Marxist theory and The Great Gatsby

In Marxist literary theory, economics is the basis of all further investigation into a literary work. Two of the principles behind this theory are conspicuous consumption, the display of expensive items to attract attention and who how rich one is, and commodification, treating something as only a commodity.
These two principles can play off each other. It does not necessarily have to be the latest and greatest stereo or car that is conspicuously displayed. Commodification can refer to people as well. And when a class can display another person as a commodity to better themselves, then one is simply using people as a commodity to exploit one’s own status. This can work to the benefit of any class of people. If one marries up in status (a rich spouse, a powerful spouse), one automatically gains a higher status. The higher class can utilize lower classes to keep themselves in the higher class still (people working underneath them, for instance).
An author may choose to use these principles to his benefit. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald makes us see that Daisy would not marry for love. She thought of herself as a girl who deserved the best. How could she marry a simple lieutenant without any real wealth? He didn’t even have the resources to get out of military duty. She chooses to marry Tom Buchanan, not for love, but for the social status. She even has a daughter with him, not for love of children, but because that is what she is supposed to do as a woman in her status. She can now parade both Tom and the daughter as examples of her social status, as one would take a new car out to show the neighborhood. The more expensive the car, the more expensive the family, the better the individual seems. She creates self-worth from this.
Fitzgerald also takes a shot at the so-called American dream of the twenties. Only in Marxist criticism would this be exemplified. Gatsby seems to be that rags to riches character, where only his hard work and determination advanced him above his poor familial status and condition. Fitzgerald praises the character for having the drive to succeed. Gatsby seems to be supreme. However, the dream must have fallen short because Gatsby had to cheat to get there, doing illegal activities to amass his wealth. That ideology of the American dream and hard work, propagated by the higher classes who did not have to work supremely hard to achieve it, is seen by the poor as the way to reach the plateaus of the rich. Almost like a prediction, this novel predicts the impending stock market crash, where wealth was bought on the margin and never really existed, like a dream on paper.