Christmas vs Fitzgerald Writing

With the Christmas spirit arising these past few weeks, I have thought about how Christmas-or holidays in general- relate to the stories we have been discussing in class. A large majority of Fitzgerald literature is circled around the theme of materialism and our race towards the American Dream. We all want to believe that having "things" is the key to achieving happiness. With coming up holidays, we have lost the real meaning behind much of our celebrations. For example, during Christmas everything surrounds the excitement for receiving gifts, although after presents are collected everyone still carries a sense of emptiness. We all want more. With The Great Gatsby, all Gatsby ever wanted was to become extraordinarily wealthy, and once he obtains his riches he wants Daisy. After he reacquires Daisy’s love, he wants her to confess her sole love for him and that she never loved Tom. He continuously wants extra material. This also carries into "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" and "Winter Dreams", with Johns similar obsession with riches and Dexter's chase after Judy Jones. I think Fitzgerald does an exceptional job in portraying human-natures lack of appreciation, and how unnecessary it is for us to stay significantly selfish.