F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby - The Power of Money Essay

In the preface to Major Barbara, the playwright George Bernard Shaw observes that money is the most important thing in the world--it represents health, strength, honor, generosity and beauty, but, the poet continues, it also pulverizes people as for sure as it fortifies and dignifies others (Shaw 28). Shaw recognized that many people look toward money, the ultimate representation of materialism, in search of the power that enables them to live. But, money can play many part in the drama of life. It can represent or give the illusion of wealth, prestige, nobility, and power. Those that seek to harness its powers must also strive to conquer its ability to destroy and corrupt. In F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, the repeated image of money, no matter in what form or through whom it is portrayed, is used to such an extent that it becomes central to the evolution of the story. The abstract idea of money can be expressed in many ways. Perhaps the most straightforward way is thro ugh the acquisition of larger-than-life possessions. In the first chapter of the novel, Nick, the first-...