1JavedTalha JavedProfessor Cagidemetrio11th March 2015Final PaperThe Great Gatsby and Veblens Conspicuous Consumption Scott Fitzgerald's short novel, The Great Gatsby is set in the 1920s and like its author, it is strongly identified with the Jazz Age. Yet, the theme of the novel is widely recognized as an indictment not so much of the Roaring Twenties as of the American Dream, the ability of Americans to rise out of poverty and into leisurely lifestyles with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work. The American Dream had attained an honored place in American mythology well before the opening of the twentieth century and Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class, first published in 1899, also focused on the American Dream by addressing the issues of status and wealth that arise from peoples' pursuits of it. Thus, it could be argued that Fitzgeralds socioeconomic satire in The Great Gatsby is influenced by Thorstein Veblens ideas of conspicuous consumption.In The Theory of the Leisure Class, Thorsten Veblen thought up the phrase "conspicuous consumption" to designate the act of purchasing and using certain goods and services, not in order to survive, but rather to identify oneself to others as having superior wealth and social standing.Veblen's theory of conspicuous consumption is based on the evolution of a leisure class whose members are not required to work but appropriate a surplus produced by those who do work, the working class. Once societies start to produce a surplus the relationship between private property and status becomes increasingly important. "It becomes indispensable to accumulate, to acquire property, in order to retain one's good name" (Veblen, 29). A hierarchy develops in which some people own property and others do not. To own property is to have status and honor, a position of esteem in this hierarchy: to have no property is to have no status.Key to the transformation of wealth into status is the social performance of members of the leisure class. Status derives from the judgments that other members of society make of an individual's position in society, and for this position to be established there must be a display of wealth. Veblen identifies two main ways in which an individual can display wealth, through extensive leisure activities and through lavish expenditure on consumption and services. The common thread that runs through both of these types of display is "the element of waste that is common to both.... In the one case it is a waste of time and effort, in the other it is a waste of goods" (Veblen, 85). Being able to engage in such wasteful activities is the key way in which members of the leisure class display their wealth and status.In principle, people can display their wealth through either method with equal facility; all this requires is an effective network for word to get around about a person's degree of leisure and the objects he or she possesses. Veblen argues, however, that as the population becomes more mobile, communities become less close-knit. In a more mobile society people may be less well informed about the leisure activities in which other people engage, and so the display of wealth through consumption of goods becomes more important than the display of leisure (Veblen 104).Veblen labels this type of behavior conspicuous consumption. People spend money on artifacts of consumption in order to give an indication of their wealth to other members of society. Conspicuous consumption is viewed by Veblen as the most important factor in determining consumer behavior, not just for the rich but also for all social classes. "The result is that the members of each stratum accept as their ideal of decency the scheme of life in vogue in the next higher stratum, and bend their energies to live up to that ideal" (Veblen 84). Each social class tries to emulate the consumption behavior of the class above it, to such an extent that even the poorest people are subject to pressures to engage in conspicuous consumption. "Very much of squalor and discomfort will be endured before the last trinket or the last pretense of pecuniary decency is put away" (Veblen, 85). This search for status through consumption is never ending. What at one time may confer status may later be acquired by all and confer no status. People must always try to acquire new consumption goods in order to distinguish themselves from others. All of which brings us to Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby, published on the 10th of April, 1925, is set against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties, a time defined by post-war euphoria, glamour, prosperity, decadence and excessive consumption. Not only was this a time when the stock market was reaching new heights, it was also during this period that the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution was passed in Congress, outlawing the sale of alcohol and opening up a world of financial opportunities for bootleggers and mobsters, countless of whom became millionaires overnight. Jay Gatsby, the hero of Fitzgeralds novel, is one of the many bootleggers who rise to fortune riding on the tailcoats of organized crime, and like several others of the recently riche, he struggles to forge a new identity for himself out of all the material riches he has accumulated, all in a bid to defy the traditional boundaries of class and affluence and win back Daisy Buchanan, the girl he loves. Throughout the narrative, Gatsby throws numerous lavish parties in a desperate effort to impress Daisy and signal to the rest of society that he has indeed risen in the world. The exact description of the parties that are thrown by Gatsby and the gifts he provides others with showcases Gatsby attempts to be obtain his American dream with conspicuous consumption. Fitzgerald summarizes the parties by writing, At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsbys enormous garden. On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors- doeuvre, 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. (Fitzgerald, 40) It is only at the end of the day, however, that he discovers that his amassed wealth and its ostentatious display does not necessarily earn him the entry he so desires into the upper classes. Ultimately, his pursuit of status and love is rendered futile, and he never manages to fulfil either of his dreams.Fitzgerald's masterpiece is the supreme Veblenian parable of conspicuous consumption, of conspicuous emulation, of pecuniary culture, and the leisure class itself. Jay Gatsby wants to live with Daisy Buchanan because she is a member of the established American aristocracy of wealth. Gatsby lacks the maturity to realize that Daisy cannot be obtained by money alone and in an unrefined display of conspicuous consumption. Gatsby flaunts his newly acquired wealth. Despite Daisy's infinite price, Gatsby is most attracted to Daisy's voice, which he describes as "full of money," a voice fostering an