Old vs. New Money

In the novel The Great Gatsby, there is a big difference between some of the wealthy people. Reference is from the Old vs. New Money, the old money means the people who were wealthy growing up or earning their money in the big business they do. The New Money means that they really didn't earn their money and are more disrespectful.

The people who are considered Old Money are Tom and Daisy because they came from money and are more quiet in the social status. They have a nice house and are more respected and feared than others. An example is how they put on a facade of being a happy family at first and having well manners.


The people who are considered New Money are Jay Gatsby and his people he deals with.
They are considered this because of how they earned their money from bootlegging, which was illegal from prohibition so they looked down upon them. They spent their money unwisely and showy. Gatsby threw lavishingly parties and was less mannered, inviting himself places that wasn't meant for him to go to.

The Men of Gatsby

In the novel there are many men but, first off there is Nick Carraway. He is a very deep man, he is observant and reserved. Nick comes into the picture of the rich and wealthy with little money and a small house, but is very humble and sophisticated. At first he wants to befriend this Gatsby man that everyone talks about, whom just happens to be his neighbhor and tries finding him at one of his lawn partys. They soon become close friends and Nick finds out that he is not the person he expected this man to be. Meaning that a man like that has to have a good soul, he means well but seems a little scared to be himself while everyone else does the wrong things and he knows it.


Jay Gatsby is the main character of the men, but he is very secretive the novel doesn't tell too much about him just that he is a bootlegger but his personal life is very private. We know that he is madly in love with Daisy Buchunan and moves to West Egg just to see her across the lake, he is very passionately. With him being a bootlegger he is very rich, but in the prohibitions time people who did that well were looked down upon on so Gatsby keeps his life private.



Tom Buchanun is a super ficial man. Hes married to Daisy, but is cheating on her with Mrytle. He is a very wealthy man and grew up with money so you could call him snobby. He looks down on Gatsby because he doesn't like how just this random man comes and throws these luxorious parties and nobody know a thing about him. He is ery prideful and cocky, trying to control everything in front of him.

The Women of Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby, the greatest female part is Daisy Buchanan. She is Tom's wife, and she is very emotional, happy, mesmerizing, and depressed at the beg ginning of the book. She first tells Nick that she is someone she never really wanted to be, and that she puts up this facade of her life. Then as we soon learn, she has a strong past with Jay Gatsby. Her and Gatsby used to be lovers when they were younger. Eventually they meet again, and start having an affair, well the affair soon comes out of the closet so to speak. But during this, she is a very careless woman, she is selfish in many ways, and demands to have what she wants.



One of the other main women in the novel is Jordan Baker. She also is a strange and different woman. She is actually very independent considering it was in the 20's when woman were expected to stay home and do nothing more. She was a professional golfer and was talented enough to go into the tournaments. In the book it describes her also as a beautiful woman. Nick and her became somewhat of an item, they have an eye out for each other. She likes to gossip and it seems to always be about her cousin, Daisy, because she is always informing Nick what is going on with their relationship, she is the one who informs us that Tom is having an affair. She doesn't really like herself either and she admits it. Saying that 'she is too careless and hate people like that.' But she is genuine, she doesn't get into much o the drama going on around her.

Another woman is Myrtle Wilson, who isn't in much of the novel but plays a big part. She is Tom's mistress. From the beginning she is mentioned, but remained unnamed. She already causes stir up from Daisy already knowing. Then Tom takes Nick out for the a day and introduces him to her and we learn that she is a very up scaled woman demanding much although she does not come from money herself. Her husband is not from money and she bosses her husband around, meaning she has a strong personality and for her to be having an affair is very ruthless, again women were the expected to do the exact opposite, so she is very rebellious. Later on in the novel, we discover that she is being held against her will in her house and her husband is going to take them somewhere, she escapes and runs out into the street, which is very busy, and is ran over ironically by Tom's wife, Daisy, and killed instantly but Tom was not in the car with her. And we learn that both her husband and Tom are stricken with grief

Dan Cody

Dan Cody comes into Gatsby's life first, while Gatsby is still known as Jimmy Gatz from North Dakota. When he first sees Dan Cody's beautiful yacht and meets Cody himself, Jimmy becomes Jay Gatsby, the romantic vision of himself he has harbored all his life.A millionaire many times over, Cody employs Gatsby on the yacht, dresses him well, and takes him around the continent three times, into a rich life he had never known. Because Cody drinks, Gatsby learns not to drink. When Cody dies, Gatsby is cheated out of an inheritance. He walks away penniless, but he had lived his dream for a little while. He wants more.



