Examples Of Dishonesty In The Great Gatsby

514 Words3 Pages

Great Gatsby Essay Two major themes that run throughout Scott Fitzgerald's book "The Great Gatsby" are money and dishonesty. Fitzgerald likes to depict these two subjects in a variety of ways. He depicts wealth in the manner that people behave, dress, and so on, and he depicts dishonesty in relationships and the way of their fortune. Gatsby talks about seeing a green light on Daisy's pier throughout the book, and he compares it to all of his unfulfilled ambitions. The fact that he saw it at Daisy's dock's end represents his unlimited amount of love for her and the fact that, regardless of his wealth, that light would always be far away and not next to him. In the book, Ms. Baker informs Nick that "Tom's got some woman in New York" (Fitzgerald, 18), but this is just the start of the deceit that occurs throughout the whole novel. …show more content…

However, not as much as Tom or Daisy, Gatsby lies in the book as well. Gatsby deceives everyone into believing that he inherited his wealth, but in reality, he was a bootlegger who made his money in this fashion. Nick discovered this after Gatsby said that it took three years to accumulate the cash necessary to purchase the estate. In the book, Nick describes Gatsby’s mansion by saying "It was a factual tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy. and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden, it was Gatsby's Mansion." (Fitzgerald, 7). This demonstrates the extent of Gatsby's money earned from bootlegging. His sole desire is to flaunt his wealth to Daisy, telling her how happy he would make her if she moved in to live with him forever. He sees that Daisy is happier with him than she is with Tom, wants to win her love, and believes that having a lot more money than Tom will help him do so. Since Nick is a calm, open-minded character in the novel, everyone flocked to him for advice or just to