How Is Jay Gatsby Morally Ambiguous

Suppose your best friend, whom you’ve known your whole life, decides to steal someone’s wallet, even though he is someone you usually look up to for his pure honesty and integrity. You may have to think of them as morally ambiguous, or when a character’s actions discourage a reader from identifying them as purely good or purely evil. In The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is a morally ambiguous character who plays a pivotal role in the novel due to the pure intentions behind his illegal behavior, mixed with his open idea of having a relationship with a married woman. Throughout the novel, the balance of evil and being human in Gatsby’s efforts and actions allows the reader to effortlessly identify Gatsby as morally ambiguous.

Gatsby conveys his feelings about Daisy clearly: after having an affair with her, he wants her to leave her husband, Tom, for him even though they are already married. He ignores the immoral question of having an affair when already married and views it as morally okay just because he is benefiting from the situation. He is blindly in love, ignoring the morally unjust circumstances that accompany the affair. According to, The Great Gatsby,“‘Daisy, that’s all over now,’ he said earnestly. It doesn’t matter any more. Just tell him the truth—-that you never loved him—-and its all wiped out forever’”(Fitzgerald 132). Since their original encounter, Gatsby has been infatuated with Daisy. He went as far as collecting newspaper snippets and purchasing a house across the bay from her. He even hosted large parties, hoping that she would miraculously show up so he could acquaint himself with her again. Gatsby was delusionally enamored with Daisy. He could not visually understand that Daisy could not just leave her husband for him. He believes that she can just drop everything, and things could be the same as when they first met during the