To what extent of a person becoming more well- known, popular, rich, and more or less famous is the limit to their values, morals, and true self? Many during the age of 1920 started to be faced with such a question. How does it happen and how do their morals go so quickly out the window when faced with a new and higher social or economic state? In this story Gatsby was a fine young man with dreams and aspirations for his future and who he wanted to become. Him deep down still had these morals inside of him, but with the increase in his wealth, like many others, these morals began to fade to the background. Fitzgerald is able to show us how Gatsby and the people he surrounded himself with lost their morals through when Daisy left Gatsby for Tom, and when Gatsby was killed. Daisy leaving Gatsby is one of the greatest examples of the moral decay of people in this time period with the growth in wealth. Her and Gatsby had something special together when they were younger and all of that was taken away when she had realized that social status meant more to her than her true feelings. “At his lips’ touch, she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.”(Fitzgerald, 117). This is how she had really felt, she had wanted to kiss him and had loved Gatsby. He had waited for this moment with this “golden girl” forever and finally there was kissing her. They were young and in love. "She's not leaving me!" Tom's words suddenly leaned down over Gatsby. "Certainly
Yet his actions of following and having hope in her would lead him to find her actions not supporting what he wished for. Daisy wants to be a part of his life, yet her actions and decisions would hurt him both physically and mentally. She believed a life with Gatsby would finally fulfill her. When she decides to leave the hotel room after the argument, “Staying with Gatsby she decides to drive the car overwhelmed with anger and realizes her fun with Gatsby has ended”(Samkanashvili 48). All her expectations came to the reality that what she wanted was not going to ever be what she got. Only caring about herself and her issues, after that was when she killed Myrtle. “And as a result of Myrtle’s death Gatsby gets killed for Daisy’s foolish behavior”(Samkanashvili 48). Her unreasonable consciousness was not what could save Daisy now. What she did led to the death of the person we believe she loved, yet what she did for him was not very impressive. When Gatsby’s funeral came “Daisy hadn’t sent a message or a flower”(Fitzgerald 174). She did not want people to know she was caught up in this business. Daisy and Tom went away on a vacation to get away from what had happened. She never cared enough for Gatsby to risk her own appearance of being ruined through her mistakes and misjudgement. But her misstep was accompanied by the physical and
Gatsby and Daisy had met years prior, but ended up going their separate ways. However, Gatsby remained in love with Daisy and longed for her affection. The two reconcile, and Daisy starts seeing Gatsby outside of her marriage with Tom. In this, Daisy is leading Gatsby on by making him believe he will attain his ultimate dream: a life with her. However, Daisy knows deep down she will not leave Tom for Gatsby. This is proven when a confrontation about the affair sparks between Tom and Gatsby, and Daisy attempts to defend Gatsby and stick up to Tom, but ultimately fails and retreats back to her husband. “Her frightened eyes told that whatever intentions, whatever courage she had had, were definitely gone” (Fitzgerald 135). Daisy’s carelessness shines through in leading Gatsby to believe she would abandon Tom for him, but fails to follow through. She recklessly broke the heart of the man who had been in love with her for many
Morally ambiguous characters appear in many works of literature. The exemplary ambiguous character in Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” is Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a morally ambiguous character because of the actions he takes in order to achieve his own goals, Daisy. Furthermore, through Gatsby’s moral ambiguity, Fitzgerald reveals that setting a facade is ultimately bad.
In The Great Gatsby, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald shows the destruction of morals in society. The characters in this novel, all lose their morals in attempt to find their desired place in the social world. They trade their beliefs for the hope of being acceptance. Myrtle believes she can scorn her true social class in an attempt to be accepted into Ton's, Jay Gatsby who bases his whole life on buying love with wealth, and Daisy, who instead of marrying the man she truly loves, marries someone with wealth. The romance of money lures the characters in The Great Gatsby into surrendering their values, but in the end, "the streets paved with gold led to a dead end" (Vogue, December 1999).
Why do we often look up to the higher class? Why do we crave the fabulous lifestyles of the wealthy and famous? Murder, cheating, gambling and wild parties are just some examples of what went on in The Great Gatsby. First of all, the rich were also criminals and may have gotten their endless money in illegal matters. Secondly, most all of the rich characters shown throughout the book were unfaithful to his or her spouse. Thirdly, the wealthy were lavishly wasteful and did not seem to care about others. Finally, a character that expresses immorality the most is Tom Buchanan. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, his intentions were for people to learn to know that being rich or the hunger for money can lead to the immoral actions including some
It’s a common misconception that money is equal to happiness, and Daisy is a sad, bored woman, afraid of the future. She is selfish and self centered, caring so much for the wealth that she believes will make her happy that in Chapter 7 her voice is said to be “full of money” (pg #). All the worse, when she kills Myrtle, she feels no remorse whatsoever, as she is incapable of caring for anyone but herself. Gatsby cannot see any of her bad qualities. He simply sees a beautiful young woman that he thinks he deserves. In chapter 8, Nick says that “It excited [Gatsby], too, that many men had already loved Daisy - it increased her value in his eyes.”(pg#). Gatsby is blinded by his desire for Daisy, fueled by the wants of other men, that he sees nothing bad about her. Daisy loved Tom and Gatsby equally and for the same reason: Their wealth. With Gatsby dead Daisy returns to Tom not even shaken by his death, and just as nick says they would do, they retreat from the chaos they cause into their money when they move away.
