Examples Of Pride In The Great Gatsby

“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” (Thoreau). The men in The Great Gatsby are not fishing as an outdoor sport, but they are after the same thing, respect. Men take pride in the respect they recieve. A man’s pride is something that is taken very seriously. The nature of man is very prideful, anything that can hurt a man’s pride can push them over the edge. The Great Gatsby is a perfect example of how pride can change all men, no matter social status or bank account. For example, in the novel, Tom Buchanan and George Wilson are two completely different people, with different situations, that let pride drive them to do things they never dreamed possible. Even though the two have extreme

This is how all characters in the novel feel and act. This is what causes Myrtle Wilson’s attraction to Tom. In The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan is a very wealthy New Yorker who loves telling people just how wealthy he is. He likes to feel like he is in control. This is why he will not allow his mistress to say his wife’s name. “Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing, in impassioned voices, whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisy's name. "Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai –– "Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 125). Tom’s hunger for control makes him lash out and do crazy thing, like hitting his lover. Tom does love Daisy though, Daisy is Tom’s “perfect match” per say. She emits the same persona as Tom. “Her voice is full of money," he said suddenly. That was it. I'd never understood before. It was full of money – that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it… high in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl...” (Fitzgerald 99). Daisy’s personality tells everyone that her and Tom know money. This is why she is the wife and Myrtle cannot

George is the owner of an auto shop in the Valley of Ashes. “About half way between West Egg and New York the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald 23). This hell hole is the place George Wilson calls home. George is not wealthy, he gets to work on wealthy people’s cars and pump their gas for a living. George is consumed by the fact that his wife loves Tom because of his social class and money. George and Gatsby are alike in this way because they both are ruined by the fact that the girl they love, have feelings for Tom. “‘ Oh, you want too much!" she cried to Gatsby. ‘“I love you now – isn't that enough? I cannot help what's past.’ She began to sob helplessly. ‘I did love him once – but I loved you too” (Fitzgerald 261). Gatsby’s crushed by the fact that Daisy’s love can go to anyone but himself, just as George Wilson is with Myrtle and Tom. This is an example of pride getting in the way of what Gatsby wants. Daisy is saying that she loves Gatsby now, but she has loved Tom in the past. If Gatsby