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Theme Of Responsibility In The Great Gatsby

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Irresponsibility is a theme prevalent throughout the novel seen in characters like Owl Eyes, Jordan, and Daisy; their actions surrounding car accidents and conversations with other characters provide evidence that Fitzgerald desired to convey the irresponsibility of the upper class. At the first party, Nick attends there is an accident as guests begin to leave, and he realizes Owl Eyes was the driver. Owl Eyes makes excuses for his actions and says, “‘Don’t ask me...I know very little about driving - next to nothing” (Fitzgerald 54) while others try to explain to him that the wheel came off and he cannot simply drive away. The topic of driving appears again in a conversation between Nick and Jordan where she states, “‘It take two to make an accident’” (Fitzgerald 58); Nick accuses her of poor driving, but she believes her actions are irrelevant as long as she does not meet someone like herself. Finally, the …show more content…

Like Owl Eyes, Turner created excuses to explain his actions and attempt to remove blame from himself; however, for Owl Eyes no one else was harmed through his actions, but Emily now has to live with the events of one party. By using intoxication as a reason for his poor choices, Turner and Jordan both use the mentality of it takes two, but unlike Jordan, Turner did find another person in his same state leading to a rape. While Turner did not take the blame for the rape like Gatsby took the blame for Daisy’s hit and run, both Turner and Daisy were irresponsible in their actions involving a third party. Each person in the situations above expressed indiscretion in slightly different ways, but collectively they exemplify the irresponsibility of the upper class. Irresponsibility is a theme seen throughout everyday life, and Fitzgerald uses this to create scenes in the novel so the reader can make real life

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Material objects, such as cars and money, lead to the carelessness of the main characters, eventually beckoning to their unnecessary demise and fatality. The recurring carelessness surrounding cars is adamant within the Great Gatsby, such as Tom Buchannan who not only causes a car crash, but also helps to cover up another. Even after just marrying Daisy, his carelessness is exemplified when he, “ran into a wagon, and ripped a front wheel of his car” (78). This event took place because the Tom was reckless without care and he had the money and opportunity to cover up the car crash despite the injuries and damage done.

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1324 Words | 6 Pages

Daisy’s inability to take responsibility for her actions leads to yet another death, as George Wilson murders Gatsby in an attempt to avenge his wife’s death. Daisy’s carelessness behind the wheel mirrors the recklessness in which she leaves Tom to be with Gatsby for a short period of time. Daisy “uses [Gatsby] to appease her own feeling of inadequacy after Tom’s numerous affairs and quickly discards him when his existence threatens her own” (Lance 29). When Daisy understands that she cannot be with both Tom and Gatsby, she leaves with Tom for the West without even speaking to Gatsby. The same carelessness and

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The Need for Control The Great Gatsby is a novel written by Scott Fitzgerald. Encompassess a story describing Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is a rich and sophisticated man throwing extravagant parties on a weekly basis.

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Scott Fitzgerald depicts the theme of “wealth can breed carelessness” using point of view. In the text, Nick describes the truth about Tom and Daisy, “I couldn 't forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…” (191) At the end of the story, Nick views Tom and Daisy as careless people. This example depicts “wealth can breed carelessness” by Nick’s perspective because the most critical things that Tom and Daisy had done in this story was ruined other people 's lives, such as leading Myrtle, Gatsby, and George to their deaths, showing no remorse for their actions, and cared only about themselves and their

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785 Words | 4 Pages

Nick seems not to be oblivious to his sadness, although he lacks knowledge about the cause of the emotion, for he admits that dinner alone at the Yale Club is, “for some reason [,]…the gloomiest event of [his] day” (62). After dinner, Nick studies in the library, which he considers a quiet and “good place to work”, although he does mention that “there generally a few rioters”, which contradict Nick’s purpose for studying there, because if Nick really didn’t want to be disturbed he would go home (62). After studying for about an hour, “if the night [is] mellow” Nick restlessly “strolls around” the avenues and although among many, he still “[feels] a haunting loneliness” and can “[feel] it in others”(62). However, Fitzgerald relates Nick’s loneliness to that of “young clerks”, who “wast[e] the most poignant moments of night and life” “loitering” and waiting around for people to come and provide work for them, which parallels Nick’s own method of wasting time and waiting for people to provide him with something to

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569 Words | 3 Pages

The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates a morally ambiguous character that can’t be defined as strictly good or evil. Moral ambiguity is the driving force towards Gatsby’s actions. The character Gatsby demonstrates morally ambiguous qualities that initiate plot throughout the whole novel. Morally ambiguous choices can be viewed towards Gatsby’s character throughout the novel. The first glimpse of Gatsby is introduced in the first chapter while Nick is “exempting him from his reaction” of a “uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever” already placing Gatsby in a position of moral ambiguity (Fitzgerald 2).

