Great Gatsby
...decay. Fitzgerald illustrates this with the narrator, Nick, who comes from a more ethical way of living in the mid-west. Since Nick is an outsider to the ways of the wealthy aristocrats and "new money" living in New York, he is quick to realize the flaws of the people around him. He sees that people are motivated by their selfish desire to be high on the social ladder. These people can hide behind their money, and as a result are uncaring of others. They can't see what is truly important in life because the system of immorality is hidden under a surface of glamour. They lose their dreams and become like the mold of being selfish and disillusioned. With an abundance of money clouding a person's conscience, moral values can be easily lost.
As F. Scott Fitzgerald shows, people are motivated by the desire to be regarded as socially superior to others. In the novel, people have ulterior motives for most of their social experiences. The class system is very strong, especially between the aristocrats of East Egg, and the newly self-made rich of West Egg. The people of East Egg possess many social graces because they have spent their whole life being very wealthy. They were always taught that they were superior to others. When they come in contact with the people of West Egg, they act rudely because they feel they are not worthy of their respect since
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they have not always been wealthy. They act in a different way than they should because of they wish to feel above people in some way. Sometimes, social status is placed with more importance than a person's happiness. Daisy Buchanan, a character in The Great Gatsby, lives a boring and unsatisfying life. She is aware that her shallow and chauvinistic husband, Tom, is having an affair with another woman, and she is unhappy with herself. Daisy meets an old love, Jay Gatsby, and she...
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