How Is Jay Gatsby Selfish
Jay Gatsby of The Great Gatsby is not the man people think he is. He is the embodiment of 1920s materialism. His extravagant lifestyle highlights his opulence, from his parties to his wardrobe. Gatsby’s past is a secret, unknown to most people, and has a web of lies surrounding it. His behavior is insanely immoral, from his affairs, to his bootlegging. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby often demonstrates his extravagance, immorality, and secretiveness. Jay Gatsby may seem very open, yet he keeps many things a secret to others. His family is a mystery, many people saying he is “Von Hindenburg's Nephew” or “Second cousin of the Devil” (Fitzgerald 66). These claims however are all false, as his family is actually some poor farmers from North
Dakota. These outrageous claims help to cover up his more sinister secrets. Another secret of Gatsby's is his name, “James Gatz—that was really, or at least legally, his name”(Fitzgerald 104). He changed his name so as to share no relation to his family. They were “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people”, and Gatsby could not stand to have any relation to them (Fitzgerald 105). Gatsby is a rich man who does not want to be associated with the lower class, due to the fact that Daisy only likes the rich. Gatsby had to get rich somehow, and that was by illegal bootlegging. Tom notes “A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers”, and that statement correct because Gatsby is a bootlegger. (Fitzgerald 105). This caused him to become rich, yet it was illegal, so he had to keep his business a secret using drug stores as a facade. Overall Gatsby’s secretiveness is all a symptom of him wanting to be rich through both legal and illegal means. Jay Gatsby displays his extravagance in his everyday life. Gatsby throws parties weekly, and they are a spectacle. The parties are extravagantly decorated from the garden with “enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree” to the orchestra with “a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high drums.” (Fitzgerald 44). A normal party at the time would only have a small affair, maybe five musicians, yet Gatsby had an entire orchestra at his party. His decorations show how extravagant he is, with an excess of lights in his enormous garden. Also Gatsby’s wardrobe consists of “massed suits and dressing-gowns and ties, and his shirts, piled like bricks in stacks a dozen high”(Fitzgerald 99). At the time shirts were a sign of wealth, but to have hundreds of shirts is very over the top. Overall Gatsby’s over the top actions, whether it be his parties or his wardrobe, show his extravagance.
Dakota. These outrageous claims help to cover up his more sinister secrets. Another secret of Gatsby's is his name, “James Gatz—that was really, or at least legally, his name”(Fitzgerald 104). He changed his name so as to share no relation to his family. They were “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people”, and Gatsby could not stand to have any relation to them (Fitzgerald 105). Gatsby is a rich man who does not want to be associated with the lower class, due to the fact that Daisy only likes the rich. Gatsby had to get rich somehow, and that was by illegal bootlegging. Tom notes “A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers”, and that statement correct because Gatsby is a bootlegger. (Fitzgerald 105). This caused him to become rich, yet it was illegal, so he had to keep his business a secret using drug stores as a facade. Overall Gatsby’s secretiveness is all a symptom of him wanting to be rich through both legal and illegal means. Jay Gatsby displays his extravagance in his everyday life. Gatsby throws parties weekly, and they are a spectacle. The parties are extravagantly decorated from the garden with “enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree” to the orchestra with “a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high drums.” (Fitzgerald 44). A normal party at the time would only have a small affair, maybe five musicians, yet Gatsby had an entire orchestra at his party. His decorations show how extravagant he is, with an excess of lights in his enormous garden. Also Gatsby’s wardrobe consists of “massed suits and dressing-gowns and ties, and his shirts, piled like bricks in stacks a dozen high”(Fitzgerald 99). At the time shirts were a sign of wealth, but to have hundreds of shirts is very over the top. Overall Gatsby’s over the top actions, whether it be his parties or his wardrobe, show his extravagance.