“Rich girls don’t marry poor boys” (Dierdre O'Hearn). This was undoubtedly true during the 1920s where social classes were very crucial to people back then. When two people of different social classes fall in love, they can never escape the struggles of being together and the difficult decisions that comes with it. As a matter of fact, this type of love was illustrated in the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Jay Gatsby is a poor-turned-rich man that would use any means to try to achieve his dream of being with Daisy Buchanan even going as far as getting involved in illegal activities. Fitzgerald portrays how love can be based on lies and betrayal due to the difference in social class.
Love between individuals of different social classes brings nothing, but conflict to both sides. While
…show more content…
Gatsby was fighting in the war overseas, Daisy married Tom Buchanan who on “...the day before the wedding...gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars” (Fitzgerald Chapter 4). Instead of waiting for Gatsby, Daisy married Tom who was in the same social class as she was. Marrying him means that he is the safest route for her in terms of lifestyle and reputation. “Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white” (Fitzgerald Chapter 7). What Tom is saying is that a marriage between people of different social classes is viewed as socially unacceptable as it is with a marriage between black and white. No matter how much you love someone, there would always be problems that pop up and interfere with your love especially when it comes to social class. In order to be with the person they love, one would resort to making up lies. In the past, Gatsby “...had deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herself — that he was fully able to take care of her” (Fitzgerald Chapter 8). If Gatsby had not lied, then Daisy probably would have never given him a chance due to the fact that he is from the lower class. Tom told Daisy and the others about Gatsby’s bootlegging business and so Gatsby “...began to talk excitedly to Daisy, denying everything, defending his name against accusations that had not been made” (Fitzgerald Chapter 7). Gatsby was scared that Daisy would misunderstand and stray away from him because of these lies he created for the sake of being worthy to be by her side. As a result, he basically confessed about the illegal activities he had done and in the process, losing Daisy’s trust. With that being said, the main reason Gatsby lied to Daisy, so that he could be with her, was on the issue of the difference of their social classes. For a love that is based on lies, it is no surprise that one can be betrayed by the other person.
When news of Gatsby’s death was revealed, Daisy “...and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them” (Fitzgerald Chapter 9). Blamed for the murder of Myrtle that was caused by Daisy, Gatsby had died in vain. In the end, Daisy left the responsibility on him and betrayed him by leaving with Tom again. “Daisy hadn’t sent a message or a flower” on the day of Gatsby’s funeral (Fitzgerald Chapter 9). This can be seen as Daisy betraying Gatsby because as a lover, who supposedly loved him, she did not do anything to show that she was mourning over his death and showing gratitude that he took the blame for her. As Nick said, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into 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” (Fitzgerald Chapter 9). Tom and Daisy only cared for themselves. To them, love is nothing without wealth. The lies Gatsby had led to Daisy’s betrayal and broke apart their love in the
end. Fitzgerald depicts the love built on lies and betrayal between people of different social classes. Social class makes love turn into lies of trying to become a part of the upper class and turns it into betrayal. When in love, one should not lie and on the contrary, should tell the truth so that their partner will be more understanding when they hear it directly from the other person. In a world with people separated by social classes, it is not easy to reach their level and to fully understand how their world works.
“Me, I'm dishonest, and you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you have to watch out for.” This quote from Johnny Depp is his most famous quote. Johnny is a very well respected Hollywood actor and has become wise over his years. This quote is full of truth and is really thought provoking. People that you know are dishonest are hard to trust to do something, but at least you know that they are not trustworthy. Someone that you believe is trustworthy may be a dishonest person and you do not know it. So you put your trust in them and they take advantage of your trust and betray you. That is not always the case, but sadly it does happen more than you would know.
“Every one suspects himself of one of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people I have ever known.“ This quote by Nick from The Great Gatsby ties well with The Great Gatsby’s theme: People may use dishonesty to get what they want, but in the end it may only serve to destroy them and the things and people they love. Outlined below are some examples where this theme can be found in the book.
