In the glittering world of The Great Gatsby, is money the ultimate measure of a man?
F. Scott Fitzgerald relentlessly explores wealth’s seductive power and corrupting influence.
From Gatsby’s opulent parties designed to capture Daisy’s attention to the Buchanans’ careless privilege, money dictates social standing, shapes actions, and exposes the moral hollowness beneath the Jazz Age facade.
These 17 defining Great Gatsby quotes about money with page numbers (verified from the Scribner 2020 ed.) reveal wealth’s motivating and often destructive role in Fitzgerald’s characters’ lives.
The Allure and Illusion of Wealth: Gatsby’s World
Gatsby deploys his vast, new fortune to build an elaborate world to capture Daisy’s attention. His extravagant parties and possessions are dazzling symbols of success, but suggest the superficiality inherent in wealth pursued solely for display.
“I lived at West Egg, the – well, the least fashionable of the two… My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season.”
(Speaker: Nick Carraway as narrator, Chapter 1, Page 5)
Nick immediately establishes the scale of wealth, defining Gatsby’s milieu. Even his relatively modest dwelling sits near mansions commanding exorbitant seasonal rents, illustrating the staggering fortunes present in West Egg.
“On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from another.”
(Speaker: Nick Carraway as narrator describing Gatsby’s party, Chapter 3, Page 40)
Gatsby’s parties showcase wealth through sheer, overwhelming abundance. The “spiced baked hams,” rare liquors, and dazzling food displays create an atmosphere of luxurious excess calculated to impress his guests.
“‘I like to come,’ Lucille said… ‘When I was here last I tore my gown on a chair, and he asked me my name and address – inside of a week I got a package from Croirier’s with a new evening gown in it.’ … ‘It was gas blue with lavender beads. Two hundred and sixty-five dollars.’”
(Dialogue: Lucille and Jordan Baker at Gatsby’s party, Chapter 3, Page 43)
Gatsby’s effortless replacement of a costly gown ($265 then) reveals his immense resources and perhaps a calculated generosity. This casual display reinforces his image and may subtly influence guests, showing a world where money easily replaces material loss.
“‘I thought you inherited your money.’ ‘I did, old sport,’ he said automatically, ‘but I lost most of it in the big panic – the panic of the war.’ I think he hardly knew what he was saying, for when I asked him what business he was in he answered, ‘That’s my affair,’… ‘Oh, I’ve been in several things,’ he corrected himself. ‘I was in the drug business and then I was in the oil business. But I’m not in either one now.’”
(Dialogue: Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby, Chapter 5, Page 90)
Gatsby’s conflicting stories about his wealth—first claiming inheritance, then vaguely mentioning illicit businesses—show his deep unease with its true origins. He believes he must present a more socially acceptable source for his vast fortune.
“He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes.”
(Speaker: Nick Carraway as narrator about Jay Gatsby, Chapter 5, Page 91)
This observation reveals Gatsby’s core motivation for acquiring wealth. His possessions lack intrinsic value for him; they are merely instruments whose worth depends entirely on their ability to impress Daisy and win her love.
“Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. ‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the think folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such – such beautiful shirts before.’”
(Narration/Dialogue: Nick Carraway narrating, Daisy Buchanan speaking, Chapter 5, Page 92)
Daisy’s intense emotional reaction to the shirts signifies more than just appreciation for fine fabric. The sheer volume and beauty of the shirts represent the tangible proof of Gatsby’s success and devotion, overwhelming her with the weight of what might have been, prompting tears for the lost years and perhaps the man who achieved this for her.
Money is a primary motivator for many characters, influencing their romantic choices, social interactions, and fundamental sense of self-worth.
Money, Marriage, and Motivation: Defining Characters
Fitzgerald reveals how access to—or lack of—wealth profoundly shapes the characters’ opportunities, decisions, and relationships, often fueling ambition or deep resentment.
“His family were enormously wealthy — even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach — but now he’d left Chicago and come East in a fashion that rather took your breath away: for instance, he’d brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest.”
(Speaker: Nick Carraway about Tom Buchanan, Chapter 1, Page 6)
Tom’s inherited “enormous” wealth provides effortless social power and freedom. The casual acquisition of polo ponies signals his belonging to a privileged leisure class, setting a standard of effortless luxury that Gatsby attempts to replicate through immense effort.
“Mrs. Wilson had changed her costume some time before and was now attired in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream colored chiffon… With the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur.”
(Speaker: Nick Carraway as narrator about Myrtle Wilson, Chapter 2, Page 30)
Myrtle transforms herself with clothes bought with Tom’s money. The “elaborate” dress lets her temporarily shed her working-class identity, adopting the “impressive hauteur” she equates with wealth and status, illustrating money’s power to reshape persona.
“I married [George] because I thought he was a gentleman,” she said finally. “I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.”
(Speaker: Myrtle Wilson), Chapter 2, Page 34)
Myrtle explicitly ties her marital dissatisfaction to George’s lack of money and associated status (“gentleman,” “breeding”). Her disdain reveals that financial standing was crucial to assessing her husband’s worth.
