Cynicism Central

                    Does wealth directly influence humanity’s morality? This is a question that many believe they have the answer to. Fitzgerald's stance is shown in his piece “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz”, he thinks that the introduction of wealth will degrade the emotional state of a person till they become lifeless and uncaring. This theme is present in the quote, “Many have come but none have left”. The family of Braddock Washington all share the same stereotypical qualities of the wealthy, self-preservation, dislike of the poor, apathetic etc. Well I would like to refute this claim of Fitzgerald with the actuality of wealth. I do agree, to an extent, with the idea of some wealthy members of society act in unethical ways to enrich themselves. But the perception of money has changed dramatically in the past 100 years. It has come to a point where hundreds of billionaires have promised to donate 30-50% of their entire wealth. Whethe...

  The Great Gatsby is a novel that is representative of American life. Many symbols are used throughout the novel by Fitzgerald to showcase his opinion on the core values of our society. This is illustrated quite well by the quote "Gatsby's main goal in life, and by extension, America's main goal, which is to always achieve more, rather than be satisfied with what they have." We as people tend to place value on materialistic things as they can be a direct indicator of wealth. This idea of “greed” was pronounced during the 1920s-1930s as the effects of modernism and innovations brought wealth to many. Yet it also furthered the inequality between the few and the many, as time progressed and more people suddenly gained wealth, the idea of social mobility was idealized and romanticized by the impoverished. The reality though was that in pursuit of wealth was a false dream as most wealth is generational, those who are well off now had a high likelihood of being rich in the...