Morality In The Great Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby the continuous pursuit for wealth and luxury, regardless of consequence, corrupts the passionate and ambitious, resulting in a decaying sense of morality.
Through the markedly heartless demeanor of Tom Buchanan, Fitzgerald illustrates how destructive the temptation of extravagance can be upon one’s character. With such a sought-after, gorgeous woman of a wife and an abundance of inherited wealth, Tom Buchanan has every right to be satisfied with his lavish lifestyle. However, his insatiable lust far from wavers. Tom’s numerous affairs are no secret, and the notion that he should have to sacrifice such desires to maintain a relationship with Daisy is foreign to him. In fact, his disdain for the concept …show more content…
Alongside his lack of empathy, Tom possesses a tendency to bully others into providing him with what he demands, irrespective of said individuals’ emotions. Tom is a “careless [person], smashing up things and creatures and then retreating back into [his] money or vast carelessness, [ letting] other people clean up the mess” (179). Instead of coping with the abrupt death of Myrtle and the damage done to his and Daisy’s relationship, he and his wife fled from the state, leaving a crumbling George Wilson and a murdered Gatsby in their wake. Because of the Buchanan’s’ carelessness, Nick Carraway was left to attempt to pick up the fragments of those that they used to entertain their own selfish fantasies. If Tom cared at all for the anguish he had inflicted upon George Wilson, there would be, at least, minimal effort to console the man; instead, he primarily threatened him into submission, …show more content…
Since he was a teenager loafing along on the sandy beaches in Little Girl Bay James Gatz dreamt of a life of abundant riches, fantasizing about ornate houses and “a universe of ineffable gaudiness” (99). Willing to do anything to accomplish his goal of achieving the life he envisioned for himself, Jay Gatsby was created with a moral wasteland within himself. Upon meeting his fabled lover, Daisy, Gatsby began to further embellish his already fervid dreams, determining her value based upon how many other men hopelessly lusted after her. In hopes of eventually claiming her “he had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way” (96). His desire for Daisy intensified with each passing day without her; Gatsby’s expectations of her far surpassed what she was capable of amounting to. The fascination and adoration for Daisy sprouted less so from herself, rather than the idea Gatsby held of her. He did not consider her feelings once he left, and he selfishly assumed she would reciprocate his yearning regardless of the circumstance that occurred between their time apart. She was prioritized in order so he could hold onto her- so she would

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