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Morality In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Morality in simple terms is what we define as right or wrong. In The Great Gatsby, the lack of morality is what makes it the Great Gatsby. Your morals shape what your ethics are and based on what they are hints at whether or not someone is truthful and honest. That is how morality exists in our world today. This is the same case with the Great Gatsby, however, it is the exact opposite viewpoint. Although we follow Nick Carraway throughout the story who understands the meaning of morality and is very unbiased, we interact with several characters in the Great Gatsby that are lacking in any sense of what is moral and what isn’t. The most morally ambiguous characters are Daisy, Gatsby, and Tom. Morality is something that is greatly affected in …show more content…

Not only does the couple have affairs with separate people, Daisy only married Tom for his money making her extremely immoral and materialistic. All while valuing Tom’s money more than Gatsby’s adoration for her, another example of how Daisy is corrupted and immoral by wealth. Tom on the other hand is ignorant and views himself as superior just because of his wealth and status, this can be perfectly represented by what he says in the very first chapter “Well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be — will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved.” (13, Fitzgerald) Tom is clearly worried about the white race, as he himself is a white man with extreme amounts of wealth, racism is immoral. Toms's immorality can also be shown in how he treats his mistresses, “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.” (30, Fitzgerald). It is also mentioned that Tom “accidentally” hurt Daisy’s little finger, however, we as the audience can assume that isn’t the case. Tom represents violence and aggression which is a key factor in why he is so immorally …show more content…

He made the character “Jay Gatsby” to have Daisy. He bootlegged all of his money and achieved such a fake lifestyle to make himself appealing to Daisy because he loved her so much, but he didn’t love her for who she was only for what she represented, which was an extravagant wealthy lifestyle. Gatsby makes no effort in the novel to know Daisy, but to have her. “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..”(92, Fitzgerald.) Jay Gatsby is immorality itself, the desire to have something so bad that you would do anything to achieve it, even if it meant scamming to get there. Not only is Gatsby immoral for scheming his money but for faking his entire life to have the American dream of being perfect in every way possible. Jay Gatsby lacks any morality because of how much he has lied and lied to be where he is now, in the

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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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Jay Gatsby was living the American dream high on life and loaded with money that is until he was killed. Jay Gatsby was Originally an incredibly secretive man was shrouded in mystery. For example, during Jay Gatsby’s summer party within his mansion in West Egg, an immeasurable amount of rumors about him were floating around such as “he killed a man once” (Fitzgerald 48). This is one rumor of many but this anonymity allowed Jay Gatsby to operate in secret and allow him to rapidly grow financially. Gatsby had originally set himself up good and had nothing to worry about to the fact that “he doesn’t want trouble with anybody” (Fitzgerald 48).

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In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby’s desire for affluence conveys how pursuing materialistic wealth can lead to loss of morality as well as abnormal and deranged actions. Gatsby’s path to being perceived as an upscale wealthy man was not the morally correct way. The goal of Gatsby’s future is to become rich enough to qualify to be Daisy’s significant other. In order to obtain this wealth and status, he had to be deceptive. Implying Gatsby’s low morals, Hacht remarks, “Of course, to become Jay Gatsby, James Gatz had to lie to the public, in essence creating the illusion of the

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It does so by making the setting the roaring 20’s because that time period is full of moral ambiguity. It’s during this era that women find themselves becoming flappers after being suppressed for so long, the prohibition takes place, and women are gaining the right to vote. The idea of women having rights is inherently good, but to some was an example of their rights becoming less powerful and making this idea evil. Giving the era itself moral ambiguity and creating an environment where Gatsby and other characters feel obligated to throw parties where drinking is encouraged, have a man commit adultery, the idea of divorce, and dishonesty. Overall, moral ambiguity plays a large role in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

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To deem someone an immoral existence, we must first determine what defines proper morals. Having morals is the concept of acting “right,” of abiding by lawful and societal standards. Acting morally correct is to follow altruistic standards while respecting others’ rights. In Gatsby’s case, he is morally bad because he is selfish, disturbs relationships, and uses others to obtain his desires. Gatsby used money and status to achieve his goals at any cost.

