The Great Gatsby Moral Downfall
Likewise, the people who attend Gatsby’s party flock together and follow one another to the bright lights of his mansion and the sound of clinking champagne glasses; Fitzgerald suggests that these wealthy partygoers are simply drifting around aimlessly until they see the bright lights and follow. This moth simile is important in describing the characters’ nature. Neither Gatsby nor his guests feel obligated to accept responsibility; they are depicted running wild in the bay, relaxing on the sand, and partying nearly every night. Such careless actions represent feelings of superiority brought by their wealth that eventually leads to their moral demise. The ability to bask in one’s wealth rather than using time to earn money or status allows more time to use that wealth in negative ways. Money is not an object to these characters, so they can afford alcohol and pay off any consequence that may come from it. To extend the comparison and complete the connection to moral demise, Fitzgerald uses the fact that Fitzgerald’s moths are fragile creatures who follow the light to their death. By comparing the upper class to moths, Fitzgerald shows how their fascination to the
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bright parties Gatsby throws leads to a similar “death” in the form of moral corruption . As the novel continues, the reader sees Gatsby gradually lose his own moral values and how he acquires a more dominating demeanor.
Throughout the novel, Gatsby makes it a goal to prove he is equal to, if not better than, Tom. The fact that Gatsby lives just across the bay so he could be close to Daisy could be seen as an admirable gesture at first, but once he becomes engulfed in that superficial life, his character is not who Daisy once knew: “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’ After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken. One of them was that, after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house—just as if it were five years ago”
(109).
bright parties Gatsby throws leads to a similar “death” in the form of moral corruption . As the novel continues, the reader sees Gatsby gradually lose his own moral values and how he acquires a more dominating demeanor.
Throughout the novel, Gatsby makes it a goal to prove he is equal to, if not better than, Tom. The fact that Gatsby lives just across the bay so he could be close to Daisy could be seen as an admirable gesture at first, but once he becomes engulfed in that superficial life, his character is not who Daisy once knew: “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’ After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken. One of them was that, after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house—just as if it were five years ago”
(109).