Examples Of Immorality In The Great Gatsby

The American Dream—A Road to Immorality
“‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (New International Bible, Genesis 3:4-5). The prevalence of temptation and immorality has been present from the beginning of time. In the Biblical sense, it was the serpent that tempted Eve with his promises for greatness and divinity, but ultimately corrupted her world, as well as the world today. Presently, the lust for power and authority is exceedingly evident amongst today’s society. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American dream was a foundation of desires for wealth and supremacy. Throughout the
At a first glance, their home seems to be the perfect family setting. It isn’t long before Tom’s affair with his mistress becomes evident: “‘Is something happening?’ I inquired innocently. ‘You mean to say you don’t know?’ said Miss Baker, honestly surprised. ‘I thought everybody knew.’ ‘I don’t.’ ‘Why—’ she said hesitantly, ‘Tom’s got some woman in New York’” (Fitzgerald 20). When Daisy sees Gatsby again, she also begins an affair of her own. However this affair is short lived as Tom becomes aware of the infidelity of his wife. Daisy was forced to choose between Tom and Gatsby, but she refused to abandon her “old rich” lifestyle. After hitting Myrtle while driving Jay’s car, Daisy and Tom decided to conspire a plan in order to avoid responsibility for the tragedy: “Daisy and Tom were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table, . . . . There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together” (Fitzgerald 138). Despite Daisy’s professed “love” for Gatsby, she allowed him to take the blame for the accident, which eventuated in his death. When Wilson went to Tom and asked him who the car belonged to, Tom had no problem mentioning Jay Gatsby’s name, providing Wilson with the information needed to justify Myrtle’s death: “‘I told him the truth,’ he said. ‘He came to the door while we were getting ready to leave, and when I sent down word that we weren’t in he tried to force his way up-stairs. He was crazy enough to kill me if I hadn’t told him who owned the car. . . .’” (Fitzgerald 169). In the end, Daisy chose the American dream over her moral conscience, proving that the rich are not really better than the poor. Jay Gatsby’s quest for the American dream began at the age of 17, when he left his North Dakota farm-life home in pursuit of better life. After meeting Daisy and seeing her wealth, he became obsessed