Materialism and The Great Gatsby The acquisition of material has often been equated with happiness in this country. This is true today, and it was true during the 1920's, the setting of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Fiztgerald shows how Jay Gatsby is a man that believes if he has money, he can attain love and happiness. Jay Gatsby believes that money can recreate the past, can buy him happiness, and can help him achieve prestige in the town of East Egg. The belief by the majority of Americans that wealth and happiness are the same is a result of an economy that encourages consumption and social conditions that lead us to think that we need ma