Theme Of Betrayal In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a novel full of extravagant characters during an extravagant time period. The 1920s was a flashy, colorful time full of shallow love and deep betrayals. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses these characteristics to create his novel, The Great Gatsby. In it, Fitzgerald demonstrates the themes of love and betrayal through its complex characters and relationships. The Great Gatsby illustrates the theme seeking love through its complex characters and their relationships. One famous relationship is between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. During their first encounter after five years, the narrator Nick notes how,

[Gatsby] hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response

In it, betrayal exists in two main forms: death and forsaking friends. After Gatsby is murdered, none of his ‘friends’ show up to his funeral. Even when Nick asks a common partygoer, Klipspringer, to to the funeral, he is more concerned about “a pair of shoes” he left and wonders if “it would be too much trouble to have the butler send them on” (Fitzgerald 169). Gatsby hosted countless parties with uncomparable entertainment, yet all of his guests ultimately ignore his death and funeral. Klipspringer “[cared] more about his lost tennis shoes” (Lewis 6) than the kind host of so many parties. Betrayal is also shown in the death of those who experience true love. Think of those killed: Wilson, Myrtle, and Gatsby. Myrtle was “violently run down” (Lewis 6), and Gatsby was murdered by Wilson who later committed suicide. Even Myrtle, who chased after Tom’s wealth eventually falls in love with him, was murdered “because hope based on money can only bring death” (Samkanashvili 1). Myrtle’s death can also be seen as ironic, as she is running towards the car she believes the man she loves is driving. Almost every character experiences betrayal, but those who experienced true love are met with