Even though at first when they finally got together after all those years and everything seem great and romantic but good things always come to an end. The affair effected Gatsby in his life by having him back the old love he first had for Daisy even hoping for a lifetime future together. His dream is very much vivid about his romantic hopes about Daisy in his mind, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams, not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (95). He seems to be falling deeper in love with her even maybe more than the love she really had for him even though through the end of the chapters her love that she claims to have for him seemed not truly. In New York, the truth comes out more about she feels about Gatsby by being questioned and feeling guilty when Tom gets to the fact that she loves him and not Gatsby but Gatsby rejects his sayings and tells Daisy to say how she truly feel about him. Over all the excitement, Daisy tells how she truly feel about the whole love affair, “I did love him once but I loved you too” (132). It is possible that the leading of Gatsby’s death was caused from Tom’s jealousy of his wife’s confessed love for Gatsby. Tom would had told Wilson that Gatsby was the driver of the car that killed Myrtle and her secret
He writes, through the voice of Gatsby, that “her voice is full of money” (127), implying that Daisy speaks with an eloquence and elegance found only in the voice of those born wealthy. Gatsby inherently connects Daisy with the idea of wealth and money, and shows a desire to be seen as one born with money. Hence, the reader can conclude that Gatsby is in love with what Daisy represents: wealth and the high class. By associating Daisy with the high society, Fitzgerald indirectly reveals his attitude towards America of the 1920s. He implies that similar to how Daisy chooses material pleasure and societal benefit as opposed to a real feeling that brings true joy, the people of the 1920s prioritize wealth and fleeting pleasure over concrete feelings that bring true happiness. He even takes his commentary a step further, as the “true” feeling represented in The Great Gatsby is love. Ironically, the love depicted in this society is corrupt and fake. Thus, Fitzgerald states that the ideologies and values of the American 1920s will result in its downfall, just as the corrupt and fake love between Gatsby and Daisy results in the downfall of Gatsby. Furthermore, through his portrayal of Daisy’s inadvertent cruelty towards both Myrtle and Gatsby, Fitzgerald parallels the unconscious depravity of the high society and its negative impact on America. This is seen
Being a good friend sometimes means overlooking the obvious. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel set in the 1920s. It details the story of the narrator, Nick Carraway, an aspiring bondsman who has moved to the West Egg section of Long Island from Minnesota in search of business. Nick is considered a man of "new money." He has established and now manages his own riches. He meets a particularly mysterious man, his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Through Gatsby, he meets people from the East Egg of Long Island, who are considered to be of "old money," wealth or business that has been inherited through generations. Over time, Nick and Jay become great friends. Nick helps Gatsby learn about himself and his aspirations in life, and vice versa.
The novel The Great Gatsby displays deceitfulness in many of its characters. The deceit brings many of the characters to their downfall. Gatsby had the greatest downfall of them all due to the fact it took his life. In The Great Gatsby , “ Gatsby goes to spectacular lengths to try to achieve what Nick calls ‘his incorruptible dream’ to recapture the past by getting Daisy Buchannan love” (Sutton). Gatsby always had an infatuation with Daisy, Jordan Baker said,”Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (Fitzgerald 83). Gatsby and Daisy did have a past together. While Jordan was golfing, “The Officer looked at Daisy while she was speaking in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at sometime[…]His name was Jay Gatsby and I didn’t lay eyes on him for over four years-even after I’d met him in long island I didn’t realize it was the same man” (Fitzgerald 80). Daisy is now in an abusive relationship with Tom Buchannan, “Nick Carraway attends a small publicly blames Tom for the bruise on her knuckle” (Sutton). When they meet again Gatsby showers Daisy with love and affection, wanting her to leave her husband Tom, but she does not want to in their society. Tom and Gatsby get into an argument and tom tells Daisy about Gatsby’s bootlegging that brought him to his riches. Tom yelled, “He a...
In the same way that Daisy was the reason for Gatsby to acquire everything he had, she was the reason he lost it all. He based his whole life into the dream and expectancy of Daisy coming back to his arms, living only on a dream. Gatsby’s love for Daisy was pure and real, it was a self-giving love which ultimately lead him to his death. It is clear that he gave up everything for the girl he loved; he tried everything he could to win her back, and unfortunately, died trying.
Lies are a treacherous thing, yet everyone tells a few lies during their lifetime. Deceit surrounds us all the time; even when one reads classic literature. For example, F. Scott Fitzgerald makes dishonesty a major theme in his novel The Great Gatsby. The falsehoods told by the characters in this novel leads to inevitable tragedy when the truth is revealed.
