Jay Gatsby
Parts of Gatsby’s life would lead one to believe that he did indeed live the “good life”. However, when scrutinizing the various aspects of his life, the reader can conclude that actually did not live the “good life”. The one part of Gatsby’s life that would lead someone to believe he lived a perfect life was his elite financial status, which in turn caused people to glorify him. However, his wealth was the one aspect of his life that can prove to the reader that he didn’t live an admirable life style. When analyzing the life of Jay Gatsby, the reader realizes that Gatsby did not earn his wealth honestly and people did not like him for who he is, they liked him for his wealth. It is Gatsby’s hefty bank account and lavish lifestyle that misleads one into thinking that Gatsby lived the “good life”.
Gatsby was immoral in the sense that he achieved his money through illegal activity. If he was not killed by Wilson, there is no way to predict how long he would have been able to stay on top of the upper class. It is very likely that he could have been caught doing illegal business, and in a day’s time he could go from being grossly rich to having close to nothing. Since he received a great deal of his cash from underground selling of alcohol during a time period when the consumption of alcohol was illegal, his profession would have been completely eliminated when Prohibition ended in 1933. The “good life” is one where a person lives with strong morals, and it is clear that Gatsby does not have strong morals if he puts himself in great danger in order to make money. In the end, we learn that his purpose for attempting to be as rich as possible is not one that many would believe to be morally correct: to win back Daisy Buchanan.
We learn about halfway through the novel that Gatsby fights to be an elite member of the upper class in order to impress Daisy, which is an attempt to receive love from someone for the wrong reasons. This is Gatsby’s major problem: he has barely anyone in his life who truly cares about him, and likes him for his personality. Really, Nick Carroway is Gatby’s closest friend. All the others, although some do like him, really are attracted to his wealth. He throws wild parties, however the people at his parties do not even know him as a person. Klipspringer is a prime example as a person who uses him, as he lives at his house for free, however cannot seem to make it to his funeral after his death. Gatsby hid behind his money, and by analyzing his life one can realize that he really was a lonely person.
Gatsby was immoral in the sense that he achieved his money through illegal activity. If he was not killed by Wilson, there is no way to predict how long he would have been able to stay on top of the upper class. It is very likely that he could have been caught doing illegal business, and in a day’s time he could go from being grossly rich to having close to nothing. Since he received a great deal of his cash from underground selling of alcohol during a time period when the consumption of alcohol was illegal, his profession would have been completely eliminated when Prohibition ended in 1933. The “good life” is one where a person lives with strong morals, and it is clear that Gatsby does not have strong morals if he puts himself in great danger in order to make money. In the end, we learn that his purpose for attempting to be as rich as possible is not one that many would believe to be morally correct: to win back Daisy Buchanan.
We learn about halfway through the novel that Gatsby fights to be an elite member of the upper class in order to impress Daisy, which is an attempt to receive love from someone for the wrong reasons. This is Gatsby’s major problem: he has barely anyone in his life who truly cares about him, and likes him for his personality. Really, Nick Carroway is Gatby’s closest friend. All the others, although some do like him, really are attracted to his wealth. He throws wild parties, however the people at his parties do not even know him as a person. Klipspringer is a prime example as a person who uses him, as he lives at his house for free, however cannot seem to make it to his funeral after his death. Gatsby hid behind his money, and by analyzing his life one can realize that he really was a lonely person.
