Theme Of Motif In The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby Motif Essay
The Great Gatsby is an amazing book that is packed with multiple motifs and themes; however there is one motif that stands out the most to me, and that would be the constant cheating throughout the book. This motif connects greatly to the theme of the main characters being dissatisfied with either their significant other or with their current situation. Each character
(besides Nick) engages in an affair and eventually these affairs would go on so long that it began to expose the truth to the other characters and why they are doing what they are doing.
The earliest example of this motif is with Tom’s mistress Myrtle. After meeting her in chapter two we learn that Myrtle can’t stand Wilson saying that and only married him because …show more content…

Myrtle is not just unsatisfied with Wilson but it is also the life that he can’t provide for her. Myrtle wants desperately to live the life that Daisy lives with the big house, the elegant dresses, and the money but she can’t because her husband can’t provide that for her, and that is the reason Myrtle decides to have an affair with Tom because she gets to live another life with him that she is in love with.
We often hear about Tom and his multiple affairs throughout the book, but are slightly unclear to the reason he cheats on Daisy or why he is unsatisfied. In chapter 2 during the party at the apartment with Myrtle, Nick is told by Myrtle’s sister, Catherine, that “Neither of them (Tom or Myrtle) could stand the person they are married to” (Fitzgerald, 33) In chapter 7 during the

Mason 2 confrontation between Gatsby and Tom we hear Tom say “The trouble is sometimes she gets foolish ideas in her head and doesn’t know what she’s doing.” (Fitzgerald, 131) and that may be the reason he doesn’t always enjoy their relationship, because he doesn’t always agree with her and her