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Concluding this novel with this ending of all the lower class characters meeting a tragic end, Fitzgerald creates a persona for wealth that is nothing but tragedy and death. The moment when Daisy hits and kills Myrtle and there are no consequences for her is another reference to the metaphor of bad driving; “‘Was Daisy driving?’ ‘Yes,’ he said after a moment, ‘but of course I’ll say I was’” (Fitzgerald). This shows how Daisy, who is a symbol of wealth, is granted power and it ends with the lower class being hurt.

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In his novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores the reality of the American Dream. Throughout the novel, he uses Daisy to represent the American Dream. In chapter eight, after Daisy crashes the car, “she vanish[es] into her rich house… leaving Gatsby nothing” (149). Daisy is depicted as soulless; she is willing to let Gatsby take the fall for her faults. In order to remain the American Dream, Daisy must appear blameless to society; therefore, the common man must always take responsibility for her mistakes.

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Even though Jordan Baker represents one of the “new women” of the 1920s she is still subject to levels of disrespect. She manages herself in a forward thinking way which shows that she possesses self-respect and knows her value as a member of society. Jordan “need not be bothered by a mere summer romance while Nick” (Hays). Her independence is what makes her so powerful, but also causes her to be looked down on by society. When Nick says, “And you oughtn 't to drive at all” he shows how he does not believe that women are responsible enough to drive a car or take care of themselves (Fitzgerald 58).

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Several people may assume that selfishness is both unhealthy and wrong. A selfish person usually puts his own needs before the needs of other people. Selfish people need to be able to draw the line between when they need to worry about themselves, or when they should be concerned about other people. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the view of Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, it is evident that the nature of man is showing selfishness through cruelty, greed, and manipulation. Cruelty is just one way that the nature of man shows selfishness.

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1227 Words | 5 Pages

Dan Seiters, a literary critic, states “Carelessness plus cars equal chaos.” The Roaring Twenties, a time of economic prosperity as well as dramatic social and political changes, was an age of carelessness. With the adoption of automobiles, radios, and telephones, America became a consumer-oriented society. Automobiles gave many Americans the freedom to go and do whatever they desired. In the novel The Great Gatsby written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, automobiles play a major role in the theme of the book.

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Selfishness is described as a person being devoted to or caring only for oneself and is concerned primarily with one's own interests regardless of others emotions or well-being. Selfishness is usually performed with an initial act. For example, a selfish person deliberately focuses on their own needs or desires, rather than others. Being selfish can also be accidental. Accidental selfishness is still unjust and could potentially have the chance of being even more destructive to relationships, themselves, and the society they live in, due to its oblivious nature.

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As the story begins, Nick says, “...I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me…” (Fitzgerald 1). Although Nick claims he has been taught to not judge others, he does quite frequently. Nick insults Daisy and Tom,

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The Great Gatsby GEOGRAPHY Throughout the novel, places and settings symbolize the various aspects of the 1920s American society that Fitzgerald depicts. East Egg represents the old aristocracy, West Egg the newly rich, the valley of ashes the moral and social decay of America, and New York City the dissolute, amoral quest for money and pleasure. Additionally, the East is connected to the moral decay and social cynicism of New York, while the West is connected to more traditional social values and ideals. Themes: The American Dream "Whereas the American Dream was once equated with certain principles of freedom, it is now equated with things.

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“Social oppression is a concept that describes a relationship of dominance and subordination between categories of people in which one benefits from the systematic abuse, exploitation, and injustice directed toward the other.” This quote, stated by Ashley Crossman on Thoughtco, perfectly describes what oppression is especially from a feminist point of view. As Britannica stated, Feminism is “the belief in the social, economic, and political equality of the sexes.” In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many relationships. However, none of them are based on love and in most of the relationship, the women are also being oppressed.

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