Writers explore moral issues in many different, yet equally valid, ways. Some writers might place a character in a moral dilemma in order to show analysis through the character’s choices and internal deliberation; while others might transcend an external conflict to represent a greater moral issue. Regardless of which method the author uses to analyze the issue there is almost always an inherently opinionated perspective presented. In William Shakespeare’s theatrical work, “Hamlet” and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby the two methods of moral discussion are used in both works. While the main characters in both works undergo internal and external moral conflicts, they depict the underlying issues in different ways. In “Hamlet,” …show more content…
Throughout the book, a character, Jay Gatsby, pursues a married woman, Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald explores how adultery is dishonorable by showing how negative the novel becomes the more contact Gatsby and Daisy have. Eventually Gatsby is murdered as a result of the adulterous actions of another man, and the murderous actions of Daisy Buchanan. When Fitzgerald kills off Gatsby he is commenting on adulterous actions as a whole. While Gatsby himself was not directly accountable for the death of the wife of the man who killed him, the depravity surrounding the event negatively affects all involved. Consequentially the reader is left feeling less empathetic towards Gatsby and angrier towards Daisy and Gatsby’s killer. Fitzgerald manages to both analyze and comment on the morality of mankind by not only showing the negatively resulting from the immoral actions, but also how the narrator Nick, who himself is no pillar of ethical fortitude, views those involved in the adulterous conflict with great …show more content…
Whilst both authors put forth an opinionated view of moral issues, the opinions presented leaned more traditionally. Immorality in every instance was analyzed through an inherently negative lens. This biased exploration of moral issues leaves the reader with a conflicting mindset. One might like the characters and disagree with how they acted, or the bias put forth changes how the reader views the characters as a whole. Looking through the inner conflicts and external conflicts present in both works one can see the similar methods authors take to examine moral issues as well as the difficulty of removing a personal investment an author might
Moral Responsibility in The Great Gatsby & nbsp; Bang! Gatsby's dead! George Wilson shot Gatsby! However, who is the man? morally responsible for killing Gatsby? The obvious answer would be George. since he pulled the trigger. However, it is clear, if for no other reason. than for the unimportance of George in the book, that others were also. partly responsible. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s visionary writing style during the early twentieth century revolutionized a new style for other writers. “Theme is most dramatically expressed through character, and Fitzgerald used the people he created to convey his personal vision of the world” (Keshmiri 2). As Keshmiri states, Fitzgerald, unlike many other writers at the time, expresses his stories through the development of the characters. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and The Beautiful and the Damned illustrate the many flaws of human nature and how these flaws contribute to the downfall of the characters through their obsession with status, their inability to accept reality, and the use of alcohol.
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.
In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald many of the characters could not be classified as a truly moral, a person who exhibits goodness or correctness in their character and behavior. Nick Carraway is not moral by any means; he is responsible for an affair between two major characters, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Jay Gatsby does show some moral qualities when he attempts to go back and rescue Myrtle after she had been hit by Daisy. Overall Gatsby is unquestionably an immoral person. Nick Carraway and Gatsby share many immoral characteristics, but a big choice separates the two. Daisy Buchanan is an extremely immoral person; she even went to the lengths of taking someone's life. Jay and Daisy are similar but Daisy is borderline corrupt. The entire story is told through Nick Carraway's point of view and by his carelessness it is obvious the narrator possesses poor values.
Morality in the united states has been deliberately declining since the 1920’s and is currently insignificant if not absent in Americans. F. Scott Fitzgerald presents this in his book “The Great Gatsby.” His characters lie about many things throughout the book, cheat on their spouses constantly and consistently, and rely more on money and material things than anything else. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” displays how lust in the 1920’s caused the downfall of morality by the qualities his characters portray.
In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald analyzes three main characters, Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Nick Carraway. The Great Gatsby is a story about finding out who people really are and how far they will go to protect their secrets from spilling to everyone. The Great Gatsby is like a story of our time, we have the rich and the poor towns, we have people who cheat on their spouses, and lastly, we have racism towards different cultures and races (Schreier). Many ironic events take place throughout the book. For example, Gatsby and Nick become friends, Tom and Myrtle being secret lovers, also, Daisy and Gatsby carrying on an affair, and lastly Daisy running over Myrtle in Gatsby’s car (Coleman). Fitzgerald purposely wrote the book to tell about lovers that were not supposed to be together and how they overcame that and fell in love with one another (Shain). He also wrote the book to relate to American society (Tolmatchoff).