illusion he considers real. Fitzgerald here has put on display Veblen's "secondary utility," based on emulation that "seized upon the consumption of goods as a means to an invidious comparison, . . . as evidence of relative ability to pay" (Veblen, 154). The "evidence" of ability to pay, however, is not the same as the actual ability to pay, especially in the instance of "purchasing". Daisys price is infinite and thus Gatsby attempted to display a purchasing ability that was out of his reach.The concept of conspicuous consumption is greatly exemplified in the Great Gatsby, by all of the characters being in possession of excessive amounts of property and money. Money is the get-all give-all in Gatsbys version of the American dream. If one can obtain lots of money to impress the women, then he must have it made; Realists disagree with this mindset. [Gatsby] wants her to see his house, she explained. And your [Nicks] house is right next door (Fitzgerald, 84). Gatsby wants to display his wealth to Daisy, so she will be impressed with him. The different eggs represent the standings of peoples money. Gatsby in on the West, which is the people who don't have any real standing, even when they have lots of money. The West Egg represents the new money, or the money that was earned, not inherited. Daisy, the woman that Gatsby has always wanted, lives on East Egg. This is Gatsby displaying conspicuous consumption towards Daisy. As to pretentiousness, Fitzgerald's Gatsby again provides instruction. Tom and Daisy Buchanan live in a Georgian colonial mansion representing established wealth. Gatsby has purchased a pretentious, unsophisticated imitation of a European mansion in East Egg Fitzgerald describes by saying, the one on my right was a colossal affair by any standardit was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, standing new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsbys mansion (Fitzgerald, 9). Gatsbys house, and his elaborate parties, signifies certain emptiness in Gatsby. His only reason for setting up these gigantic parties in his large house is to attract the attention of Daisy. His enormous house goes to show that he has this money to spend, but spends it on something that will not help him to be happy, or to catch the attention of Daisy; This is probably the most conspicuous consumption of all. Even though, Gatsby's ivy is newly created but it is not in the same league as the Buchanans'. The establishment sees clearly that Gatsby, having no sense of tradition, simply copies the style of others. Tom Buchanan also has a large house, but for entirely different reasons. Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy afternoon, and Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch. (Fitzgerald, 6) Fitzgerald's description of Tom Buchanan's colossal house signifies Tom and his values. This also expresses that Tom is old money and was raised from a prep school, which shows the reader that he is not a very open-minded character, but relies more heavily upon literary knowledge. The house is also a portrayal of Toms bold, egotistical, scholarly manner. Tom also has done no large amount of work to earn this large estate. Gatsby, on the other hand, has worked for years to make up the money, even if it was illegal. Similar to his Mansion, Gatsby's sartorial choice, a pink suit, is as unrefined and modern as his gaudy, cream-colored car, his mansion, and his lavish parties.Daisy could never leave Tom for Gatsby because she and Tom are partners in a "secret society" of wealth, one that Gatsby cannot recognize, much less join. Daisy cannot leave the trappings of the old aristocracy. Tom, having originally "bought" Daisy with the gift of a $350,000 necklace, deploys brutality to keep her-even at the far greater cost to Gatsby of his dreams and his life. Though Gatsby does not know it, no matter how great his acquisitive spirits as a bootlegger, the acquisition of Daisy is unthinkable. Members of the upper-middle class or even middle-middle class who want to emulate the rich leisure class must do so by buying cheap imitations or by borrowing, even at the risk of bankruptcy or worse. After all, Jay Gatsby died for the sins of his own emulation, a conspicuous waste.In Gatsby, both Jay Gatsby's new wealth and Daisys old wealth lead to human failings, though the failings are manifested differently. Early in the novel, Jay Gatsby is observed in the attitude of a worshipper, alone, stretching his arms toward a single, faraway green light at the end of the Buchanans' dock across the water-the visible symbol of his aspirations. Green is the color of promise, of hope and renewal, and, of course, of money. For Gatsby, ideals are wrapped up with wealth, and so the means corrupt the ends. But it turns out that Daisy Buchanan is unworthy of his vision of her, and her "vulgar, meretricious beauty," her pretentiousness, is a snare. Gatsby dies disillusioned, while Daisy lives on, oblivious. Not only do Veblen and Fitzgerald concur on the spending of wealth on luxurious items but bring the topic of a woman or a wife into focus. Veblen states that women of the leisure class are largely responsible for the spending of the wealth that is accumulated by the men. Not only does this satisfy the needs for consumption for these women but it also strengthens the position and reputability of the men as belonging to the leisure class. Veblen underlines that women who indulge in conspicuous consumption allow the world to see the ability of their husband or fathers to afford these luxuries, cementing their positions as the upper class of society. Similarly, Fitzgerald employs Daisy Buchanan to represent the same aspect of the life of Tom Buchanan. Her ability to show off her wealth brings a certain highly regarded status to Tom. A question that Fitzgerald raises is whether Gatsby truly loves Daisy or is he more interested in what she brings to his life; the reputation and status. Both Veblen and Fitzgerald agree on the fact that those who can afford it are able to show off their wealth through the lifestyles that they reveal to others and the parties they throw.Overall, Veblen and Fitzgerald offer expectedly similar accounts of the American economics and social life. Following Veblen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in The Great Gatsby, highlights the life of luxury and conspicuous consumption through the portrayal of his characters and their livelihood. At the center of the American dream, as well as Gatsby's own, is the belief that sufficient wealth can recapture and fix everything, even the ephemeral, illusory qualities of youth and beauty. It was the same kind of "beauty" satirized by Veblen and thus it is clear that Veblens idea of conspicuous consumption influenced Fitzgeralds Great Gatsby. Works Cited:1. Fitzgerald, F. Scott.The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.2. Veblen, Thorstein.The Theory of the Leisure Class. Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.