Dishonesty In The Great Gatsby Analysis

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The theme of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald is that the upper class tend to participate in actions that are commonly seen as dishonest, unfaithful, or sketchy. Characters like Nick, Gatsby, Tom and George have twisted views on their own reality due to unfaithfulness and dishonesty. Nick was constantly lied to in the story, for example, Gatsby lied to him about where he got his money. Lies, similar to the one above, gave Nick some twisted views on the reality of his friendship. Gatsby had a twisted view on love due to Daisy marrying Tom right after he left for the war, rather than waiting for him. Tom cared more about his affair with Myrtle than his own wife. Neither Tom nor Daisy truly wanted to be in the relationship. George had his life all mixed up not knowing that Myrtle is being unfaithful to him. These instances of dishonesty from all of these characters against each other result in their own twisted realities due to unfaithfulness and dishonesty. …show more content…

Gatsby is not the only one with twisted views as a result of unfaithfulness. Myrtle, George’s wife, is cheating on George with Tom in the book made clear here, “Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He 's so dumb he doesn 't know he 's alive" (26). George suspects the cheating, but never truly discovers what is going on before she dies. Tom lied to George as well in order to keep his affair secret. He then ends up saving himself and killing Gatsby by blaming Myrtle 's death on Gatsby in the quote, ”He ran over Myrtle like you 'd run over a dog and never even stopped his car" (178). He explains this here, “There was nothing I could say, except the one unutterable fact that it wasn 't true” (178). Over time, the consequences begin to take effect on George and his mental health goes downhill due to the shadieness of the upper class. He goes as far as locking his wife up in a closet, “‘I 've got my wife locked in up there,’” (136), because his faith in Myrtle becomes weak from her sneaking around