Affluenza in The Great Gatsby Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald characters consistently show signs of Affluenza. Their wealth generates injurious, unpleasant effects on their cognitive and social health such as a sense of entitlement, irresponsibility and failure to acknowledge consequences. Tom and Daisy present signs that one with Affluenza would present. On account of Tom being accustomed to an upscale life, his consideration of the events that follow his actions have disintegrated. Tom handles situations differently than someone who does not have his money to fall back on would. While most people would be reticent towards their spouse while cheating, Tom was not. Tom even had the audacity to answer a phone call from his mistress during a dinner party, …show more content…
Daisy is primarily the person at fault for Myrtle’s death, Tom also plays a role in the downfall after his mistress's death. Instead, Tom never confesses to Myrtle being his mistress and holds Gatsby accountable for her death. As for Daisy she allows Gatsby to take the fault for her mistakes and walks away with her hands clean. Following Myrtle's death comes Gatsby’s death. Rather than attending the funeral of the man she was in love with, Daisy leaves town with the man she “loved” in the past. At this point Nick can see who Tom and Daisy are and their thoughtlessness, "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made, "( Fitzgerald 170). In these two deaths Tom and Daisy could have taken accountability for many things yet again, they were able to leave without a worry. The negligent, irresponsibility behavior is present in Daisy and Tom which could be explained by