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Gatsby believes that money can buy him whatever his heart desires. Gatsby’s misunderstanding of the way money functions in the society he lives in results in the failure of his attempt to gain both status and the

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Tom is a racist, sexist, man and Fitzgerald does not hide it. In the beginning of the novel when Nick is over at Tom and Daisy’s home Tom begins to speak to Nick of a book he is reading called ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ Tom believes that, “ Well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be--will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proven.” ( Fitzgerald 13).

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Money and Greed in the Great Gatsby In the novel, Jay Gatsby possesses a feeling of immortality and power because of the money he has attained. He acts as if the world revolves around him and he would have no repercussions if he committed a crime. “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was the son of god”(98).

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However, it is not that Tom was born a terrible person, it is that his wealth and prowess throughout his life have molded him into the monster that is shown before us. Fitzgerald likes to use images of violence to get his point across but in some cases, it’s not so obvious. For instance, when Nick was meeting Wolfsheim for the first time Nick had noticed Wolfsheim’s cufflinks which Mr. Wolfsheim replied with “Finest specimens of human molars” (Fitzgerald 48). How Wolfsheim got human molars is unknown; however, he sure is not a dentist, leaving

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Authors often use moral decay to express that when an individual’s sole focus is how they are perceived in society, they lose all awareness of the distance between right and wrong. This notion is embodied in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, where characters from relatively different social classes all strive to achieve one thing: a wealthy status and to feel accepted. The Great Gatsby took place in the Roaring ‘20s, an era in which old and new wealth alike acted careless due to having so much money. Wealthy people lost sight of morals in their attempts to further enhance wealth and status, and refused to acknowledge the consequences of their actions. Fitzgerald portrays Daisy Buchanan as the golden girl, but her cruel actions show how

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THE IMMORAL ROLLS IN THE GREAT GATSBY Within The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald there is more than one main idea, that one can reflect on. The American dream, reality, appearance, and moral corruption are all agreed upon to be the main ideas of The Great Gatsby. The theme of moral corruption is not only established in this novel in a literature but also in a real life form.

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When individuals want something bad enough, there will eventually come a point where they will be willing to do whatever necessary to get what they want, even if that means sacrificing their own morals. This irrational desire is present in both the upper and lower class, however, Fitzgerald makes this most apparent in the upper class. When those in the upper class desire something, they go after it without thinking of the moral repercussions. This can best be seen through Tom’s affair with Myrtle. During his affair, Tom doesn’t outright lie to Daisy, but he keeps her in the dark just enough so that he can have his cake and eat it too.

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The Great Gatsby is the best-seller novel written in 1925 by author F. Scott Fitzgerald. The novel contains numerous themes, views and values conveying different messages to the reader. The major value running through the whole novel would be the value of ‘Morality’. Morality is the recognition of the distinction between good and evil or between right or wrong. The author demonstrated this value using the different characters and literary devices in the novel.

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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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While on the surface, Gatsby does have a ‘rags-to-riches’ story, it is not a virtuous one; he amasses his wealth through illegal channels by working with Meyer Wolfsheim, and never fulfills his dream, Daisy. Also, He changes his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby when he first encounters Dan Cody. Because Gatsby has to take on an entirely different persona to achieve success, disguising his poor upbringing and suggesting that James Gatz could never achieve the American dream. Gatsby first attempts to earn his financial success by performing menial labor for Cody, but when Cody’s ex-wife swindles Gatsby out of his inheritance, he turns to illegal means of getting rich. Not only does Gatsby illegally gain his wealth my selling grain liquor over the counter, but he also does so under the direction of Meyer Wolfsheim, breaking two essential qualities of the self-made man, virtue, and independence.

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