Money and Morality in The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby, money controls everything. The rich have power, and the poor are left behind. People with money do what they want, and there are few real consequences. F. Scott Fitzgerald shows how wealth often wins over doing the right thing.

Tom Buchanan is a great example. He is rich, careless, and treats people badly. He cheats on Daisy, lies to George Wilson, and gets away with it all. His money protects him. At the end of the novel, he and Daisy leave town without facing any blame for what happened.

Gatsby, on the other hand, believes money can bring him happiness. He thinks that if he becomes rich, he can win Daisy back. But Gatsby’s money comes from illegal activities, showing how chasing wealth can lead people down the wrong path. Even though he is generous and hopeful, his dream is based on a lie.

Then there is George and Myrtle Wilson. They do not have money, and they suffer because of it. Myrtle wants to escape her poor life, so she has an affair with Tom. But in the end, she is the one who pays the price. George loses everything and is pushed to the edge.

The novel shows that people with money can escape trouble, while those without it often suffer. Fitzgerald makes it clear that wealth and morality do not always go together. In the world of The Great Gatsby, money wins, and doing the right thing does not always matter.