The Power of Money in The Great Gatsby Former President Jimmy Carter knows both the power and the limits of money. He is also aware that acquiring money or material wealth is not a worthwhile goal. This was made clear in his address to the American people when he stated, “Our great cities and our mighty buildings will be of no use to us if we lack the spiritual strength to subjugate mere objects to the higher purposes of humanity” (Harnsberger 14). In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, the author clearly illustrates that Jay Gatsby does not understand the limits of the power of money. Gatsby believes that money can recreate the past, buy him happiness and allow him to climb the social ladder in the important East Egg. Jay Gatsby believes he can buy happiness; and this is shown through his house, his clothes and through Daisy. He has much of his finances from a mysterious source of wealth and uses this mysterious source to buy his house, his clothes, and Daisy. Gatsby's house, as Fitzgerald describes it, is "a faithful imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, brand new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of meadow." and garden" (Fitzgerald 9). This house, as Fitzgerald fabulously explains, is an immaculate symbol of Gatsby's incalculable income. "The house he feels he needs to gain happiness" (Bewley 24), is an elegant mansion ; what is shown as an excellent symbol of carelessness and is part of Gatsby's personality. Every Monday, after a party, this house is manned by eight servants and is large enough to hold hundreds of people at a time. His negligence…half of the paper…the strength to subjugate simple objects to the higher purposes of humanity” (Harnsberger 14). Works Cited Bewley, Marious. “Scott Fitzgerald Criticism of America.” F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. Arthur Mizener, Malcom. "Epilogue of the third act". New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1963. Fitzgerald, F. Scott 1925. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. Harnsberger, Caroline Thomas, eds Chicago: Follett, 1994. Lehan, Richard. The Limits of Wonder Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990. Piper, Henry Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: The Novel, the Critics, the Background: Charles Scribner's Children, 1970