The American Dream is a dream no one can ever truly achieve due to the corruption of reality and the inherent consequences. Those who disregard right and wrong are destined for a life poisoned by the glamour of society. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby examines a group of high class citizens who are free of a moral compass. They fly through life using their riches to escape any obstacles they encounter, not to mention the consequences that entail. One can see by examining Tom, Daisy, and Myrtle that their selfishness is built on a lack of moral foundation, hich is driven by greed and leads each of them to losing an essence of their life.
By examining Tom Buchanan, one can see that he is emotionally greedy. He is married but his wife is not enough, he has a mistress in New York to satisfy his insatiable needs. His greed clouds his mind as his endless wealth buys him time away from his loving wife for a small fling. Buchanan is never satisfied and is always in pursuit for something greater with no regard to the adultery he is committing. Thus does not even care that Daisy might know about the affair, especially during a dinner arty when Jordan said, “Tom’s got some woman in New York.. she might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time” (Fitzgerald 20).
Mr. Buchanan had the audacity to give his lover his home number to call as she pleases. As Tom answers, it is a direct jab to Daisy as he does not care whether or not she knows, or cares about how she feels. His lack of empathy causes him to leave Daisy heartbroken, and gives no respect to her as he is interested in more than she can offer. Tom is constantly craving something and someone new and exciting to sustain his greedy ways despite hurting the ones he supposedly loves. Although the cause is important to examine, it is the effect of Tom’s lack of morals that leaves his affairs in shambles.
His actions are overlooked due to the greed that poisons his mind. The adultery committed by Buchanan and his mistress Myrtle’s lack of ethics leads to Myrtle’s death, along with her husband George. His scandal causes Tom’s attention seeking wife to act out when an obstacle stands in her way, as Nick recalls the accident, “Well, first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back… Killed her instantly” (137). Daisy was originally turning away then hanged her mind at the last second, recalling her unhappiness and Tom’s affair as she sees his mistress before her.
If Tom had been loyal to Daisy, Myrtle might not have ran out towards the car and Daisy would have continued to turn away from the mistress in the street, instead of turning her into her target. Buchanan’s insatiable ways causes a fatality of the one he loves and heartbreak and unhappiness in the other. By Tom never having enough causes his most prized possession, Myrtle, to be lost and he paid the ultimate price, her life. Daisy Buchanan is a superficial and materialistic woman hose financial greed drives her interest.
She attempts to hide her vanity and self-centeredness with her social charm to always get what she wants. Daisy constantly requires affection and with that the knowledge that she can continue her lavish lifestyle, bestowing her heart to whoever can give her this life. She requires material items to know she is loved and connects happiness with money. This is demonstrated when Mrs. Buchanan is overwhelmed when finding out just how wealthy Gatsby is as she discovers his shirts, “They’re such beautiful shirts, she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds.
It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such beautiful shirts before” (89). This shows that she is so object-oriented that she will tear up over something as simple as a shirt. Gatsby owned these magnificent shirts therefore owning Daisy’s love as well, rather than giving her love to her husband. Although Tom came with money, Gatsby had more so he held more of Daisy’s love, leaving Tom and his insufficient funds behind. Consequently, Daisy’s financial greed causes her to toss aside her husband and run to the man with the most money. Daisy initially fell in love with Gatsby’s newfound riches than Gatsby imself.
As soon as she discovered his wealth she falls back in love with him, completely disregarding her own husband. Daisy was too caught up in the wealth and attention she received from Gatsby that she even declared, “why – how could I love him [Tom] – possibly? .. ‘I never loved him” (126). Buchanan is so infatuated with Gatsby’s lifestyle that she announced she never loved Tom and only married him because Jay was at war. Daisy’s husband had the wealth to support her and gave her some attention, but she detached from him the moment a richer man came along, who gave her the attention she desired.
Therefore Daisy’s craving for more riches causes her to cheat on her husband for the man who is supplying superior funds and devotion. Similar to her deceitful lover, Myrtle Wilson acts superficial and careless regardless of her lack of funds. She craves the life of the higher class, which leads to her affair with Tom. Myrtle believes she deserves to be rich and live the wondrous life society depicts as attainable. She knows her lover can spoil her and give her a taste of the glamorous life she dreams of, so she lies to her husband in order to take a shot at her intended future.
Wilson cheats on her poor husband who she initially believed to be a good, successful man. She requires luxuries and expensive items George cannot afford when she claims, “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman, I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (37). Myrtle assumed that by his expensive tuxedo and kind ways he could support her desired lifestyle, but she realized he was unable to support that style when she discovered he borrowed the wedding tux. Her desire for a lavish lifestyle caused her to get involved with a rich man who spoiled er until it killed her.
Wilson’s obsession to live like the rich causes her to despise her husband and believe he is unworthy of her, as she hastily searches for one who can fulfill her wishful lifestyle. Myrtle’s financial greed and negligence results in negative impacts on her and those around her. She commits these nonchalant acts for her personal gain, not considering the effects to come. Wilson begins her materialistic life with her affair, until it stops abruptly when George finds out about the scandal. Since she did not reveal the truth about the affair, George locked her up in their room to await their departure.
Mrs. Wilson is absent-minded and wants leave with her temporary lover she saw drive by before, so she escapes and runs into the road as Michaelis recaps, “Beat me! He heard her cry. Throw me down and beat me, you dirty little coward! “. Before he could move from his door the business was over… Her life violently extinguished” (130-131). Myrtle selfishly chose to find a rich lover to satisfy her lavish needs, choosing to disregard George, due to his lack of finances. If she had stayed in love with George, regardless of his debt, her affair would ease to exist and she would not have been a target for Daisy to hit.
Any ethics Myrtle possessed before she fell out of love with George would have saved her from this tragedy she causes. Due to each of the character’s insatiable lust for greed, it drives them to behave in the most dishonest ways. After examining Tom, Daisy and Myrtle one can see how a life driven by greed causes people to live immorally in Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. This demonstrates how those who are not satisfied with their own lives are destined to live a life which lacks moral foundation, leading those to a life of heartache and misery.
