Examples Of Selfish Thinking In The Great Gatsby

Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the affairs of Tom with Myrtle, and Daisy with Gatsby show that one must think before they act. Based on the novel The Great Gatsby, we see that some people in the 1920’s did what was convenient for themselves, whether it was the right thing or the wrong thing to do. People within the novel never thought about the consequences of their careless actions. We have all heard the phrase, “Think, before you act!” This statement would have gone a long way to the characters within the novel if they followed it. Instead of thinking before making certain decisions, the characters in The Great Gatsby would fall prey to horrible consequences due to their hasty decisions.

Two characters in

Jay Gatsby is a young, mysterious millionaire with shady business connections which would later be found out to be bootlegging. He is originally from North Dakota, but now resides in West Egg. He is obsessed with Daisy Buchanan whom he had met when he was a young military officer stationed in the South during WWI. Daisy Buchanan is an attractive, self-absorbed, young debutante and socialite. She is Nick Caraway’s second cousin, once removed, and the wife of Tom Buchanan. Jay Gatsby and Daisy fell in love before Gatsby got shipped off to war. After Gatsby leaves for war, Daisy waits for him, but then falls in love with a new man, Tom Buchannan. After five years, Gatsby and Daisy finally meet again. They fall in love again, and Daisy plans to leave Tom. The following quote shows the passion that Jay and Daisy had for each other before he was shipped off to the

He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed like a flower and the incarnation was complete.”

We can see here that Gatsby and Daisy had an unmistakable love and passion for each other before Tom and Daisy ever came to be. Something of this nature is hard to ever forget and move on from. Daisy evidently thought she could move on by marrying Tom Buchanan, but in Jay’s case, he never lost that spark and love for Daisy. It is possible that this foreshadows Jay and Daisy committing an affair together because of the strength of that past passion when they finally meet again.

Due to the emotions that Jay and Daisy shared in the past, they do not think about how their actions concerning their affair will affect those around them, mainly Tom Buchanan. In the following quote we can see how Jay and Daisy had an effect on