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Moral Code In The Great Gatsby

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“What this demonstrates, I think, is how impressionable and vulnerable we are in the face of a story…” The eighth paragraph of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk,The Danger of a Single Story demonstrates how seeing the lives of characters in the novel through only Nick’s eyes affect the feelings of the reader. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is written from a first-person point of view, which generates a single impression of the lives of those in the novel. Fitzgerald fabricated Nick with a moral code, which creates a biased story – Nick believes he is non-judgemental but continues to judge others on what is morally ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Therefore, the reader is left only with a guess at who ,in the story, truly is what Nick says they are. This biased approach places a negative impact on the effectiveness of the novel. …show more content…

This code allows Nick to display Characters in either a positive or negative light based on his own opinion. For example, Nick admires Gatsby-a gambling bootlegger- and found Jordan-a dishonest woman who has cheated in a golf tournament-distasteful. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald states, “I’d be damned if I’d go in; I’d had enough of all of them for one day, and suddenly that included Jordan too.”(Fitzgerald 152) Here, Nick is displayed as viewing himself above Jordan. He feels drained from being around her and describes her in a dismissive manner. Fitzgerald states, "You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together."(Fitzgerald 164) This line conveys Nick as having a special-liking toward Gatsby. In these two lines from The Great Gatsby, Nick shows partiality to Gatsby because, even though Gatsby has flaws, due to Nick’s moral code, his flaws are preferred over others, such as

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Anne O’Hare McCormick has said “The foundations of the world will be shaky until the moral props are restored.” This quote is ironic, considering the theme of The Great Gatsby is a moral wasteland. The Great Gatsby in its entirety is one great big amalgamation of a moral wasteland. The story follows Nick Carraway, living in his tiny cottage next to the elusive Gatsby in West Egg, New York. Throughout the story, there are many different forms of immorality shown in different characters.

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1426 Words | 6 Pages

(Fitzgerald 45). In this section of the novel Nick is with a man in Gatsby’s library. The man was astounded by Gatsby’s wealth because all the books in Gatsby's library were real. Usually people had fake books to make it look like they were rich and well educated, but Gatsby was different and this man was attracted to that. “Looking from one group to another with approving eyes.

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453 Words | 2 Pages

Significant quotes from “The Great Gatsby” “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” (F. Scott Fitzgerald, P. 35), this quote is effective, as being placed in the beginning of the book, it demonstrates that the narrator is not attached to either of the worlds that he is speaking about, thus, the reader knows that the narrator will stay objective throughout the book. This technique stands true for the fist chapters of “The Great Gatsby”, where Fitzgerald, by multiple lines, shows that the narrator is trustworthy. This particular quote shows that Nick likes to observe different lives and reserve his judgments, as if he wanted to collect “the inexhaustible variety of lives” in his mind and then process them later.

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569 Words | 3 Pages

The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates a morally ambiguous character that can’t be defined as strictly good or evil. Moral ambiguity is the driving force towards Gatsby’s actions. The character Gatsby demonstrates morally ambiguous qualities that initiate plot throughout the whole novel. Morally ambiguous choices can be viewed towards Gatsby’s character throughout the novel. The first glimpse of Gatsby is introduced in the first chapter while Nick is “exempting him from his reaction” of a “uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever” already placing Gatsby in a position of moral ambiguity (Fitzgerald 2).

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2421 Words | 10 Pages

He says “They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together” (Fitzgerald 154). Nick says Gatsby is too good for them and worth the whole bunch. Gatsby even revalued everything for Daisy’s eyes just to please her. “He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes.”

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491 Words | 2 Pages

The passage I chose to analyze occurred in chapter three of The Great Gatsby. Gatsby decided to host one of his huge, extravagant parties in which Nick, the narrator, was invited. He had been intrigued by the thought of Gatsby and the fact that no one had seemed to have met him at this gathering. Nick was told several different speculating rumors about Gatsby, one even regarding how he had killed a man. The buildup around meeting Gatsby was immense until finally, towards the end of the chapter, Nick meets Gatsby.

