SELFISH PEOPLE IN THE GREAT GATSBY:

The Great Gatsby is set among wealthy, educated

people, who

have lots of leisure time and little concern about people who are not in their social milieu. Nobody's concerned about politics or spiritual matters but everybody cares about how they are perceived socially. Those who do come from other classes seek and envy the glamour and lifestyle that they see in the elite. Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, is able to attain a certain amount of wealth, but he cannot fake education or social behaviors that only come with "old money." The novel's two main locales, West Egg and East Egg, are distinguished also by class. East Egg represents "old money" while West Egg represents the nouveau riche. East Eggers consistently look down on West Eggers for precisely this fact. Class and wealth are virtually indistinguishable from each other, but if a person lacks education, then he is clearly not part of the upper echelon.

A quote showing selfishness is :

Next morning I sent the butler to New York with a letter to Wolfsheim, which asked for information and urged him to come out on the next train. That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it. I was sure he’d start when he saw the newspapers, just as I was sure a there’d be a wire from Daisy before noon—but neither a wire nor Mr. Wolfsheim arrived; no one arrived except more police and photographers and newspaper men. When the butler brought back Wolfsheim’s answer I began to have a feeling of defiance, ofscornful solidarity between Gatsby and me against them all.

This shows that to Nick’s surprise, everyone neglects to honor Gatsby’s memory. It’s tragic for two reasons. In the first place, Gatsby’s life was full of people who didn’t truly care about him. Second, abandoning Gatsby is a sad attestation to how shallow and selfish people can be. Nick’s disgust with everyone who attended Gatsby’s parties, Gatsby’s business partners, and even Gatsby’s one true love seems justified. What do you think?

THE MEN OF GATSBY:

In The Great Gatsby is Tom look on as a big hunky man. He is a football stud and a bully and likes to impose his will on others. He is also abusive, breaking Myrtle's nose with just a quick, reactive hit that takes little effort. However he is also extremely rich.

But he is judged and by the narrator, Nick, repeatedly and often. Thus, one could conclude that in the novel Tom's kind of man is established as what a male should not be. And Nick is what a male should stand for, he shows that he has morals.

Gatsby is very much an opposite kind of man. Gatsby is a romantic and idealist and thoughtful and considerate, for the most part. He mistakenly believes in a past that never really occurred, and dedicates himself to recapturing a relationship that was never really what he thinks it was. Daisy never loved Gatsby as much as he loves her. He is a dreamer, and tries to continuously relive the past.

Though Gatsby is certainly presented in a positive light, and he is certainly a better kind of "male" than Tom, one should be careful of holding up any character in the novel as ideal. This is sophisticated fiction in which people are presented as mixtures of good and bad, if you want to use those terms. Gatsby is not ideal, either. He is, a bootlegger and business partner with Wolfsheim. Which is looked down on.

THE WOMEN OF GATSBY:

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The Great Gatsby, takes place in the 1920's which was a time of rebellious behavior and living life next to the old American Dream. The women of this era are portrayed in two different lights in the novel: defiant and foolish.

Women began to take a step forward in society during the 1920's and this novel explores these phenomena. As women in the novel start to detach themselves from the stereotypical proper and prim manner in society, there are new stereotypes created. In the novel, it is perfectly all right for women to drink and conduct themselves wildly at parties just as men do. They express their views much more, and begin to take control of their newly established place in society. Daisy, the common prim woman, was treated as in inferior for years in her relationship with Tim. She allowed herself to be degraded as her husband committed acts of infidelity. However, Daisy eventually liberates herself when she has an affair with Gatsby. Now, Daisy has found a way to bring Tom under her thumb.

On the other hand, women also are portrayed as extremely foolish, and easily used by men. Myrtle is an excellent example of his, for Tom is using her. To Tom, Myrtle is a game. He uses her for fun, and never intends on having a substantial relationship with her. He goes to her when he pleases, and she will always be there waiting for him. Tom does not treat her with respect, yet she continually returns to his side.

Another view of women shows them as gossipers and out of control. When attending parties at Gatsby's house, the women are intoxicated to where they can no longer walk, or think properly. The women are said to have ripped their dresses, jumped in the fountains and danced wildly. These images are prevalent throughout the novel, yet there are very few moments where men are so vulgar. At Tom and Myrtle's party, Myrtle's sister Catherine and her friends are gossiping the entire time. Catherine gives false information about Daisy, Tom and Myrtle. As well, Jordan Baker, another female character is constantly in the middle of Tom and Daisy's marriage, all the while gossiping to Nick about both of their affairs.

The American dream has a lot to do with the behavior patterns of the women in the novel. It seems that the novel shows women as becoming infatuated with the 'perfect American life.' The women are shown to anything to meet the unachievable standards that the American Dream puts forth. And this recklessness, defiance and foolishness are clearly shown in The Great Gatsby.
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Jealousy in The Great Gatsby:
F. Scott Fitzgerald tried to accent the point that money does not breed happiness. Money causes people to become envious, greedy, and jealous. It compels people to show a persona of arrogance and creates a haze of fog in the air of the world around them. They begin to become oblivious of the outside world and think of themselves as a higher being. This causes lack of acceptance for their responsibilities. I thing the author was also trying to show us that sometimes one can hold on to a dream for so long, and try so hard to achieve it that it can leave you in misery instead of happiness. Creating the reverse of it's intent.

