Moral Issues In The Great Gatsby

Society and the laws by which it is governed are set by one thing and only one thing; humans. Normal people set and agree upon the laws, and abide by them in their daily lives, but not everyone is a normal person. The laws set by society do not apply to everyone, whether that be by legal exceptions, or just an immense amount of money and power. This is especially touched upon in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby. In the book, Fitzgerald’s depiction of the problems of Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby face, and how they handle them relative to the lower class, illustrates that money and status make those who wield it invulnerable to the laws by which the rest of society are held to. A primary example of the evasion of the moral laws of man is Tom Buchanan. He lives in his own personal world where he is in control, even when it goes against the moral laws of man. The book is set in the roaring twenties, when high

A primary example of this is George Wilson and his interactions with moral laws. Wilson faces the same problem that Tom does, in that their wives are cheating on them. However, George Wilson doesn’t have the status or money to be able to control his wife like Tom can. Therefore, he is forced to respond differently than Tom. Daisy wants to stay with Tom because he has the status and money that she wants so much. If she left him, she’d be losing those assets. However, since George doesn’t have these assets, he has no incentive for Myrtle to stay with him, so he has to remove her from the affair by force. Plus, the law is clearly still applicable to those of lower status, as it’s present when Myrtle is killed, We know that Myrtle is killed by Gatsby’s car, but there is no follow through from the law apparent. In fact, some of the only consequences in the book is George's act of renegade