Not Enough.

Let me receive, obtain, and give me all you can, and don't expect anything back because I'm too egoistic and selfish to pay you any mind. The previous was the mindset of the 1920's. Although the wealthy characters in The Great Gatsby want to "have it all," or better said, "to consume it all," not a single one of them demonstrates satisfaction with his life, marriage, or friends. They constantly seek other ways to diminish their dissatisfaction with life. Alcohol, adultery, and crime are some of the ways to do so. Although immoral and incorrect, this is the 1920's way of getting things done.

But why must people seek the wrong way to ameliorate their hunger? Is it because real happiness seems a stupid, blurry dream in the distance? If so, material prosperity is the "way to go."

In the beginning, Nick describes Gatsby as being "great." This trait is later confused in the book as we start realizing that Gatsby has produced his entire life to please a woman, Daisy who doesn't share the same feelings. All human beings are constantly dishonest in this era of excessive materialism – as well as gluttonous, hypocritical, and self-destructive. The characters try to cover their dissatisfaction by always being accompanied by others. The isolation is an internal one, produced by their inability to experience true love and compassion with one another. We can analyze the narrator's fear of loneliness of his thirtieth birthday; his fear of aging seems to be connected to his fear of isolation. Also, Daisy’s need to be adored is the cause of her own fear of isolation. And Gatsby, despite hosting fancy parties with hundreds of people, dies alone.