F. Scott uses a color scheme to show many emotions of characters in this story. The ultimate factor for almost every action within the story is money, the color green. This color shows the envy, greed, and jealousy that make up this story. Green is not only the color of money and the color most notably associated with greed, but it is also the color of the light on Daisy's dock. The same dock light that Gatsby spent so many nights gazing at. This is no coincidence, F.S.F. wanted to express to his readers the symbolism behind the color. Gatsby envied Tom because he knew that Daisy needed a wealthy man to take care of her. And as he was building his wealth, Gatsby would look over the lake toward that green light with envy and await the day he would be good enough for Daisy.

The use of white, in reference to Daisy's wardrobe, symbolizes her laziness and uselessness within the story. She is completely devoid of any knowledge of the outside world, always lost in pointless thought. Something that I found quite apparent was her obviously shallow, money grubbing motives. For example, when she is taken into Gatsby's home for a tour, she is shown Gatsby's beautiful imported shirts. Daisy begins to cry, saying that these shirts are so beautiful. But what she is really expressing is her envy and jealousy of Gatsby's new riches and all of his elaborate material possessions.

One form of symbolism that I found very interesting was Scott's use of the billboard ad containing the huge eyes of one Dr. T.J. Eckleberg. He makes reference to them as if they were the eyes of God, overseeing the ash heap.

When Daisy runs over Myrtle, killing her, she does not get upset, nor does she make any effort to turn her self in for the crime. She seems as though she is oblivious to what is happening, just as Tom had been when Wilson mentioned that he knew Myrtle was having an affair. I enjoyed this reference because it seemed to give hope that the real persons guilty of killing Myrtle will one day be brought to justice by God. As God is the one thing that Tom and Daisy cannot buy or run away from.

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Gatsby's green light: Located at the end of the Buchanans' dock, this green light represents Gatsby's ultimate aspiration: to win Daisy's love. Nick's first vision of Gatsby is of his neighbor's trembling arms stretched out toward the green light . Later, after Daisy and Gatsby's successful reunion, a mist conceals the green light, visibly affecting Gatsby. Nick observes, "Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever....Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one" . This image suggests Gatsby realizes he must face the reality of Daisy, rather than the ideal he created for her.
The green light is a multi-faceted piece of symbolism in the book. It's most obvious interpretation is that the light is symbolic of Gatsby's longing for Daisy, but that is too simplistic. Daisy is part of it, but the green light means much more. Gatsby has spent his whole life longing for something better. Money, success, acceptance, and Daisy. And no matter how much he has he never feels complete. Even when he has his large house full of interesting people and all of their attention, he still longs for Daisy. He created in his dreams for the future a place for her, and he will not be content to have that gaping hole. So the green light stands for all of Gatsby's longings and wants. And when Nick talks about the green light at the end of the book he says "It eluded us then, but that's no matter- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms out farther...." . He connects the green light to all people. Everyone has something that they long and search for that is just off in the distance.

The Great Gatsby: Old Money Versus New Money

Summary: Essay discusses the issue of old versus new money in "The Great Gatsby."

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F. Scott Fitzgerald uses his novel The Great Gatsby as a way to compare old and new money and to illustrate the lack of morals in those with old money. The main character, Jay Gatsby, representing Fitzgerald's personification of new money, makes his living selling alcohol illegally. He earns his money quickly and is now showing it off with fabulous parties in his oversized mansion in West Egg. Another character, Tom Buchanan, represents old money being the "scion of those ruthless generations who raised up the great American fortunes." Both act out their dreams. Gatsby's is to get Daisy while Tom's is to completely possess Daisy as well as to appear as a well-rounded intellectual. Tom and others in his class inherited their money and live elegantly in East Egg.

(http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2004/5/15/141559/670)

DAN CODY :

He is first introduced in Chapter 6 of "The Great Gatsby", where he meets Jake Gaz, or Jay Gatsby, the name Cody gives him. Dan Cody is Gatsby's first look into how the rich life could be and this is where he first realizes that his dream is to become a rich man. Mister Cody takes Gatsby as a personal assistant, which is basically Gatsby taking care of mister Cody while he is rip roaring drunk. After Dan Cody passes he leaves 25,000 dollars to Jay, however he is unable to touch this money due to Cody's mistress. Dan Cody represents a fatherly figure when the book flashes back to Mr. Gatsby's life and is his source of inspiration before he was a rich man.

Character Analysis : Jay Gatsby's legal name is James Gatz. The specific moment when he decided to change it, when he was 17, was also the moment that began his career. Dan Cody had a very big part in this moment of Gatsby's life. James Gatz had been walking along the beach in a "torn green jersey and a pair of canvas pants," but it was in fact, Jay Gatsby that interacted with Cody on that momentous day. Dan Cody's yacht dropped anchor over the most "insidious flat" on Lake Superior. When Gatsby saw this, he borrowed a rowboat, and pulled out to where Cody was on the water and warned him that the "wind might catch him and break him up in half an hour." Cody a product of the Nevada silver fields, of the Yukon, of every rush. The transactions in Montana copper made Cody a great millionaire. Cody was softminded, and naive, and many young women took advantage of this. One woman in particular, Ella Kaye, a newspaper woman, took advantage of his weakness. Over the next few years, Gatsby was steward, mate, skipper, secretary and even jailer for Dan Cody, and was very trusted by him. Through all of this, Dan Cody had an insatiable thirst for alcohol and drank continuously. Upon the return of Ella Kaye one night in Boston, Dan Cody "inhospitably died." Dan Cody did influence Gatsby in many ways; most importantly, watching Cody's excessive drinking, made Gatsby drink very little. A portrait of Cody hangs on Gatsby's wall.

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