“Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes, and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor” (150).
This quote is interesting because it touches on how wealth can preserve things Gatsby values like youth and mystery but can also trap them in. Gatsby conception of time is not based on reality but instead on his own illusions of grandeur and making sure his love with Daisy is never unchanging. In this way, the promise of wealth and status are a prison that Gatsby cannot escape and because of this, is forever stuck in the past. Daisy’s wealth protects her from the daily struggles of poverty. Fitzgerald alludes to how distinct social classes were in the Roaring Twenties. Though this era is closely associated with wealth and a booming economy, there was still a big part of the population struggling in the ashes not far from the social playing field of the elite. Gatsby himself desires the stability and pride in being “like silver” and not having to struggle to survive. The personification of struggles being “hot” is also a good extension of how everything in the valley of ashes is dark, dirty and burned. The constant grind of living in such a place leaves you with no shine or vitality left.
I agree completely. For me, this illusion of wealth is also tied into Gatsby’s illusion and pursuit of Daisy. Although, as you noted, the two are encapsulating, leading to Gatsby’s ultimate demise, they are also galvanizing. On the last page of the novel, Fitzgerald notes, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eludes us then, but that’s no matter– to-morrow we will run faster stretch out further…And one fine morning–“(180). Although this quotation highlights the troubles of Gatsby’s pursuit, it also notes its beauty. Without Daisy and the pursuit of high-class culture, Gatsby did not have an identity. Although Fitzgerald may thus be arguing that his fixation on Daisy caused his limited personal development, he may also be championing the pursuit of something beyond ones’ self.