Great Gatsby Essay, Research Paper

Rich People Through the Eyes of Fitzgerald

Rich people are everywhere but it is often hard to see into the lives of them. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the author, Fitzgerald, attempts at giving the reader a better insight into this topic and succeeds. The unbearable attitude of the elite is shown mostly through the character of Daisy. As well, Tom and Jordan show the way of life for the very rich in what seems to be the truth throughout the novel. They all are very snobbish and boring people who feel they are superior to those around them, especially the people who live in West Egg. In the story of The Great Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and Jordan, show the carelessness and snobbish attitude of the very rich.

Daisy is the character of the novel that proves all the dispicable thoughts and ideas the very rich have towards life. She shows that the people from East Egg are very snobby and inconsiderate. Everyone, especially Nick realizes that “Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras, which set the rythm of the year summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes.” (p.151) Daisy is a pompous, rich girl, who cares mostly about herself before others. At some point in time all the characters of the novel come to grips with this fact about Daisy and realize “Her voice is full of money.” (p.120) Gatsby is one of the first to realize this. He longed to acheive wealth so he could be with this woman and is now realizing that she isn’t what he thought she was. She cares mostly about money, not feelings, as the very rich often do. “She wanted her life shaped now, immediately – and the decision must be made by some force – of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality.” (p.151), which shows that Daisy’s life plans must be made always with money as a factor. Deep down inside she is an unthoughtful person who puts her needs before the people she pretends to care for. This is proven when “she [vanishes] into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby – nothing.” (p. 149) She acts as though she is in love with Gatsby, but instead choses her rich luxurious life style over him. When attending one of Gatsby’s famous parties Nick notices that “She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedent “place” that Broadway had begotten upon, an Long Island fishing village – appalled by its raw vigor that chafer under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing.” (p. 108) This shows that Daisy places herself above others because of her wealthy status. She is a snob who easily gets bored with what people in West Egg call a party. Although her superior feeling is disgusting in itself her inablility to face consequenses is much worse. After hitting Myrtle with her car, Gatsby explains to Nick that “Daisy stepped on it. [He] tried to make her stop but she couldn’t , so [he] pulled on the emergency break. Then she fell into [his] lap and drove on.” (p. 145) After hitting a woman Daisy simply drives off and allows Gatsby to take the fall for the crime that she has committed. This ultimately leads to Gatsby’s murder and funeral, to which she does not attend. Daisy is a cruel woman who is too wound up with herself and money to realize the real world around her. If she would stop her carelessness and come to the realization of the consequences of her actions she might earn some respect from any decent person. Daisy is the best depiction of the lifestyle of the very rich. She shows how disgusting and disrespectful they really are.

Along with Daisy, Tom and Jordan also show the ways of the rich. Tom shows his feelings about the people from West Egg, especially Gatsby, on a few different occasions. He does this for one of the first times when discussing where Gatsby might have got his riches from. He talks about Gatsby being a bootlegger when saying, “I imagined it. A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers, you know.” (p. 109) This shows that Tom suspects all people who have earned their wealth and were not born into it. He feels that no one could possibly be quite as good as him. Tom also talks down about Gatsby to Mr. Sloane saying, “I wonder where in the devil he met Daisy … [Women] meet all crazy kinds of fish.” (p. 104) This shows that he feels Gatsby is not even good enough to associate with. Tom also tries to act like he cares excessively for his wife, meanwhile he is secretely cheating on her with Myrtle. He brings Nick on a trip to see her saying, “I want you to meet my girl.” (p. 24) This shows that not only is he cheating, but he is not even ashamed of it. Tom is a very absent-minded person who feels he can do whatever he wants. This shows an insight into the real lives of the very wealthy. Jordan is another irresponsible person. Nick notices this when he first meets her. He realizes she is a reckless driver and asks her, “Suppose you meet somebody just as careless as yourself.”, she responds by saying. “I hope I never will.” (p.59) This shows how even Jordan, who seems like an alright person, really is not. At the end of the novel Nick comes to his assesment of Tom, Daisy and all the very rich people. He says, “They [are] careless people… They [smash] up things and creatures and then retreat back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it [is]…and let other people clean up the mess they made.” (p. 180) With these few lines Nick explains everything the very affluent symbolize. They are inconsiderate people and this book gives a deep insight to the truth of Nick’s statement.

The novel, The Great Gatsby, shows the disgusting lifestyle of the very rich in a very revealing manner. Throughout the novel the reader learns how rude and ungaurded the people who consider themselves high class really are. Daisy shows the attitude of the people in the upper class in an extreme manner. She is an unrespectable woman who is unable to deal with problems that need to be faced. Tom and Jordan are also the same way but not to the extent of Daisy, however they are as well very thoughtless. People born into wealth are nothing to be admired. These people always seem to have the same unthoughtful persona, which is shown and proven throughout this novel. No matter how rich a person is they are no better than anyone else. This is a lesson that should be taught to all the Daisy, Tom and, Jordans around the world to make a more considerate society.