The Great Gatsby is a book focusing on the titular character, Jay Gatsby, also known as James Gatz. While the story is narrated by Nick Carraway, Gatsby is the focus on the tale. Gatsby is a man who was born into poverty, yet we do not see that part of his story for long. Gatsby is known for his wealth which he uses liberally. Before we are told his story, he is phrased as almost a self-made man, coming up as new money, earning his keep and making his own fortune for himself. When he hear his story, however, we see that he was connected to money by his friend and he was only brought into the idea of gaining money through this connection. We see that a lot today, where some people are known for having money, they only got this money through their connections.
A very visible instance of this can be seen in Donald Trump. While he would speak of the money he made himself, he was born favorably into wealth and his company only started due to a “small loan” of one million dollars. Both he and Gatsby claim to have made their money and earned every cent, but without their connections to their father or Dan Cody they would not have been able to get their money. While Dan Cody taught Gatsby more skills rather than just giving him money outright, even though he tried, Gatsby would not have been able to get himself out of poverty without the reputation and tutelage from Cody.
Even today, money is an object earned by the rich and their friends, and is not something that comes to the poor without unlikely circumstance.