Key Themes In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby has many themes which are still relevant in today’s society. These themes helped us learn more about the time period the novel was set in. In “The Great Gatsby” F.Scott Fitzgerald utilizes characters such as Gatsby, Tom and Jordan, symbols like the green light, the eyes of Dr.T.J. Eckleburg and Gatsby’s parties, and motifs such as illusion vs reality, relationships , and moral decay to illustrate the themes of love, hypocrisy, and carelessness throughout the book.

To begin with, love is a key theme shown through Gatsby and his hope symbolized through the green light which blinds him from the motif of illusion vs. reality. Gatsby has an intense feeling of love and obsession towards Daisy. This is shown when Daisy is over at

Carelessness plays an important role in The Great Gatsby since it is mentioned a lot by Nick in Jordan’s moral decay and Gatsby’s parties. You can’t get more reckless than Jordan. She will do anything to keep being famous and she does not care about others no matter the cost is. Jordan is independent, rich and famous. She doesn’t care about anyones safety or concerns. This is shown when she is having a conversation with Nick about her being bad at driving she says “They’ll keep out of my way, it takes two to make an accident” (Fitzgerald 58). Everything around her has to be the best no matter what. She is careless because of all her money, just because she is famous she thinks she is always right and nothing is ever her fault. Jordan is always at social events and she knows most people since she is from the East egg but she goes to Gatsby’s Parties so she gets to meet all type of different social classes. In Gatsby’s parties a lot of people are careless. Most of Gatsby’s parties at the end of the night end up in catastrophe. The people there are careless since they are involved with illegal alcohol and they always end up drunk. In the middle of the book a story was explained about how a girl ruined her dress, and how people would throw up or end up in places they didn’t remember. This shows people there were careless about getting caught, ruining their possessions, or doing something they would regret or forget. Also, throughout the whole book you get to learn about each character and about all their mistakes and things they do wrong whether it is at their house, a party, or a different part of the city. Moral Decay is a motif that is so important because it is always present. Jordan is a good example, since Nick sees the good and bad in her. He explains that “at her first big golf tournament there was a row that nearly reached the newspapers- a