Great Gatsby Essay 2

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response of the reader. Some characters, like Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, have money, and are very expressive with it. Examples of this are Gatsby's expensive Rolls Royce and Tom's polo horses that he flew in from Chicago. Nick mentions that everybody had seen Gatsby's car (pg 63), pointing to the fact that Gatsby flaunted the vehicle and by association his wealth, and Tom flying in polo horses from another city would obviously be outrageously expensive. Other characters, such as Myrtle, lust for money. Essentially being of the middle class, Myrtle's attraction to Tom is not one based on love and affection. Rather, Tom represents something that Myrtle has never had- endless wealth- and with this Myrtle correlates happiness. The lust for and obtrusive use of money by the characters is an obvious central theme throughout the novel, but as the text draws to a close Fitzgerald emphasises that money cannot govern human emotions. Gatsby's money fails to entice Daisy away from her husband, ...

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we do with ourselves this afternoon? And the day after that, and the next thirty years?" Daisy does not phrase the question seriously. She is merely wondering how she will fill her empty days for the rest of her life.

There is no doubt that many of the characters in The Great Gatsby are extremely selfish. In fact with the exception of Nick, and possibly Jordan, the personality trait of selfishness is found in every major character of the novel. Tom is by far the most selfish of the characters of the novel, doing as he pleases, with no regard for potential consequences. His open affair with Myrtle is testament to this. Daisy too shows signs of selfishness, We get the impression that ...

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