Theme Of Selfishness In The Great Gatsby

1088 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Negative connotations of selfish

Selfishness is a disease of the soul that a person experiences several times throughout life. To say that one is ignorant of selfishness would be hypocrisy. To say that selfishness is a beneficial trait, however, would be erroneous. Although as humans, we lie to ourselves, selfishness can make a person behave arrogantly. Being selfish consumes us and changes us into someone we are not. Whether it leads to getting people killed, losing love, or abolishing families, selfishness always leads to destruction. Selfish people place their own wants, needs, and happiness before anything or anyone else. Furthermore, they feel no obligation to help others. Because selfish people do not value others, they often live a lonely life full of unhappiness. Also, when people are selfish, they do not remain happy …show more content…

Jay Gatsby illustrates a prime example of this. The entire book revolves around his one selfish desire to be with the woman he loves, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby is well aware that Daisy married Tom Buchanan, but that does not stop him. Gatsby and Daisy begin seeing each other and spending a great amount of time together. A secret love life is not enough to satisfy Gatsby. One night he and Tom, Daisy’s husband, are in a dispute. Gatsby argues that Daisy never loved Tom, but Tom contends that Daisy always loved him. Gatsby tells Daisy, “…Just tell him the truth-that you never loved him- and it’s all wiped out forever” (139). Daisy explains to Gatsby that he is asking too much of her. Of course she loves Tom; she married him. Gatsby should be grateful that Daisy loves him. This act of selfishness brings destruction upon Gatsby himself. When Gatsby hears that Daisy actually loves Tom he is dismayed, “‘You loved me too?’ he repeated” (140). Gatsby unreasonably asks more of Daisy, only to relieve his own selfish desires. His pushing results in obliterating Tom and Daisy’s relationship, as well as Gatsby’s

Show More
Related

  • Is Survival Selfishness In 'Night' By Ellie Wiesel

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book, “Touching the Void”, climber Simson Yates was,”unable to lift his friend up and losing his own grip on the mountain ended up cutting the rope to Simpson to save himself” (Survival 9). This particular incident isn’t selfish considering they both would’ve died if Yates continued to lose strength as he pulled up the rope. Also, in the “Titanic”, Bruce Ismay, “was ruined” because he got in a lifeboat even though there, “was no longer women or children in sight” (Survival 1). This is clearly not selfish since no women or children were left to aboard the lifeboat, anyone would do the same considering the circumstances. Lastly, in the Grand Central Station incident when the lady witnessed an explosion underground and she states, “people were frozen or screaming, but nobody was moving towards the emergency exits, even as smoke began to fill the cabin. After realizing everyone around her were too paralyzed to react, she took action, crawling over several rows of people to the exit” (Survival 6 & 7). This isn’t selfish because there was no time to get people to focus on the exits, so she took action and saved herself which was just common instinct if you weren’t the people,

    Read More

  • Examples Of Selfishness In Night By Elie Wiesel

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    Does survival require selfishness? I believe that survival is selfish because in order to survive you need to have some selfishness. This is supported within the novel Night by elie wiesel, the story Deep survival by Laurence gonzales and the story Is Survival Selfish by Lane Wallace.

    Read More

  • What Is Nick's Selfishness In The Great Gatsby

    1219 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although a dishonest act may hail from a modest intention, longer fictions will eventually lead to assemblies of lies until the initial motive largely overshadows the original flaw. Conversely, Nick Carraway, the composed narrator of The Great Gatsby, confidently states that he is the most honest person he knows, a result of being surrounded by unbounded toxic characters. For instance, Nick 's immensely wealthy cousin-in-law, Tom Buchanan, is a hypocritical, narcissistic businessman who 's involved in an affair with a presently married younger woman. Furthermore, Jordan Baker, a major interest of Nick’s, is a negligent, manipulative golf champion who 's unconditionally careless for the lives of others. Tom 's judgmental manner, Jordan 's cynical

    Read More

  • Theme Of Selfishness In Anthem And 'I Get Out'

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    Can being selfish ever be acceptable? Anthem by Ayn Rand and the song “I Get Out” by Lauryn Hill share a similar theme relating to selfishness. “I Get Out” expresses the theme that man should be selfish, with Hill singing of reaching a new and better life strictly for her benefit . In comparison, the theme of Anthem is that one should praise man’s ego and, again, allow themselves to be selfish. Anthem focuses on standing out from the crowd and expressing individual interests for their own sake when Equality, a young man forced into a collectivist society, finally chooses to escape to an independent land.. Both Anthem and “I Get Out” possess the similar theme that man should be selfish, based on both Hill and Equality’s knowledge of better life, their repression by leaders of their society, and the strength of their quest for freedom.

