Money: the pursuit of happiness? In America, citizens are involuntarily forced to rely on money to survive. Over the years, money has gone from a simple necessity to the epicenter of all thoughts and decisions. Now, the concept of living a comfortable and enjoyable life is associated with the amount of money in your wallet. Americans equate this wealth with freedom, stability and happiness. Yet in F. Scott Fitzgerald's widely questionable novel, The Great Gatsby, money takes on the role of a luxurious possession that blinds people to the meaning behind true love and happiness. Fitzgerald uses his characters' lifestyle to portray that money, while having the ability to satisfy materialistic desires, is unable to purchase feelings of psychological fulfillment which corrupts the ability to ever be satisfied. In the media, there are often stories of famous older celebrities marrying a woman or man significantly younger than them. Viewers can't help but think that the younger individual must be with the older man for the money. Such stories subliminally scream the message that if a person of romantic interest has a desirable amount of money, the direct path to happiness is to be with that person. Although a person with a lot of money can offer security and financial stability, this will not, however, mask the terrible personality of the lover. Daisy, despite being married to “…one of the most powerful purposes…” (Fitzgerald 6), carries within her “…an expression of thoughtless sadness.” (13) Even though Daisy perhaps has everything she could ever want, she is still dissatisfied with life and is looking for something better. "[She and Tom] had spent a year in France for no particular reason... ... middle of paper ...... the problem is, though, that people become slaves to money and everything else entails. Not only does it completely diminish all senses of morality, but it is also a vain cure for man's inexplicable struggle with loneliness. Fitzgerald shows Gatsby basing his dreams, goals, and aspirations on what he believes his money are able to achieve. He does not realize, however, that money does not satisfy the non-materialistic fulfillment. Daisy "leaves Gatsby, nothing..." (149), Gatsby's dreams are not really satisfied with what he worked for years. Daisy and Tom fade away after causing further problems in pursuit of happiness that money was unable to provide through meaningless relationships and bad decisions. Fitzgerald proves that the path to happiness is not made permissible by the money Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1953.