The Great Gatsby is a masterpiece written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book takes place right after World War I, in the 1920's also known as the roaring twenties. During this time America was in a state of re-defining itself. Similar to America, in the book, Jay Gatsby has completely changed himself from an average man to a member of the rich upper class in order to win back his pre-war girlfriend Daisy Buchanan. The prosperous economy that followed World War I enabled members of the upper class an opulent opportunity of luxury. F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby encompasses the extravagant world of the wealthy and the wasteful manner in which they live their lives. Fitzgerald utilizes the self-centered, money-oriented mindsets of Daisy and Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby to symbolize how adopting materialism in may ways dishonors American idealism.

The material oriented lifestyle is exposed early...