Examples Of Demoralization In The Great Gatsby

Demoralization of Characters in The Great Gatsby The novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered one of the best books ever written by an American author. Before being deployed into the military, Jay Gatsby falls in love with a beautiful girl named Daisy. While he is away he believes she will stay loyal to him, but she ends up marrying a wealthy polo player named Tom Buchanan. She disbands Gatsby without hesitation because Tom has money and Gatsby was poor. From that day on, Gatsby knew he had to acquire wealth to win Daisy back over. In this time period, money was everything to them and people would go to great, unethical, extents just to be affluent. This caused people to rid their morals, creating a widespread problem.
Jay works hard to become rich because of the dream he has of being with a wealthy girl named Daisy. He knows that he can not be with her if he is poor, and the only way to drastically transform social classes is to commit acts that are not legal. While it is never confirmed in the novel, it is believed that Gatsby earns his money bootlegging during prohibition. This was a time when alcohol was illegal and people would pay more than normal to have this valuable drink. Gatsby is always on his house phone suggesting something devious is going on. “Only the very rich could afford single lines, a necessity for Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, since they are both engaged in illicit affairs and cannot risk having neighbors eavesdrop on their conversations” (Coleman). Gatsby made sure that only he knew what was going on. While trying to get Daisy back, he never tells her how he made his fortune meaning it is not something he is proud of. What shows is that Gatsby is a “poor guy who would do anything to become rich” (Beuka). Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as a magnificent self-made man, but we do have to take into the fact that he is a criminal and he did not earn his way to the upper class legitimately. Gatsby is in fact a sweet and well mannered man, but he purges his morals to achieve his dream in becoming
He disregards everyone's feelings and only looks out for himself. Because he feels so pompous, he decides to cheat on Daisy and does not even care if she knows or not. He feels no remorse when telling Nick, her cousin, and asks if he would like to meet her. “I want you to meet my girl [Myrtle]” (Fitzgerald 24). Even having a second girl does not mean he was nice to Myrtle. In fact, he is rude to her and tends to put her down. “In his telephone conversations with Myrtle, Tom reveals his true nature as a truculent bull and a restless sexual predator” (Levitt). In truth, he is really only using Myrtle to have sexual activities with when he gets bored with Daisy. On top of this, Myrtle is married and Tom is friends with her husband. He does not care and just takes her away from him under his nose. Again, this is another act caused by the American dream because Tom thinks he can do whatever he wants because he is rich. Overall, in The Great Gatsby, the characters personalities are altered due to the desire to have as much money as possible. Each of the characters do something that is totally against today’s morals. Jay Gatsby performs illegal acts to become rich, Daisy Buchanan marries someone because they are rich, and Tom Buchanan cheats on his wife just because he can. Fitzgerald illustrates that these actions were completely normal in an attempt to pursue