like Gatsby did, they own real estate and other investments. The stock market is also a popular place for people to invest there money today. Bootlegging led to many men becoming rich in the time of the Great Gatsby, but today alcohol is legal so there would be no profit in that industry. Money has changed a lot over the years and so has the way it is earned and spent.

source: The Great Gatsby novel

The Great Gatsby film versions

There are many versions of the film The Great Gatsby out there that all reflect the famous novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. These films all have different actors and actresses and portray the events that took place during the book but in different ways. This novel was a classic and the movies were made to give more of a visual of what was being talked about in the text.

In all of the films Gatsby is seen as a very rich man but also mysterious. Daisy is a young beautiful girl who is full of energy and excitement. Jordan Baker is charming but also has something about her that Nick loves. Tom Buchanan is a big hulking man that has an afair with the unhappy Myrtle Wilson. The Gatsby mansion is beautiful and the parties thrown are very elegant and enjoyed. There were many movies made that each used there own way to act out the drama that unfolds in the novel.

Source: The Great Gatsby novel

Selfishness

All throughout The Great Gatsby there is an overall them of selfishness portrayed. The plot consists of several incidents where a character is unable to take into consideration how their actions might affect those around them. Yet, only two specific incidents are the most apparent. The first of the two is when myrtle starts the vicious cycle of infidelity that occurs within the novel. Myrtle is a lower class woman, and hates her life above the auto shop. She literally feels caged in, and utilizes Tom as her escape. She fails to take in consideration how this might make Daisy, his wife, feel. From this point, Daisy subconsciously becomes aware of her husband’s unfaithfulness and allows herself to be reassured it is an acceptable disgrace to cheat on your spouse. So Daisy begins to cheat as well. If Myrtle would not have taken that leap from faithful to unfaithful, the next occurrence of selfishness might not have even ever occurred.

When Daisy allowed herself to succumb to infidelity as well, Nick becomes enraged. Although Nick is guilty as well, Daisy inconsideration causes him to realize just how much he really loves her and cannot stand to be without her. When he reveals these feelings to Daisy she is taken aback for she was not expecting them. With much thought Daisy also realizes she is still madly in love with Nick as well. With her new realization, Daisy is now infuriated with Nick’s unfaithfulness and channels her anger into his mistress, Myrtle. Daisy murders Myrtle. Even though it is a tragedy, strange and awful events are expected when individuals let selfishness flood into their lives.














Source: The Great Gatsby

Unrequited Love ♥

Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby there is a common theme of unrequited love portrayed. Of all the occurances where unrequited love is abundant there are two scences in the novel where it is most obvious. The first scene includes Gatsby’s unrequited love for Daisy. This was when Gatsby reveals his and Daisy’s affair to Tom. Tom explains that him and Daisy share something that Gatsby will never understand. Tom is more than right about this and Gatsby’s heart is forever broken. Gatsby now has to live with unrequited love and hide’s his intense emotions.

The next scene where a heart is forever broken is when Myrtle breaks her husbands heart through infidelity. Then Myrtle husband also never receives an opportunity to win his wife’s heart back because she is murdered. This unrequited love is more horrible than Gatsby’s and can forever ruin a man. Unrequited love takes a heart and rips it to shreds because the man or women whom someone loves is unable to return those feelings. Obviously, unrequited love in this novel is apparent.

Men of the Great Gatsby

The men of the Great Gatsby all had unique personalities and lifestyles. Jay Gatsby posed to be a hardworking wealthy man who hosted elegant parties. A lot of rumors were spread on exactly how he aquired his wealth, but they were all wrong. Gatsby would throw elegant parties in which hundreds of people would attend and have a great night, yet he didn't even attend the parties. Also there was speculation that Gatsby "once killed a man". It was finally revealed that Gatsby was madly in love with Daisy Buchanan and threw the parties in hope that one day she would attend and they would fall in love. Gatsby also told everyone that he earned his money by owning many drug stores but really he was a bootlegger that illegaly bacame rich.

Tom Buchanan is an unfaithful man that is very selfish. Tom poses as a very strong athletic character that takes a lot of pride in his accomplishments. Tom is married to Daisy but is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson. Daisy knows about the affair and lives a very unhappy life until she is reunited with Jay Gatsby. Tom does not like Gatsby at all and instantly assumes he is a bootlegger and has no true character. Nick Carraway is Daisy's cousin who is not rich like the other men of the novel, but has the best character out of the men. Gatsby offers Nick a job in which he'd make far more money then he does as a bondsmen, but Nick rejects it. He has a thing for Jordan Baker but understands that she is rich and most likely out of his league. Nick is a good man who knows right from wrong. The men of Gatsby all live very different lifes which have a huge effect on the lives of those they surround.

Women of The Great Gatsby

In the novel The Great Gatsby, there are several important female characters that are very important to the plot. Yet, the two main characters that really create the story objective and define the outcome are Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. Daisy is the narrator, Nick Buchanan’s cousin. Daisy has managed to capture the heart of Nick’s neighbor Jay Gatsby. Although Nick was unaware of this when he moved in, he was quickly utilized as a way for the two to reunite. Daisy and Gatsby fell in love five years before the setting of the story when Daisy and Gatsby lived in Louisville. She had promised Gatsby she would wait for him when he went off to war but had too strong of a need to be loved and married her current husband Tom Buchanan. Now, Gatsby must discover a way to get Daisy back one and for all.

Even though Daisy refuses to divorce Tom, and still loves him, Tom remains unfaithful in their relationship. Tom is a restless man and found himself a mistress to keep him occupied. Tom’s lover and mistress is named Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle is married as well to her husband George Wilson. The Wilson’s live in the run-down portion of town and own a garage that does very poorly. Myrtle cannot stand her lower class housing and husband and sees Tom as a way to improve her social standing. In the end though, all these love triangle will do nothing but harm to all involved. The main character ladies of The Great Gatsby are obviously the reason for the overall plot.

Source: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/characters.html

East Egg vs. West Egg
In the Great Gatsby, the setting takes place mostly on either East Egg or West Egg. These are two lands sepperated by a body of water known as the sound. East Egg is where Tom Buchanan and Daisy live and is definately the more elegant island of the two. Many very wealthy people live in great mansions on East Egg. The sound was the name given to the waters that sepperate East and West Egg but is much more to Jay Gatsby. To Gatsby the sound is the only thing sepperating him from his love Daisy and he dreams that one day she will be his.


The West Egg on the other hand is much more old and ragged then East Egg. It is not very attractive to most people but there are a few beautiful homes located on West Egg that draw attention. Gatsby lives on a mansion on the shorefront of West Egg and often hosts huge elegant parties which many wealthy and famous people attend. It does not come out until midway through the novel that the only reason Gatsby hosts these parties is because he hopes that one day Daisy will attend one and no longer believe he is too poor to fall in love with. Nick lives in a small cottage on West Egg next door to Gatsby and often watched the people come and go from Gatsby's until he was invited to a party and befriended by Jay Gatsby himself. East and West Egg are two cities sepperated by a small body of water but are two completely different atmosphires.