Chapter Six reveals Gatsby's sordid past. James Gatz, Gatsby's legal name, worked as a janitor at the college of St. Olaf for two weeks until he tired of the indifference of manual labor. He then returned to the shores of Lake Superior where he had worked the year before as a clam digger. His new life as Gatsby began on the lake. Dan Cody, a wealthy copper miner from Montana, dropped anchor for a few days near Gatsby's residence. Gatsby then seized the opportunity to escape his mundane life on the yacht, the Tuolomee,with Cody.



Cody and Gatsby sailed around the world three times over the next five years. During this time, Gatsby served as steward, mate, skipper, and secretary for Dan. Gatsby chose then to abstain from alcohol forever after witnessing the destructive behaviors of Cody during his periods of drunkenness. Gatsby even had to jail Cody on occasion to prevent him from committing dangerous acts. When the Tuolomee dropped anchor in Boston, Ella Kaye, one of Cody's lovers, joined the crew. Unfortunately, Cody died a week after she had boarded the yacht of mysterious and unknown causes. Although Cody willed twenty-five thousand dollars to Gatsby, Ella Kaye swindled him out of it in court.


http://www.enotes.com/great-gatsby/q-and-a/how-do-roles-dan-cody-daisy-meyer-wolfsheim-shape-60003
http://www.fcps.edu/westspringfieldhs/academic/english/1project/99gg/99gg6/chap6.htm

Selfish People

In the book and the film, you can see that there are many characters who are selfish, everywhere and from everyone in all kinds of ways. One of the first things you notice is that when Nick talks about Gatsby's parties, he hears that people go there and don't even know who Gatsby is. They talk about the rumors they heard about him, but yet use all of his drinks, becomes drunk, enjoys the music, and go into his house.


In example, Tom. He is cheating on his wife, Daisy. He does not treat her with the utmost respect by cutting off her sentences, going out in public with his mistress. Tom's mistress, Myrtle, is also selfish. She too has a husband and goes out with Tom. When you cheat on your spouse, you are being selfish. You feel as though your un- happy and cannot stand to be nice or have the heart to think about how they feel. You just think about your own feelings and what you need to do to be happy again. And if you have children with your spouse, you are being selfish in not thinking of your children and how would they feel? Or how it would effect them.




Another example for being a selfish person is Jordan. Nick has said that she cheats and is a liar. When you cheat and lie, you think of yourself and how could you benefit from it, if you took it or if you lied to keep something from being known. She is said that she cheats on her golf tournaments. Meaning that she wants to win and will go to any length to win, again thinking of herself. Selfishness is everywhere, these are only some examples that Fitzgerald portrayed in The Great Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby film versions

Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.






F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic 1925 novel was one of the most hyped movies of the summer of 1974. Robert Redford stars as self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby, who uses his vast fortune to buy his way into Long Island society. Most of all, Gatsby wants to win back the love of socialite Daisy Buchanan (Mia Farrow), now married to "old money" Tom Buchanan (Bruce Dern). Calmly observing the passing parade is Nick Carraway (Sam Waterston), Gatsby's best friend, who narrates the film.








Adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel of the idle rich in the 1920s. A mysterious millionaire crashes Long Island society, and finds his heart captured by an impetuous and emotionally impoverished girl. Skillful acting and directing captures the look and feel of this era, but the movie doesn't have the power of the book.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0071577

1920's

The Roaring Twenties, was a huge growth for the economy, technology and social business. Technology was at it's finest during this time with the assmebly line for Henry Ford's Model T's car. Creating hundreds of jobs for men. In The Great Gatsby, you read that Nick goes into a luxurious car that belongs to Gatsby himself, which was probably one of Henry Ford's car, because he was one of the first production to make cars.




Also, during this time Prohibition was entact which was a law stating that people were no longer allowed to drink, sell or make any form of liquor. This created many problems rather than making it better for the country. Infamous gangsters rose, such as Al Capone, and did "speak easies" a room that gave out alchohol. In the book, at all the parties Nick attends at Gatsby's house you read that everyone is drinking and soon gets drunk.


The technology was growing even more swiftly in this decade. With the radio becoming more popular. Entertainment came up with shows for people to listen to on the radio. They also got to listen to more news about their government. Music was also a big part of the decade with Jazz becoming the next big thing. People had fun dancing to this music, one kind of dance called the Charleston. At Gatsby's parties many of the people would start dancing the Charelston.