Alex Baj
Period 9
5/28/20
There are a lot of components that make up life in America. While there are a lot of positive attributes that make up this great country, unfortunately there are too many negative factors that affect American societal values. Whether we look back historically or examine current day, these values have remained constant over the years. The natural instinct of desiring what others have goes back in time and exists today, which makes American society driven by materialism and greed.
Materialism has been a key aspect in shaping America into what it is today. Even in the 1920s illustrated by The Great Gatsby Tom and Daisy were driven by all things wealthy, “they had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together”(pg.6). Clearly, their relationship was defined by Tom’s success and wealth, which made him believe he could buy happiness with anything he wanted. Tom felt his elite status entitled him to blatantly have an affair without any consequences. His wealth is what attracted his mistress to him and was also the reason his wife, Daisy, would never leave. However, in present America gluttony of wealth is where we look, “We see it everywhere; on television, in print, and even on the internet, advertisement/materialistic things catch the public’s eye”(sites.psu). This signifies how advertising things everywhere 24/7 has made ‘luxuries as necessities’ a cultural norm. That having nice things and valuing those things will make you “happier” in life. Materialism has done a lot to make America what it is today, nevertheless greed also has had a major impact on American values.
Greed can cloud happiness that can affect many people in the U.S. In The Great Gatsby, when Gatsby confesses his love to Daisy in front of Tom saying, “ He’s not going to take care of her anymore... Daisy’s leaving you”(pg.133). Clearly, it could be viewed that Daisy loves Gatsby more emotionally throughout the book. However it is Daisy’s greed and love for an expensive life that keeps her from leaving Tom. Her love for money and fancy materialistic things far outweigh her emotions, and because of this she prevents herself from ever becoming truly happy in life. Nevertheless, this also happens in modern America, people caring more about expensive things rather than developing deep, personal connections. There are a lot of people in modern America that believe, “Money, not love, is the glue that keeps couples together”(wealth pilgrim). This is significant because there are thousands of people that would rather be economically stable with someone that they may not love, rather than being less-wealthy and be with someone you truly and deeply love and care about.
There are many positive and amazing values American’s possess, which make it the country it is today including: Being self-reliant, a hard worker, along with being a competitor. These are all values that the Founding Fathers had envisioned for the United States. For the most part these have been upheld, however greed and being dependent on materialistic things is seen in The Great Gatsby and it is also seen in daily life in America. These negative values have affected the way life has been perceived in America, by making life more shallow and less meaningful because emotional connections are being out valued more by things and money.
