Sacrifices: A theme paper over The Great Gatsby

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Noel Coward said, “The higher the building, the lower the morals.” In the book The Great Gatsby this is the case. The individuals that are considered “upper class” are more willing to sacrifice their morals then the people that are in the “lower class.” However, the lower class is not perfect either. A theme for The Great Gatsby is people may be willing to sacrifice their morals to achieve what they think they want. Jay Gatsby, Daisy and Tom Buchannan and Nick Carraway are just four examples of people that are willing to sacrifice their morals to get what they want.
Jay Gatsby is a prime example of someone that is willing to sacrifice it all. Gatsby met Daisy around the time of the war. They instantly hit it off and fell in love. However, Gatsby felt like he wasn’t good enough for Daisy because he wasn’t wealthy. When Gatsby went off to war Daisy married Tom Buchannan. Gatsby found out about her marriage to Tom and decided to dedicate his life in getting her back. Gatsby believed if he got money that he would finally deserve the love of Daisy and she would come back to him. Gatsby told everyone that he was in the drug store business and that’s how he got his money. Gatsby also said he inherited some of it. However, Gatsby did some illegal things to get his money. When the big confrontation occurs between Tom, Gatsby and Daisy some of Gatsby’s secrets are released to Daisy. On page 133 of The Great Gatsby Tom says, “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him and I wasn’t far wrong.” Tom says that this is just one of Gatsby’s little stunts, so he is implying th...

... middle of paper ...

...then the three go over to Gatsby’s house. When they were there Gatsby and Daisy almost forgot that Nick was there. On page 96 Nick said, “I looked once more at them and they looked back at me, remotely, possessed by intense life. Then I went out of the room and down the marble steps into the rain, leaving them there together.” Nick probably knew that it wasn’t a good idea to leave them alone but he did because he knew Gatsby would want that. Out of the all the characters Nick was the one that sacrificed his morals for a pretty good cause.
Nick is considered more lower class than the other three. So Tom, Gatsby, and Daisy prove that the higher up someone is, the more willing that someone is to sacrifice their morals. The characters in The Great Gatsby see something they want and sacrifice whatever they need to achieve that thing.

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The Great Gatsby

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