Money Equals Happiness in The Great Gatsby Throughout history many societies have had upper, middle and lower classes. The classes formed separate communities of different lives and never transcended social barriers. In the book The Great Gatsby, instead of streets and communities separating each class there was a sound. In West Egg, the rich received money not from inheritance but from what they had made themselves. They worked hard for their money and received no financial support from their families. These people earned in two ways; they either worked for it or relied on illegal means to survive. On the other hand, or on the island, the natives of East Egg represent the class of society that receives money from their relatives. They were someone's heir and rich from birth. It was also known that no one in East Egg would marry someone poor or with new money. Fitzgerald reveals that the life of the privileged class is full of corruption, carelessness, and materialism through the use of characterization in the novel. Daisy, Tom Buchanan's wife, has no goals in life; no discipline, nor any morals. She can't even think for herself because she's never had to before. He talks to Nick as if he were part of a group isolated from the life of the East Eggers and in some ways he is "'Okay,' said Daisy. 'What do we plan?' She turned to me helplessly, “What do people plan?”, (153).Daisy has nothing to do or worry about every day nothing that required thought from the day she thought money would solve her problems. She can live life without having to think about anything that probably requires an elementary school education. In the scene where Daisy runs over Myrtle, she doesn't care what happened , only cares about herself. "Because Daisy was young and her artificial world smelled of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras that marked the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestion of life in new melodies" (158) This quote shows that Daisy lives in a dream world where she does not have to obey any laws. Her snobbish personality gets her into trouble and carefree without regard for other people. The cor...... middle of paper... people who say she is rich when she can't show off her assets. She needs to let people know that she is rich because money is the only thing she cares about and the only happiness she gets from life. The novel The Great Gatsby shows many different aspects of the upper class. From corruption to being indifferent, many characters never change their personalities or even try to change. Daisy remained the same careless, materialistic woman throughout the book and Tom remained self-righteous and angry. In the end they both escape without ever taking responsibility for the damage they caused. They thought that because they have money, they would never have problems, and if they did, the money would get them out of it. Money was everything to them and Daisy loved money more than she loved her daughter. Tom thought that because he had money he could cheat on his wife and that love meant buying his wife a necklace which to his wife was love because it cost a lot of money. Both characters never realized how much money couldn't buy them. Between Daisy and Tom, money can buy love. For them, money equals happiness. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Macmillan, 2008.