Fitzgerald’s use of music serves to influence Gatsby’s feelings about his possessions and his journey to get Daisy. The song choice is ironic because it expresses the idea that money is unimportant in the long run, while Gatsby is giving Daisy a tour of his extravagant mansion. The line “Not much money/ Oh but honey/ Ain’t we got fun” contradicts Gatsby’s efforts to show off his possessions. All of this was going on while Daisy was realizing what she had missed out on by choosing Tom instead of Gatsby. 

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of music in the selection serves as a way to influence the characters, as well as to emphasize the theme of the selection. “Ain’t we got Fun” uses symbolism in order to display the separate worlds that the socio-economic classes live in. “The rich get richer and the poor get children,” implements this idea. Gatsby reflects on the song after it is played by Klipspringer, as it poses as a “reality” for Gatsby. Gatsby’s parents were poor farmers so he can relate to the differences in both socio-economic classes. The larger emphasis of the selected music in this chapter implies that Fitzgerald had been a part of the lower social class most of his life, and this contributed to the character’s [Gatsby] view of reality versus his perception of his goals. Fitzgerald also implicates a warning for readers, not to confuse what makes an individual happy and content. In the song, it suggests that “times are bum and getting bummer, still we have fun.” Even though the lower class does not have the resources and advancements of the upper class, they are still content with their lives and make the most of it. The songs (including “Ain’t we got Fun”) were not made for the time period, however, Fitzgerald uses them in the selection to emphasize several themes. The Great Gatsby takes place in the early 1920s, and this is also the time it was written by Fitzgerald. He can pull ideas from the real world and apply them to the selection to educate readers about the differences between class power versus happiness and pursuing goals. 

 

Fitzgerald’s use of music subtly interprets one of the many points that he makes in the book without Nick stating it directly. Fitzgerald suggests that you cannot constrict characters to their  social norms. With the use of the song The Love Nest, it contradicts the situation between two different lifestyles. According to the song, Daisy would continue to associate with people of higher class and old money. The song implies, given that Gatsby was poor, that he would make nothing of himself and just have children. Fitzgerald uses this song to indirectly make a point that he tries to convey to the readers throughout the entire novel- that you cannot generalize people with their social class. The use of a song allows Fitzgerald to indirectly make a point. 

 

Fitzgerald’s use of the song The Love Nest in The Great Gatsby serves to deepen the idea that love and warmth gives more meaning to life than money and pride. In the song, Hirsch sings, “shall brick and mortar hold warmth and love inside? The answer you may know: Jack solved it long ago.” The last sentence gives listeners the idea that a home should hold love and warmth rather than pride. Gatsby does the opposite, he builds his house and life out of pride “, and this is ultimately the downfall of his character. He was initially attracted to Daisy for her wealth and believes he’s in love with her, however he’s more in love with the idea that he had created of her years ago. Fitzgerald’s use of the song also foreshadows Gatsby’s “faint doubt that had occurred to him as to the quality of present happiness. Almost five years! There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams-not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion.” If his dream was beyond Daisy herself, then it wasn’t a relationship entirely built out of love. Speaking of the house and the relationship “he had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way.” His love nest was lavish but built mainly for pride. The foundation of their relationship is rooted in Gatsby’s desire for success, not “a love nest you can call home.”