Family

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

"'They're a rotten crowd,' I shouted across the lawn. 'You're worth the whole damn bunch put together'...It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him form beginning to end" (Fitzgerald, 154). Nick's disapproval of Gatsby shows Fitzgerald's distaste of how people used money in the 1920s. Gatsby represents the wealthy class in America. He displays his wealth through his parties, his house, his car, and his clothes. Fitzgerald is not criticizing having wealth, but rather the corrupt means of attaining money and the immoral use of the money. Gatsby is thought to have been a bootlegger and possibly something worse than that. He became involved with shady businesses because they were lucrative, and he wanted the money to impress Daisy. Gatsby strayed from his normal morals so that he could pursue the "American Dream". Fitzgerald viewed Gatsby's dream as misguided. The quote above is a call for Americans to reevaluate priorities in their lives. I think that Fitzgerald wants Americans to put their families first. I say this because Nick compliments Gatsby for his devotion to Daisy, who is the closest thing to family Gatsby knows.  Today, I think that we should still keep family as our top priority. Money can be taken away, but family remains forever.