Examples Of Hypocrisy In The Great Gatsby

A prime example of hypocrisy during the 1920’s was the expectations that women were still to be thought of as lesser human than men. That men would be allowed and expected to fool around with women other than their wives but women were prohibited from acting in the same manner. We can see Fitzgerald’s attempt to divulge this repugnant infidelity with the use of Daisy and Tom Buchanan’s marriage. We first see the distortion of their relationship when Nick is invited over for dinner at the Buchanan’s in chapter 1. In this scene, the telephone rings and on the other line is Tom’s mistress, Myrtle. Daisy follows Tom into the other room and closes the door behind them. The couple begin to argue about his mistress having the audacity to call at

The dynamics of Daisy and Tom’s relationship become evident- Daisy is suppose to pretend that her family is faultless while Tom is free to fool around with his mistress openly. Tom and his mistress, Myrtle, openly throw their relationship in Daisy’s face as we can see by the time that the Buchanan’s phone had rung. Myrtle had called at dinner which is when she knew Daisy and Tom would be together. This shows an obvious disrespect for Tom’s wife, Daisy, which Myrtle could only have learned from Tom. Later on in chapter 7 Gatsby, Daisy, Nick, Tom and Jordan all head into town. By this chapter Tom is now aware of his wife’s affair with Gatsby but is waiting for the right time to confront the two. Tom attempts to pick apart Gatsby’s stories and the details that make up who he is in an attempt to break him down. Tom’s lack of confidence in these stories begins to aggravate Gatsby. This is when Gatsby exclaims to Tom that: “Your wife doesn’t love you, she’s never loved you. She loves me” (7.124) Tom is bewildered that his wife could have cheated on him but doesn’t give his affair with Myrtle a second thought. This is a prime example of Tom’s hypocrisy. In chapter 7 Daisy