“I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never told me about it, and the man came after it one day when he was out…I gave it to him and then I lay down and cried…all afternoon.”
(Speaker: Myrtle Wilson about George Wilson, Chapter 2, Page 35)
Discovering George’s poverty via the borrowed suit confirms Myrtle’s feeling of having made a “mistake.” This incident reveals that her materialistic desires were thwarted immediately, solidifying her resentment toward her financial station.
“By the next autumn she was gay again, gay as ever… In June she married Tom Buchanan of Chicago, with more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before… the day before the wedding he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
(Speaker: Jordan Baker narrating about Daisy Buchanan‘s marriage, Chapter 4, Page 75)
Daisy’s marriage to Tom is inseparable from displays of immense wealth (“pomp,” “$350,000 pearls”). This union secures her position within the highest social strata, depicting marriage among the elite partly as a transaction solidifying financial power.
“‘Here, deares’. She groped around in a waste-basket she had with her on the bed and pulled out the string of pearls. ‘Take ’em down-stairs and give ’em back to whoever they belong to. Tell ’em all Daisy’s change’ her mind. Say: ‘Daisy’s change’ her mine!’”
(Speaker: Daisy Buchanan on her wedding day, narrated by Jordan Baker, Chapter 4, Page 76)
In drunken distress, likely prompted by Gatsby’s memory, Daisy attempts to reject the marriage by returning Tom’s exorbitantly expensive pearls. Her ultimate acceptance of the gift and the marriage demonstrates wealth and security’s powerful hold over her romantic inclinations, foreshadowing her choosing Tom over Gatsby.
“One thing’s sure and nothing’s surer / The rich get richer and the poor get – children.”
(Character: Klipspringer singing, Nick listening, Chapter 5, Page 95)
Klipspringer’s song offers a cynical summary of economic reality within Gatsby’s world. The lyrics paint a fatalistic picture where wealth self-perpetuates for the rich, while the poor are trapped raising children they can’t afford, directly challenging the American Dream’s promise of mobility.
“Her voice is full of money,”
(Speaker: Jay Gatsby about Daisy Buchanan, Chapter 7, Page 120)
Gatsby acutely identifies the source of Daisy’s irresistible charm: it’s the sound of effortless, inherited wealth. Her voice embodies the grace, security, and status of the old-money world he aspires to join, making her synonymous with his financial and romantic goals.
Fitzgerald critiques the moral vacuum associated with extreme wealth, depicting how privilege insulates the characters from responsibility and fosters destructive carelessness.
The Moral Currency: Carelessness and Consequences
The novel demonstrates how wealth blurs morality. Characters like Tom and Daisy wield their financial power with reckless indifference, shielded from the consequences of their destructive actions.
“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”
(Speaker: Nick Carraway’s father, quoted by Nick, Chapter 1, Page 1)
This opening advice frames the narrative within an understanding of unequal “advantages,” linking privilege directly to wealth and social opportunity. It establishes a lens for observing how financial disparity shapes moral responsibility (or the lack thereof).
“‘She’s not leaving me!’ Tom’s words suddenly leaned down over Gatsby. ‘Certainly not for a common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on her finger.’”
(Speaker: Tom Buchanan about Daisy and Jay Gatsby, Chapter 7, Page 133)
Tom weaponizes Gatsby’s lack of legitimate, inherited wealth (“common swindler”) to assert his claim to Daisy. This moment reveals how the established elite use financial standing as a moral justification to maintain social control and dismiss outsiders.
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
(Speaker: Nick Carraway as narrator about Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Chapter 9, Page 179)
Nick delivers a searing indictment of the wealthy elite’s moral failure. Their money enables a “vast carelessness,” allowing them to destroy (“smash up things and creatures”) and then retreat, insulated from accountability by their immense fortune.
Conclusion: The High Price of Wealth
In The Great Gatsby, money is a glittering lure and a corrupting force. It promises access to love, status, and the American Dream, yet Fitzgerald masterfully shows how its pursuit and possession often lead to moral compromise and deep unhappiness.
These defining quotes illustrate wealth’s power to shape identity, fuel obsession, and create profound social divides. From Gatsby’s tainted fortune to the Buchanans’ insulated carelessness, money leaves an indelible mark on the characters’ lives and exposes the hollowness at the heart of their world.
See how fortunes rise and fall: explore our comprehensive collection of 79 Great Gatsby quotes on wealth, dreams, and the Jazz Age.
A Note on Page Numbers & Edition:
Like the fluctuating value of stocks, page numbers for The Great Gatsby can differ across editions! We referenced these page numbers from the authoritative The Great Gatsby: The Only Authorized Edition (Scribner, November 17, 2020), ISBN-13: 978-1982149482. Always consult your specific copy to ensure accuracy.
Jeremy Mortis, founder of Ageless Investing, applies a rigorous analytical approach (the AAM framework) to distill timeless wisdom and contextualized quotes from classic literature, saving you time while deepening understanding. Learn more about Jeremy’s unique background and methodology on his author bio page.