The Great Gatsby Essay, Research Paper

If someone robs a bank or kills someone to get some money, people will be looking for that individual and will eventually catch him. People also think they can hide everything behind their money and change their image. But they will always forget about one issue that will destroy their newfound wealth forever. Real life proves a major theme brought out in The Great Gatsby: If people acquire their wealth illegally, they will pay for it in the end.

In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald sets this theme as a major role. For example, when Myrtle had an affair with Tom, he took her away to a hotel and treated her like a queen. When she started to get too excited with the money, she acted like a pain to everyone. In the end, she was waiting for Tom in the road when he wasn t driving. Because it wasn t him, she was hit by the car and killed. Another example is that of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby was a bootlegger that earned all of his money illegally. Because he bought and owned the fancy car that killed Myrtle, he paid the price for Myrtle s death, even though he wasn t driving. My final example is that of Wolfsheim s friend. Wolfsheim and his friends were modern gangsters that took their business seriously. When some men were looking for Wolfsheim s friend, Wolfsheim told him to stay inside. The man eventually went outside and was killed for his ways of work. So, all the people who acquired their money illegally in The Great Gatsby paid the price.

In real life situations, I believe the same is said to be true about gaining your wealth illegally. One reason I believe this is because people don t think about every little detail it takes not to be caught. They will usually forget about one thing that will wreck their wealth that they just acquired. For example, people who rob banks will get caught nine out of ten times. They usually think that they always have everything taken care of, but they don t. As soon as they enter the bank, they are on camera. Another example would be if a poor person all of a sudden became rich. I bet that many people would automatically realize something. Then they might link that certain person to a crime that might have happened recently. So when The Great Gatsby had the theme that you will pay for what get, the same is said in real life situations as well.

If people acquire their wealth illegally, they will pay for it in the end, is a major theme brought out in The Great Gatsby. I think that this means that the people who do this are insecure. They are afraid to find themselves. While they are trying to be rich and powerful, they forget that in the end, money doesn t matter.