Joelian Fowler Patrick Lynch English 11 3 May 2024 Modernism In Literature: The Great Gatsby Spiritually Empty Fitzgerald’s universe in The Great Gatsby represents all that is least noble, least worthy, and least heroic in mankind. Jay Gatsby is an overzealous, delusional bootlegger. Tom Buchanan is an overly racist hypocrite in which nothing bad happens. Nick Caraway, the overly righteous and also hypocritical man, says he’s great at judging and is unbiased. The Great Gatsby reflects the Modernist sensibility that man is spiritually empty. For example, Jay Gatsby embodies The Sin of Evny, and is a delusional man who believes he can simply sweep away a married woman from the wealthy Buchanan family, who has a child, and everything to lose. “after she was free, …show more content…
An additional example is Tom Buchanan. Tom Buchanan can be labeled as committing two acts of great sin. His sins are the Sin of Pride and the Sin of Lust. “So Tom Buchanan and his girl and I went up together to New York—or not quite together, for Mrs. Wilson sat discreetly in another car.” and “‘the polo player.’‘Oh no,’ objected Tom quickly, ‘Not me.’” Both of these quotes adequately put on display the two sins Tom committed, the first is pride and how he is shameful of his accomplishments and the “polo player” comment bothers him very much. The second one would be Lust, he goes out and has multiple affairs with Myrtle, and it’s not even the first time he has done this. The final example of the big three characters in this story, is Nick Caraway. Nick Caraway’s sin is The Sin of Sloth, Nick willingly sits by and idly allows Tom to have his affair with Myrtle and doesn’t let Daisy in on exactly what Tom is doing, and also allows Gatsby to come to tea with himself and Daisy which he knows he shouldn’t allow because Daisy is married to