Examples Of Indulgence In The Great Gatsby

As Dan Groat once stated, “The weak thrive on indulgence”, referring to the lack of strength and health self indulgent people experience as consequence of their actions. Persistent attempts to commit selfish endeavors may have detrimental effects. Throughout The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald communicates the modernist perspective of loneliness and the decay of mental stability, as ramifications of self indulgence. Both Fitzgerald and William Golding convey the themes of a character’s mental decay while attempting to prove themselves, the loss of mental stability in attempt to achieve companionship, and the physical destruction that is associated with one’s self indulgence, throughout The Great Gatsby, and, Lord of the Flies. Both authors

F. Scott Fitzgerald bases The Great Gatsby, off of this idea and provides many examples demonstrating the mental instability people could obtain by striving for someone of unequal desires. First and foremost, Jay Gatsby hosts countless number of parties with the most reputable people in the country, but is never able to achieve his goal of being accompanied without the presence of his true love Daisy. Gatsby becomes extremely close to winning over Daisy, but unfortunately is unable to, which causes his extreme outburst in front of everyone at the Plaza hotel. Gatsby’s mentally unstable outburst , “Gatsby sprang to his feet, vivid with excitement. ‘She never loved you, do you hear?’”, (Fitzgerald, pg. 124), clearly goes against his nature as a very kind hearted gentlemen, and is rude and distasteful as he struggles to achieve Daisy’s company from Tom’s grasp. Similarly, the idea of mental instability due to lack of proper companionship presents itself through Mrs. Jordan Baker’s lack of success at a relationship with Nick. While performing deeds for Gatsby, Jordan is also trying to impress Nick and become closer with him, but her continued attempts are unrewarded, leaving her in a very depressed stage. After the completion of the funeral for Gatsby, Nick visits with Jordan to break things off and her very angered

For instance, one of the most detrimental actions in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, Great Gatsby, being Jay Gatsby’s death, occurred due to protecting Daisy from what she had done and his knowledge of the truth. Although Gatsby knew that it was Daisy who had run over and killed Myrtle, his unrequited love for Daisy was why he took the blame and fell susceptible to George’s anger, dying in order to protect his true love. This selfless action presents itself through Tom’s defensive statement, “ [...] ‘That fellow had it coming to him. [...] He ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog and never even stopped his car.’”, (Fitzgerald, pg. 169). Despite how wrongful Tom makes Gatsby seem, it is Jay’s knowledge of Daisy’s guiltiness and his commitment to protect her that lead to his physical destruction. A less prevalent example of physical destruction being the product of indulgent actions would be the death of Myrtle as an indirect consequence for her affair with Tom. Myrtles selfish actions of sleeping with Tom for his wealth and betraying her poor husband indirectly lead to her death. Due to George’s rash actions of keeping her locked up for being disloyal to him, Myrtle is physically destroyed by Gatsby’s car as she attempts to flee with hopes that it is Tom the driver and has returned to rescue her from her raging husband. Myrtle’s indirect