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Nik Madsen Mr.

Botton American Literature February 10, 2011 Another Gilded Age

Madsen 1

How would it feel to know that everyone around is a constant liar? The novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays a general lack of morals in humanity. Reading the book is like taking a jump back to the 20's, where for many, life seemed glitzy, glamorous, and was full of merriment. But this rich tale digs deeper into what was really going on; how the 20's weren't as phenomenal as they may have seemed. Beneath all of the fun and partying there were mass amounts of lies, adultery, and most of all, a lack of morals. Everyone will always have something to hide, but for some, they have everything to hide. One prevailing character in the book is a young affluent male named Tom Buchanan. He is married to a misses named Daisy, but is having an adulterous affair with a woman named Myrtle. In the second chapter of the book, he speaks derogatorily about George Wilson, Myrtle's husband, saying, He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He's so dumb he doesn't know he's alive. He cheats on his wife with a married man's wife, yet he still manages to call the cuckolded man stupid, thereby disrespecting him even more. Yet to other characters in the book, Tom Buchanan seems like a wonderful fellow, living a perfect and honest life that everyone would want to have. Tom is also a control freak. In the seventh paragraph, Nick, the narrator, speaks about Tom, There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind, and as we drove away Tom was feeling the hot whips of panic. His wife and his mistress, until and hour ago secure and inviolable, was slipping precipitately from his control. Even though he cheats on his wife, he feels he should be in control of Daisy, and that if she is cheating it is wrong. Tom sets unreachable expectations for everyone around him, without ever following through with them himself. Tom Buchanan is an obvious symbol of a human lacking morals in the book, but he is not the only one.

Madsen 2 Even though most people in the book sneak around and commit wrongs, there are also some people that withhold morals, or at least admit to their wrongs. In the novel, Nick's friend Jordan says to him ... I mean it was careless of me to make such a wrong I guess. I thought you were a rather honest, straightforward person. I thought it was your secret pride. Nick replies, I'm thirty. I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor. Nick sees all the lies and sneaky business going on around him yet he sticks to his morals and doesn't fall into the crowd. Throughout the book, Nick is mostly a good man and doesn't tend to judge as much as the rest of the people do, but at times he does. No one is perfect, but there are also people that take lying and bad-doings to the extent. At one point in the book, Nick says to Jordan, Suppose you meet someone as careless as yourself? Jordan replies, I hope I never will. Jordan knows she does wrong things from time to time, but she at least can admit it. Tom and other characters will pretend that they have done nothing wrong in their lives and they are the most angelic figures on the planet. Tom Buchanan's wife, Daisy Buchanan, is a sparky and bright young lady, but also very careless and blank. As the book goes on, it is made apparent that she is just a giddy, pleasureseeker. In chapter one she voices this about her infant daughter: I hope she'll be a fool that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful fool. This quote shows that she knows she's a fool, and even wants this for her daughter. Most people value docility and intelligence in women, while Daisy wants foolishness from her daughter. Daisy is absent-minded, but also void of morals; another great representation of lacking morals. There are many times where it is obvious that the characters are up to no good, yet everyone carries on and pretends that nothing is wrong. But there are also times where some people choose to confront and talk about these wrong doings. When George Wilson realises his wife is having an affair with another man, he exclaims to her, God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing. You may fool me, but you can't fool God! George Wilson seems like an air-headed male, but also nice and full of a lot more morals than everyone else throughout the book. But even

Madsen 3 he in the end loses himself and chooses to go and shoot Jay Gatsby, the man he believes killed his wife. Everyone in the book at some point commits some kind of wrong doing, some more than others. Many people today still do the same kind of things, but the novel shows how this decade was gilded, like a gold-coated penny. It seemed so wonderful, joyful, and fun-filled all of the time, but once you looked at the core of society, it was much more insignificant, and full of lies and scandalous debauchery. Yes, every person, all ages coming from all kinds of different backgrounds, do bad things. It's when someone constantly and knowingly commits wrong, and then pretends it never happened, when morals gain a ghostly nature. The book The Great Gatsby does a great job chronicling a chunk of a time period where a lot of these things went on. In the novel, there are countless examples of people and actions absent of morality.

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