Themes
Don't betray a trust-
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzegerald relies on honesty because it a very key factor when it comes to the plot line of this book. Honesty is a huge ongoing theme in The Great Gatsby what with Tom's affair with Myrtle, Daisy's affair with Gatsby, and Gatsby trying to keep up a wild party attitude when in actuality it is all an act to impress Daisy. Two things that relationships must have is trust and honesty. Both of these are violated in Tom and Daisy's marriage. Not only did Tom have an affair with Myrtle, but after that Daisy has an affair with Gatsby behind his back! "I called up daisy the next morning and invited her to tea. Don't bring Tom I warned her" (Fitzgerald 55) Had these things not been in the story, there would be no plot line, and with honesty, there would be no conflict. Another reason I believe this is true is Gatsby's wild party personality. It really all turns out to be an act to impress daisy and make her fall in love with Gatsby again. This causes daisy's affair with Gatsby where the victim turns out to be Tom. This is a direct violation of Gatsby's full honesty with the guest list at his parties and most importantly Daisy. The multiple affairs in the Buchanan household plus the fake personality put on by Gatsby all contribute to the honesty them in The Great Gatsby. Justice doesn't mean revenge- When it comes to justice in The Great Gatsby, there is a fine line between it, and revenge. And it gets crossed multiple times, such as when George may or may not shoot someone for maybe killing his wife, forcing someone to go back to west egg with someone to prove that someone can't hurt him, and when Tom gets in a fight with Myrtle. (sorry, you said we couldn't give away the ending.) George, a character who enters into the story a bit later, maybe does kill someone for maybe killing his wife. "Now he's dead" (Fitzgerald 114) this could be taken either of two ways either George over reacted in the act of maybe killing someone, or one may think in the sense that the man's life is worth the one that he took. In this case, revenge trumps over justice. And when someone forces someone to go back to west egg to prove that someone can't hurt him, this is an over reaction as well because forcing someone to go with someone they have already deemed not right for them. Not to mention that this person that sent the other person back with someone used to love the other person, so the way he can just send her away like that really shows the backstabbing going on. |