Great Gatsby 3 Essay, Research Paper

A Lie, a Truth

Once a toddler realizes that he/she can escape punishment by lying to his parents, it becomes difficult not to resort to that course of action when a taxing situation arises. Thusly, an action and mode of behavior as ingrained as a lie becomes intuitive for appropriate social functioning to the indoctrinated adult. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald allows the reader to discover the cryptic and enigmatic secrets of his characters through their social facades. Their lies expose facets of their inward motivations that could only be uncovered through behavior that betrays their apparent desires.

Tom’s blatant lying to Daisy clearly demonstrates that someone as accustomed to attention and admiration as Tom must have an audience that exudes undulating regard for his existence; this fan club can be found in the weak soul of Myrtle Wilson. ” ‘He’s got some woman in New York’ ” (19) is how Jordan Baker explained Tom’s unabashed absence from his guests. Even while entertaining at his home, Tom finds it necessary to confer with his mistress about their upcoming rendezvous. Tom’s powerful and forceful demeanor and the reader’s knowledge of his background as one where he was “one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterwards savours of anti-climax” (10), explain why he is in need of constant attention. This level of interaction can not be afforded by Tom’s wife, Daisy, who, as delicate and fragile as her name suggests, pays a great deal of attention to herself and her own material desires. Myrtle Wilson’s school-girlish infatuation with Tom and his money afford Tom all the affection he desires without the rejection of someone who will treat him as an equal. Tom’s desire to be idolized, which stems from his earlier life experiences, drives him to forget his wife through a blanket of lies and deceit.

Gatsby lies to the world at large about who he is by creating a shroud of mystery. “It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world” (48). Gatsby attempts to assert an illusion regarding his own life to predicate his monetary achievements and the social standing he has attained: not the penniless soldier he once was. He preserves his lie in regard to every imaginable facet: ” ‘This fella’s a regular Belasco. It’s a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism!’ ” (50). In his seemingly eternal quest to woo Daisy, Gatsby undermines any moral conviction he may have through deception. Consequently, he uses a ploy to present a small portrait of his life through a medium that would seem favorable to the superficial eyes of Daisy: ” She laughed again as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had” (13). He relinquishes moral integrity to be with the woman he idolizes. Although a noble conviction, masquerading as someone else to appeal to another is a burden not worth taking.

The irony of Nick Carraway’s condescending attitude toward the echelon above him is that his actions expose his true desire for wealth and grandeur. By attaining intimate relations with rungs on the ladder to his own success, he can attempt to improve his own social standings: ” Because I disapproved of him from beginning to end” (162) clearly shows that on the surface, it would seem that Nick had no desire to be an intimate partner of Gatsby’s. Nick’s deceit stems from his inability to convince himself that he really wants to be like his East and West Egg counterparts. What becomes easy to forget is that Nick also emerged from an upper class society, and that his remarks to the pettiness of the lives of the rich, “They were careless people they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together ” (188-9), are hypocritical. Nick uses falsehoods regarding his own motives to ground his moral dilemmas and position himself as the falsely stable eye of a turbulent storm. He uses lies not as a deception of others but as a means of allowing himself to justify his shallow behavior.

Tom, Nick and Gatsby display the moral will power of children, as they are dishonest to themselves and their surroundings. When they create fabrications that ease the discomfort of a struggle or advance their standing in a situation, they soften the foundation of truth and honesty that each person needs to be grounded to so that they may stay true to their convictions. Much as a child would lie to their parents to lessen a punishment, so would a character in this book describe something deceitful to try and procure a more favorable result.