Lies and Deceit in The Great Gatsby & nbsp; In the world, people try to hide things another, they find out what they are hiding. In the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the secrecy and deceit practiced by Jay, Daisy, and Myrtle leads to inevitable tragedy when the truth is revealed. & nbsp ; Jay failed to realize that if you tell a lie most of the time they tend to come to a boil and burst. For example, "My family has been prominent.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows that a materialistic mindset will corrupt the chance at true love. Gatsby tried to get Daisy to love him again by showing off his money and failed because he didn’t put his heart and self into their relationship. Myrtle mistakenly married a man whom she thought was wealthy and turned out he was poor. She quickly attempted to evade their marriage, but then had an affair with Tom Buchanan, a well known rich man. Fitzgerald demonstrates how none of these relationships worked out because of the materialistic ways of these characters. Finally, this theme is explored because it proves how true love isn’t real with fake values. True love should be two people who love each other unconditionally and is not based on money-oriented things.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells the story of a man of meager wealth who chases after his dreams, only to find them crumble before him once he finally reaches them. Young James Gatz had always had dreams of being upper class, he didn't only want to have wealth, but he wanted to live the way the wealthy lived. At a young age he ran away from home; on the way he met Dan Cody, a rich sailor who taught him much of what he would later use to give the world an impression that he was wealthy. After becoming a soldier, Gatsby met an upper class girl named Daisy - the two fell in love. When he came back from the war Daisy had grown impatient of waiting for him and married a man named Tom Buchanan. Gatsby now has two coinciding dreams to chase after - wealth and love. Symbols in the story, such as the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, the contrast between the East Egg and West Egg, and the death of Myrtle, Gatsby, and Wilson work together to expose a larger theme in the story. Gatsby develops this idea that wealth can bring anything - status, love, and even the past; but what Gatsby doesn't realize is that wealth can only bring so much, and it’s this fatal mistake that leads to the death of his dreams.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a fictional story of a man, Gatsby, whose idealism personified the American dream. Yet, Gatsby’s world transformed when he lost his god-like power and indifference towards the world to fall in love with Daisy. Gatsby’s poverty and Daisy’s beauty, class, and affluence contrasted their mutual affectionate feelings for one another. As Gatsby had not achieved the American dream of wealth and fame yet, he blended into the crowd and had to lie to his love to earn her affections. This divide was caused by the gap in their class structures. Daisy grew up accustomed to marrying for wealth, status, power, and increased affluence, while Gatsby developed under poverty and only knew love as an intense emotional
Fitzgerald writes, “She realized at last what she was doing and as though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all” (Fitzgerald 139). Daisy is leading Gatsby on throughout the story, because she leads him to believe that she is going to leave Tom when she has no intentions of doing so. Daisy tells Gatsby, “‘I did love him once- but I loved you too’” (Fitzgerald 140). Daisy shows her confused feelings regarding her love for both Tom and Gatsby. She is confused and does not want to have to choose between the two of them. Daisy takes advantage of the love that Gatsby has for her which gets him killed in the long
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby was born into a life of poverty and as he grew up he became more aware of the possibility of a better life. He created fantasies that he was too good for his modest life, and that his parents weren’t his own. When he met Daisy, a pretty upper class girl, his life revolved around her and he became obsessed with her carefree lifestyle. Gatsby’s desire to become good enough for Daisy and her parents is what motivates him to become a wealthy, immoral person who is perceived as being sophisticated. Society won’t let Gatsby and Daisy be together when they fall in love because Daisy comes from a family of old wealth, while Gatsby is the son of a peasant.
Humans are naturally imperfect beings, we lie, cheat, and steal from each other, and this is represented in three seminal works of American literature, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Toni Morrison’s Sula, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Specifically, these books deal with humans tendency to cheat and betray each other. This is exhibited in Tom’s betrayal of Daisy with Myrtle; Sula’s betrayal of Nel with Jude; and Hester’s betrayal of Chillingworth with Dimmesdale. In each of the novels, betrayal plays a central role in the story as well as the world at large within each of the novels. Without these instances of betrayal, the readers of each novel would have a much different understanding of the three main characters in