The Great Gatsby Lies Analysis

Most people would agree that at times lying is amoral though one cannot deny that lies are common, especially among the entitled and bored. This essay will include three of many examples in The Great Gatsby of lies. They are why owl eyes seemed so baffled when he discovered genuine books in Gatsby’s library, why Gatsby puts on a well-executed contrived smile, and if Tom has actually lied to anyone. The first example of lying in the book is fairly simple, but outlines the kind of deceit that the author wants to outline. A man named owl eyes exclaims to Nick that he can’t believe Gatsby's books are the real thing. Why would someone think it odd that books in a library don’t have their pages cut out? Assuming that he believes this because he hasn’t encountered this situation before, then he must have gone to parties at other mansions whose libraries contained nothing but cardboard. This is the kind of superficial grandeur which categorizes the rich in this book’s time period. These ultra-rich don’t care about having a well curated library with meaning behind it, although they do care about the reaction people will have when they look at it. It is deceptive and a little sad that someone with wealth doesn’t use it to better themselves, but to one up other wealthy people.

Sadly, this is not really his intention. His intention is to manipulate those around him into doing what he needs them to do. When Nick first meets Gatsby, Gatsby’s real intention is to get Nick to invite him to his house to have tea with Daisy. When this plan doesn’t come to fruition, he takes Nick on a drive and shows him a medal from Montenegro and a picture of his Oxford days. These artifacts are presented in a forced unnatural way that gives away his true intentions. He only wants to get close to Nick to get close to Daisy. The problem with this is that Daisy most likely wants to get away from