In American Studies we looked at the image of the standard oil octopus, who encompassed much of the government. However, what struck me about the image was not the octopus itself, but the amount of the world the United States of America was depicted as occupying. It seemed to say two things, that the octopus, by taking over the USA had taken over the world, and that the USA essentially equaled the world. After reading the beginning of Gatsby, this double interpretation returned to mind. The parties and homes along with other displays of wealth seemed extravagant almost to the point of insanity, causing me to wonder if the wealth controlled the upper class as standard oil controlled the USA. Similarly, this “control” could be interpreted in a similar double interpretation. The upper class was nowhere near representative of the entirety of America. However, as we learned in class, “the actions of the few fueled the dreams of the many”. Hence, the importance and impact of the rich can be compared to the size of the USA in the octopus image. Also, going with the idea of money’s control over said rich people, money thus controlled the USA. This is not to say that only the rich are motivated by money, most, if not all people find an incentive in money. However, the actions of the aforementioned rich Americans are a prime example of control by money.