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756 Words | 4 Pages

The Roaring Lack of Morality in the 20s Morals were not thought of as a strict moral code during the roaring twenties, and many people found them rather irrelevant. Those whom threw parties, cheated, and lied, were those who were happiest during these times. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, paints a picture of the 1920s by expressing many themes: the need for wealth, the want for love, and the act of betrayal in marriage through the Modern Era.

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1555 Words | 7 Pages

Ben Eisenberg Mr. Foote English July 14, 2023 Gatsby’s Bad News It is a fundamental law of nature that things move from order to disordered states and that life deviates drastically from the goals one pursues. However, it is humanity who breaks the spontaneous flow of nature to make it something desirable. Machinery, for example, does this well; however, like machinery, getting what is wanted often is at the cost of taking what others have. So, if a person could change nature, is it morally acceptable that they do?

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I shouted across the lawn. ‘You 're worth the whole damn bunch put together.’” (The Great Gatsby, 154). This is one of the last things that Nick has ever said to Gatsby before he is eliminated by George Wilson. While Gatsby was in love with the image of Daisy and falling even deeper in love, Nick was falling for Gatsby’s image in a sense.

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In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the theme of moral decay is best displayed through lying, adultery, and manipulation. Throughout this piece of literature the characters morality is in constant question. The first introductions of the characters they give the impression to have morals with little fault. However throughout the novel the characters morality or ethics begin to decay and the true nature of the characters begin to arise. Fitzgerald uses lying, adultery, and manipulation to portray the decay of morality in the characters of the novel.

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1909 Words | 8 Pages

An important theme in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the corruption of morals because of wealth. It doesn’t matter if one comes from old or new money, wealth will corrupt the morality of even the humblest. The first example of wealth corrupting morals is in the indifference to infidelity between the married Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. The next example of wealth corrupting morals is seen in Jordan Baker’s actions to keep her luxurious lifestyle. Third, Jim Gatsby’s pursuit of wealth lead to the corruption of his morals.

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1659 Words | 7 Pages

Characters throughout The Great Gatsby present themselves with mysterious and questionable morals. Affairs, dishonest morals, criminal professions, weak boundaries and hypocritical views are all examples of immorality portrayed in The Great Gatsby. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, lies and mischief fill the lives of many and significantly damage numerous relationships. First, Jay Gatsby's whole life is consumed into a massive lie. His personality traits set him apart from others and the attention he accumulates motivates him to falsely portray his life.

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1193 Words | 5 Pages

From a young age, we have been taught what behavior is acceptable and deemed good, and what is immoral or bad. In the novel, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many of the characters require questioning regarding if they should be classified as truly moral people who exhibit goodness or correctness in their lifestyles. In their society, the goals shared by all are becoming rich and fitting in, and often in order to meet them, actions are taken which harm others but benefit themselves. The author conveys that morality has little value to the characters in Gatsby because they take any means necessary in order to achieve their dreams and fail to think about the consequences of their impulsive actions.

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1463 Words | 6 Pages

J RAWLS, The Laws of Peoples-with the Idea of Public Reason Revisited, Harvard University Press: USA, 1999. John Rawls was an influential political philosopher and his publications are widely read. One of which is the Law of Peoples published in 1993 which is the subject of my study. In the Law of Peoples Rawls concerns of the general principles whereby one can uphold and be accept by the liberal people as well as the non-liberal society. “This principle is a standard for which can be useful in regulating the behavior of the citizens towards one and other.”

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Trapped In “Ship in a Bottle” a short story from the book Olive Kitteridge, there is many meanings that can be interpreted from the title of the chapter. The meaning of “ship in a Bottle” can portrayed as a literal and a figurative way throughout the chapter. Jims ship being trapped, as it was too big to get out of the basement served as a literal portrayal. Julie feeling trapped by her mother as a figurative portrayal.

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