The Good life
As mentioned in the previous pages, none of the characters in Gatsby truly lived the "good life". Piecing together some of the characters we were able to come to a conclusion as to what we thought the "good life" really is: the "good life" can be defined as being financially comfortable, living with strong morals, and surrounding one's self with people one cares about and people that care about him/her.
Obviously there are two great examples of being financially comfortable and they were accomplished in different ways. Tom is extremely wealthy partially because of his families riches but also through true honest hard work. Gatsby on the other hand grew up poor and would do anything necessary to secure himself in the upper class. He went around the law to accomplish his wealth through his bootlegging activities with Wolfshiem. In this one aspect Tom and Gatsby are able to sniff the "good life".
In a book with six main characters it is amazing that only two could be considered morally sound. Nick and George Wilson are the only two characters that are not a part of any cheating during the book. Nick dates Jordan a few times throughout the book but Jordan is not married and Nick is not doing anything immoral. Mr. Wilson works his tail off every day to make enough money to put food on the table and a roof over his wifes head. Although his wife is always off with Tom he does not resort to the same low action of cheating. George and Nick stay morally strong throughout the book and capture arguably the most admirable aspect of the "good life".
None of the marriages in the book are anywhere close to strong. Myrtle is cheating on George with Tom. Tom is cheating on Daisy with Myrtle. To get Tom back for cheating with Myrtle, Daisy cheats with Gatsby. Gatsby feels that Daisy loves him as much as he loves her, but really she just likes his extravagant life style and flamboyant ways. There are no example of people surrounding them selves with people they care about because in no case is it a two way street.
In conclusion, The Great Gatsby, serves a purpose that is a deviation of what is expected. Reading of the lavish lifestyle of Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy, the reader may expect to be reading about perfect lifestyles with zero imperfections. Once the plot unravels towards the middle of the story, however, it is apparent that this is far from the truth. In the end, some characters have more problems than others, however each main character in the story has at least one imperfection in their personal lifestyle that hampers them from getting a real taste of the "good life."
Obviously there are two great examples of being financially comfortable and they were accomplished in different ways. Tom is extremely wealthy partially because of his families riches but also through true honest hard work. Gatsby on the other hand grew up poor and would do anything necessary to secure himself in the upper class. He went around the law to accomplish his wealth through his bootlegging activities with Wolfshiem. In this one aspect Tom and Gatsby are able to sniff the "good life".
In a book with six main characters it is amazing that only two could be considered morally sound. Nick and George Wilson are the only two characters that are not a part of any cheating during the book. Nick dates Jordan a few times throughout the book but Jordan is not married and Nick is not doing anything immoral. Mr. Wilson works his tail off every day to make enough money to put food on the table and a roof over his wifes head. Although his wife is always off with Tom he does not resort to the same low action of cheating. George and Nick stay morally strong throughout the book and capture arguably the most admirable aspect of the "good life".
None of the marriages in the book are anywhere close to strong. Myrtle is cheating on George with Tom. Tom is cheating on Daisy with Myrtle. To get Tom back for cheating with Myrtle, Daisy cheats with Gatsby. Gatsby feels that Daisy loves him as much as he loves her, but really she just likes his extravagant life style and flamboyant ways. There are no example of people surrounding them selves with people they care about because in no case is it a two way street.
In conclusion, The Great Gatsby, serves a purpose that is a deviation of what is expected. Reading of the lavish lifestyle of Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy, the reader may expect to be reading about perfect lifestyles with zero imperfections. Once the plot unravels towards the middle of the story, however, it is apparent that this is far from the truth. In the end, some characters have more problems than others, however each main character in the story has at least one imperfection in their personal lifestyle that hampers them from getting a real taste of the "good life."