One of Daisy’s biggest sins included misleading her husband by marrying him. Tom Buchanan remained deceived with the impression of Daisy loving him. After she cut her ties with Gatsby, she set off on a new adventure, transforming her normal life into riches. Daisy “wanted her life shaped now, immediately-and the decision must be made by some force- of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality” and soon “that force took the shape of Tom Buchanan”. Tom’s kindness attracted Daisy the first time they met. But as time progressed, she grew infatuated with his money more than his personality. The little glimpse of greed from her youth developed into a powerful force which took control of her emotions. To Daisy, the importance of money overpowered her will to achieve happiness. Daisy’s love rang once for Tom but Jay Gatsby answered her call. She cheated on her husband Tom because she desired Gatsby more. On the day of Myrtle’s death, Daisy confronted both Tom and Gatsby with her true emotions by confessing “even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom… It wouldn’t be true”. She loved Tom but since Daisy’s with Gatsby, she doesn’t love him anymore. Daisy broke the vows she made to Tom when they married each other. Breaking the promise of marriage gave her the thrill she always dreamed of in her youth.
In the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel about morals of the
Many romanticize the Roaring Twenties as a period of glorious excess: flirtatious hemlines of gorgeous flappers, lavish parties of jubilance, and the harmonious croons of jazz frequently come to mind. However, amidst this ostensible extravagance, the Roaring Twenties were plagued by corrupt morals, with many profiting through bootlegging and machine politics. The Great Gatsby highlights moral degradation as author F. Scott Fitzgerald details bootlegging, extramarital affairs, and murder. Among a cast of impersonal personalities, Nick Carraway features as the novel’s moral compass. An outsider to New York’s elite, Carraway notices the vast degradation of morals and criticizes the careless extravagance of the wealthy. But even Carraway is subject
Tom and Daisy Buchanan disguise themselves as wealthy, upper-class people from the East, but, when their immorality threatens their reputation, they find they are no better than their heritage, which stems from the Midwest. When Tom and Daisy constantly try to position themselves as having a better reputation, it establishes that they do not have the status necessary to be part of eastern upper-class. Tom and Daisy both initiate affairs in which neither truly care for the person they are having the affair with. Nick witnesses “Tom Buchanan [break Myrtle's] nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 37). Tom uses Myrtle, his mistress, for sexual pleasure, but does not care for her well-being. Tom uses her because his marriage with Daisy was not made for love, but rather to increase their social standing. Daisy also has an affair with her former lover, Gatsby, and after observing his wealth, she develops a relationship with him. Both Tom and Daisy are unsatisfied with their relationship, but rather than tarnish their social status with divorce they choose infidelity. Tom and Daisy’s desperation to maintain their status causes their immorality. Furthermore, in many instances Tom insults Gatsby, especially to degrade his wealth and achievements. For example, Tom says, “I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife” (130). Tom knows that he can only cause true damage by insulting Gatsby’s accomplishments. Tom desires to damage Daisy’s
Throughout one’s life, one is constantly told to do what is right despite the consequences or results. In reality these morals are practiced less and less as people worry less about the consequences of ignoring these morals. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald saw the disintegration of humanity early in the 20th century. In his novel, “The Great Gatsby”, written in 1925, he exemplifies the moral decay that surrounds society. He uses symbols such as the billboard of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, who serves as a representation of a forgotten God, to showcase the lack of care for things that were once important, such as morality.
The Webster dictionary defines morality as a moral discourse, statement or lesson. In the novel, “The Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald many of the characters could not be classified as truly moral people who exhibit goodness or correctness in their character and behavior. Tom, Daisy, and George all come to mind as the characters that have done the most moral damage throughout the novel. In the end, these individuals show characteristics of a moral decay in society because the cause corruption and lies, which is why they are morally responsible for the destruction of humanity.
After a time of prosperity, the roaring 1920’s became a decade of social decay and declining moral values. The forces this erosion of ethics can be explained by a variety of theories. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald paints a convincing portrait of waning social virtue in his novel, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald portrays the nefarious effects of materialism created by the wealth-driven culture of the time. This was an era where societal values made wealth and material possessions a defining element of one’s character. The implications of the wealthy mindset and its effects on humanity are at the source of the conflict in The Great Gatsby, offering a glimpse into the despair of the 20’s. During a time
Fitzgerald is a distinguished writer in American literary world. Being a spokesperson for the United States in the 1920 s and a member of the lost generation, Fitzgerald outlined "the greatest vain scene and the extravagance" in his book, and at the same time, he clearly saw the era of "all gods all dead, all wars has been finished, all people’s beliefs shaking “. In other words, that was during the special period—the end of the first world war, the unprecedented prosperity of American economy and people's great inanity after the loss of traditional values.
Daisy grew up spoiled due to the vast wealth she obtained from being ‘old money’, which caused her to become selfish and self-centred. Daisy had become selfish to the point that she has an expensive and materialistic desire or want. When Gatsby shows Daisy his mansion, she gazed in awe as “she admired […] the gardens, the sparkling odor of jonquils […] and the pale gold odor of kiss-me-at-the-gate.”(Fitzgerald,97) Daisy, all along, does not have feelings for Gatsby, but more for his money and expensive possessions, as she revealed her true self during Tom and Gatsby’s argument. Daisy is selfish even if money was not involved, as she does not feel grateful for Gatsby taking the blame for her killing Myrtle Wilson. For instance, when Nick tells Gatsby about Mrytle dying, Gatsby replies “’Yes,’ he said after the moment, ‘but of course I’ll say I was.’” (Fitzgerald, 154) When Daisy cried in Gatsby’s mansion, she was crying about her actions in killing Myrtle, meanwhile she does not care about Gatsby’s act of chivalry. Furthermore, Daisy takes advantage of Gatsby by taking Tom along to Gatsby’s party, when Daisy was personally invited to essentially go alone. When Gatsby saw Tom appearing to his party, Gastby with a light temper has a conversation with Tom. He says “I know your wife’, continued Gatsby, almost aggressively.”