Lies In The Great Gatsby

Lies are told to hide the truth and protect others. Throughout the novel of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, lies are used by many characters for various justifications. Some of these fibs were utilized by Gatsby and Wolfsheim. Gatsby creates many deceptions about his past to impress Daisy and win her over. While Wolfsheim uses his cufflinks as a disguise for his falsehoods about Gatsby. Owing to the fact that Gatsby’s career and Wolfsheim’s cufflinks are used as metaphors in the book, the truth is hidden from the other characters.

Gatsby’s career is a large symbol that expresses the lies in the novel. Throughout the novel, there are pieces of Gatsby’s career that are different from what he originally told. In the novel, everyone has

Gatsby and Wolfsheim are involved in illegal bootlegging and who knows what other mischief they participate in. Wolfsheim’s cufflinks are his way to “keep his sleeves clean” during these wrong doings. Wolfsheim also talks to Nick about Gatsby’s intentions with women and his past, as he goes on Nick knows he's someone with bad intentions. While out to lunch, Gatsby tells Nick, “‘He’s the man that fixed the World’s Series back in 1919’” (Fitzgerald 73). To fix the World’s Series he would have had to lie and manipulate people to get what he wanted. Wolfsheim was lying about Gatsby by saying he would never steal a woman he then interrupted himself to mention his cufflinks once more. Wolfsheim exclaims, “‘There’s the kind of man you’d like to take home and introduce to your mother and sister.’ He paused. ‘I see you’re looking at my cuff buttons’” (Fitzgerald 72). Nick claims he was not looking at his cufflinks but Wolfshiem still brings them up. His cufflinks are rolled back to keep his sleeves clean and out of his way even while he is lying. Often times when someone is lying they feel guilty and like they are “dirty,” however, having his sleeves rolled up gives him a sense of cleanliness. Therefore, having his sleeves rolled back as he’s telling these profound lies leads him to feel like he has done no wrong. As Wolfsheim is deceiving Nick he is able to have a sense of content with himself because of his