Class distinctions often determine actions. People who believe they are better than others will strive to accumulate wealth, or even simply associate with it, in order to feel omnipotent. Through the classic novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the film Washington Square, based on the novel by Henry James, and the cover of the October 12, 2009 issue of The New Yorker, the authors show that money breeds perversion . Because some people have illusions of superiority, they are more likely to be corrupted by the money whose power attracts them. Only those who are humble and do not desire the power that money gives can remain intact. Tom Buchanan, Dr. Sloper, and the cartoon woman all boast about their "superiority" over others. Tom, a man of "old money" (family wealth), owns a house which indicates his status to all passers-by. Described as a "Georgian colonial mansion overlooking the bay" (11), the house is located in East Egg, the most "fashionable" place where "white palaces... sparkled on the water's edge" ( 10). Nick even mentions that Tom is one of the few men of his generation who is wealthy enough to own "a series of polo ponies" (10). Tom, in addition to being ostentatious, uses force to assert his power over those who are not rich like him. This is foreshadowed early in the novel when he asks Nick if he has read The Rise of Colored Empires. The title alone indicates that this is a novel that only a selfish, power-hungry man would read. Even his wife calls him a “brutal man” (16). However, the reader only really becomes aware of his barbarity after the big fight in his apartment. The small New York loft on 158th Street serves as a meeting place for Tom and ...... middle of paper ...... iman goes to functions with the family, dresses in extravagant dresses and interferes with Catherine. life. When Catherine is away, Mrs. Penniman tries to turn Mr. Townsend into her perfect man, rather than Catherine's. As a result, she bribes him with money by helping him find a well-paying job and letting him live the high life while the Slopers are in Europe. When Catherine confronts her, she responds, “I considered him my own… my own son” (1:29:40). Work cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2013. Print.