    Read More

  • Selfishness In Night By Elie Wiesel

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    If a person had to choose between their life and someone else’s, they’d choose to be the ones to live. Selfishness is a terrible thing that can cause families to fight, it can cause wars, or the death of someone to spare one’s own life. Night by Elie Wiesel, shows many examples of selfishness. Sons leave their fathers to save their own lives, reluctantly feed their dying father and even kill just for a piece of bread. Humans are inherently selfish, it’s a personality trait that doesn’t care about relatives or lovers or anyone else.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Selfishness In Hunters In The Snow

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    Selfishness is a common trait in the world, it’s not a hidden factor, but very well-known as being one’s self-interest. The story “Hunters in the Snow” by Tobias Wolff, discusses how each character in the story deals with different kinds of selfish ways. One character, Tub, deals with eating problems and lies about it. Frank deals with a secret life that he is hiding from his wife. Kenny is always comparing something to his liking and if he does not like it then he will complain. Self-absorption is when someone is focused on their self and only themselves. It is known to be a regular’s human’s condition, it’s something majority of human beings have. Selfishness may also kick in during survival incidents. For example, a boy and his friends

    Read More

  • Theme Of Self Fulfillment In The Great Gatsby

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, both text creators use their main character to display how to attempt to overcome the inevitable adversity that comes with the pursuit of self-fulfillment. The quote “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” by John F Kennedy greatly resembles the ideas proposed by the text creators through Gatsby and Willy Loman. Throughout the sources, both Willy Loman and Jay Gatsby pursue the American Dream relentlessly to the brink, where they ultimately drown in the relaxing pool of self-fulfillment that is death. However, in their attempt to secure the satisfaction of self-fulfillment, the main characters are used by the

    Read More

  • Corruption In The Crucible

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dictionary.com defines selfishness as “devoted to or caring only for oneself”. For Abigail to have Proctor

    Read More

  • Theme Of Motivation In The Great Gatsby

    1821 Words  | 4 Pages

    Once stated by Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” The aforementioned ideology places an emphasis on an individual’s internal desires, rather than an outside/external force driving the individual’s consciousness (cognitive evaluation.) Therefore intrinsic motivation is one in which an individual 's own desire comes from within; a relentless and genuine passion for an intended goal. On the contrary, when an individual relies on external factors such as, a reward or any other form of external reinforcement, an extrinsic motivation is exhibited. Although society likes to stress the importance in pursuing an internal motivation, in today 's modern world, an extrinsic factor far outweighs an internal desire to accomplish an objective. As humans, we are too diverse in the way we think and develop, lending the mere classification of an internal motivation to become redundant. Furthermore, as

    Read More

  • Psychological and Ethical Egoism

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    Psychological egoism, a descriptive claim about human nature, states that humans by nature are motivated only by self-interest. To act in one's self-interest is to act mainly for one's own good and loving what is one's own (i.e. ego, body, family, house, belongings in general). It means to give one's own interests higher priority then others'. "It (psychological egoism) claims that we cannot do other than act from self-interest motivation, so that altruism-the theory that we can and should sometimes act in favor of others' interests-is simply invalid because it's impossible" (Pojman 85). According to psychological egoists, any act no matter how altruistic it might seem, is actually motivated by some selfish desire of the agent (i.e., desire for reward, avoidance of guilt, personal happiness).

    Read More

  • Hospers: Self-Interest And Selfishness

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the development of modern society, many people say that the society has become miserable, and people only care their own profit. The self-interest is becoming the object of attacking. Thereupon, when we mention self- interest, people always mix up the concept of self-interest with selfishness. As we all known, the idea of selfishness is, “Abusing others, exploiting others, using others for their own advantage – doing something to others.” (Hospers, 59) Selfish people have no ethics, morals and standards when they do anything. At the same time, what is self – interest? Self- interest can be defined as egoism, which means a person is, “looking out for your own welfare.” (Hospers, 39) The welfare people talk about is nothing more than

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Theme Essay

    1400 Words  | 3 Pages

    middle of paper ... ... Specific examples of this have been shown in Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, Tom and Daisy’s failing marriage, and Gatsby expecting Daisy to be the person she was before she met Tom. From this novel, the theme of not living in the past and taking advantage of opportunities when they are given shows that it is miserable trying to fix things that already happen. You will never learn to live in the present if you try to fix everything in your past.

    Read More

  • Selfishness In 'The Reluctant Dragon' By Kenneth Grahame

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    Selfishness is one of the most common personality traits shared amongst society, Kenneth Grahame’s literature features the theme of how making rash decisions can lead to dramatic effects to those around you.

    Read More

  • Maslow Hierarchy Essay

    1871 Words  | 4 Pages

    One’s desire is egoistic if and only if it concerns the benefit of oneself and not anyone else. On the other hand ones desires are altruistic if and only if it concerns the benefit of at least someone other than oneself. The pros of altruism state that people will begin to take advantage of you, it is impossible to only make others happy, and you would be neglecting your own needs. The pros of egoism include establishing a greater sense personal identity in a community, promoting a sustainable household, it also promotes that all basic personal needs will always be met. The other half of this argument, the con sides of egoism, state that it will ruin relationships, it completely eliminates objectivity, you are neglecting the needs of others, you would be isolated and independent, and it requires that everyone practice its philosophy. The issue with that is that most people are not comfortable with the concept of always putting themselves

    Read More

  • Egoism Essay

    1469 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many theories bombarded in an attempt to set a moral code by which people are ought to live by. Plenty of controversies and arguments are raised against each one. One of the controversial moral doctrines is egoism, or simply preferring one's self interest over other's interests and desires. The doctrine seems to be reasonable to a certain extent at first, yet it fails drastically when having a second thought about it. Throughout my essay, I will explain the different types of egoism, and argue for each one of them. Finally, I will provide counter arguments for each type along with my personal opinion and analysis.

    Read More

More about Theme Of Selfishness In The Great Gatsby

Open Document