Like God observing the world, we are the observers of The Great Gatsby. According to German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s two categorical imperatives, Daisy and Jay were unethical. Kant’s categorical imperatives state; ‘Act as if your action could be elevated into universal law’ and. Based on the principles of Kant, Daisy and Jay were unethical in several ways, according to Kant’s two categorical imperatives. Daisy used people emotionally and lacked responsibility, and Jay was manipulative towards the people around him. The Great Gatsby is a great example of a society that does not abide by Kantian principles.
One question readers often find themselves wondering while reading The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is whether the characters in the novel have good morals and beliefs. Many people have different opinions on the important character, Jay Gatsby. Is he a character with good beliefs, or is he unworthy of the extravagant life he seems to live? There is no answer that can be found in the book, however the reader can make their own judgement. But one question that everyone has to ask themselves by the end of the novel is whether Jay Gatsby deserves the early end to his life or if he deserves to live much longer than he does. Jay Gatsby does not deserve the murder that he receives at the hands of George Wilson based on the short and
‘The Great Gatsby’ is social satire commentary of America which reveals its collapse from a nation of infinite hope and opportunity to a place of moral destitution and corruption during the Jazz Age. It concentrates on people of a certain class, time and place, the individual attitudes of those people and their inner desires which cause conflict to the conventional values, defined by the society they live in. Gatsby is unwilling to combine his desires with the moral values of society and instead made his money in underhanded schemes, illegal activities, and by hurting many people to achieve the illusion of his perfect dream.
In the story “The Great Gatsby” by Fitzgerald the reader is told a story through the eyes of the narrator Nick. Nick has many friends and acquaintances in the story, but the most important being Gatsby and Tom. Throughout the story Gatsby’s characterization is made to make him look like the protagonist while Tom’s is to make him look like that antagonist. However, while we see the story through Nick’s eyes the reader is actually seeing the opposite. Nick agrees with Gatsby’s actions more than Tom’s which starts to create a bias. This makes it very easy for the reader to instantly dislike Tom’s character and side with Gatsby. However, the reader does not always think about the situation without the bias giving them an illusion of what is really happening. Even though Gatsby is the main character of the story his antagonistic actions are easily overseen. In the story, Gatsby is deemed the antagonist due to his intent of stealing Daisy from Tom.
Most self respecting people have ethics and morals they try to abide by. They create standards that they live life by and construct their own philosophy with. In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, morals and ethics are a scarce practice. Jay Gatsby lives his life by the over bearing morals and values of devotion, corruption, and his will to control.
Throughout Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, there is a broad spectrum of moral and social views demonstrated by various characters. At one end, is Tom, a man who attacks Gatsby's sense of propriety and legitimacy, while thinking nothing of running roughshod over the lives of those around him. A direct opposite of Tom's nature is Gatsby, who displays great generosity and caring, yet will stop at nothing to achieve his dream of running off with Daisy. The moral and emotional characteristics of Gastby and Tom are juxtaposed, Tom, the immoral character and Gastby, the moral character while the other characters' moral and emotional developments appear between these two.
But his sympathy towards Gatsby is exaggerated, not so much in actions, but in the much praised language of the novel. Fitzgerald's book at first overwhelms the reader with poetic descriptions of human feelings, of landscapes, buildings and colors. Everything seems to have a symbolic meaning, but it seems to be so strong that no one really tries to see what's happening behind those beautiful words. If you dig deeper you will discover that hidden beneath those near lyrics are blatants, at best. In Nick's "perceptions" of the events in the last four chapters, this symbolism is overdone, especially in the scene where Gatsby kisses Daisy and in the scene where Gatsby dies.
Of everything that characterizes life, making decisions has to be one of the largest facets. As a human being, an individual has to make decisions in their daily life for their entire lifetime. Many times, the course of action taken will not be solely decided with "Good 's good and bad 's bad". Many argue that that is the statement to live by in any circumstance. Others, however, go into the concept of moral issues and examine it under a different perspective. William Shakespeare addressed the moral issue regarding the interrelation of justice and revenge in his play Hamlet, while Francis Scott Fitzgerald examined to what extent it is correct to pursue an arduous ambition in his novel The Great Gatsby.
The 1920’s were a time of social and technological change. After World War II, the Victorian values were disregarded, there was an increase in alcohol consumption, and the Modernist Era was brought about. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a perfect presentation of the decaying morals of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald uses the characters in the novel--specifically the Buchanans, Jordan Baker, and Gatsby’s partygoers--to represent the theme of the moral decay of society.