The Great Gatsby
“The Great Gatsby” The Jazz Age was a period in which there was an increase in economic development. This period was economically prosperous; however, moral bankruptcy was pervasive. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald employs some of the characters as symbols of morality. Nick Carroway is portrayed as an honest man, while Jordan Baker is portrayed as a dishonest and materialistic woman. Nick is a good man who was raised in a family where moral values were essential. He is a nonjudgmental person that always keeps in mind his father´s advice:
“Just remember that all people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (7). Honesty is Nick´s cardinal virtue, and it makes him different from the inhabitants of West Egg by the fact that moral decay was taking place in that society. The moral decay is evident at the parties of Jay Gatsby, where nick says: “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby´s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited” (43). I n addition, Nick´s honesty is revealed when he wears white clothes at Gatsby´s house. White is the color that is usually associated with goodness, innocence, and honesty. Nick shows his integrity and morality when he says: that he was “Rather ashamed than on my first appearance I had stayed so late, I joined the last of Gatsby´s guests, who were clustered around him. I wanted to explain that I´d hunted for him early in the evening and to apologize for not having known him in the garden.”(53) Consequently, Nick refers to him self as “one of the few honest people that I have ever know”(59).
On the other hand, Jordan Baker is completely different from Nick. She is a golf champion whose championship is doubtful due to “a suggestion that she had moved her ball from bad lie in the semi-final round”(58). As a result from the scandal, Nick says: “ I had heard some history of her too, a critical, unpleasant story, but what it was I had forgotten long ago.” (23). Also, Nick
“Just remember that all people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (7). Honesty is Nick´s cardinal virtue, and it makes him different from the inhabitants of West Egg by the fact that moral decay was taking place in that society. The moral decay is evident at the parties of Jay Gatsby, where nick says: “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby´s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited” (43). I n addition, Nick´s honesty is revealed when he wears white clothes at Gatsby´s house. White is the color that is usually associated with goodness, innocence, and honesty. Nick shows his integrity and morality when he says: that he was “Rather ashamed than on my first appearance I had stayed so late, I joined the last of Gatsby´s guests, who were clustered around him. I wanted to explain that I´d hunted for him early in the evening and to apologize for not having known him in the garden.”(53) Consequently, Nick refers to him self as “one of the few honest people that I have ever know”(59).
On the other hand, Jordan Baker is completely different from Nick. She is a golf champion whose championship is doubtful due to “a suggestion that she had moved her ball from bad lie in the semi-final round”(58). As a result from the scandal, Nick says: “ I had heard some history of her too, a critical, unpleasant story, but what it was I had forgotten long ago.” (23). Also, Nick
Bibliography: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. “The Great Gatsby”: New York: Charle Scribner’s sons,1925. “Nick Carroway vs Jordan Baker “ Submitted by: Dulce Rangel. To: Mr. Connolly. Date: October 18, 2010