Lies In The Great Gatsby

Improved Essays
Lies can be associated to anything of any allegiance. They can contrast from small accusations such blaming your dog on lost homework to being busted for having forged a fake diploma. Lies often leave behind a negative effect in the end because the listener will eventually find out. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, the main character wraps himself in lies in an attempt to paint himself in his perspective of perfection causing his gradual and inevitable downfall. Gatsby’s wealth is a big part of his version of perfection. His wealth was claimed to have originated from ”’My family all died and I came into a good deal of money.’” (Fitzgerald 65) Gatsby’s lie about his wealth illustrates how he does not want people to know about how he truly achieved his wealth. His true source of wealth, “‘bought up a lot of side-street …show more content…
A big example would be “‘Was Daisy driving?’ ‘Yes,’ he said after a moment. ‘But of course I’ll say I did it.’” (Fitzgerald 143) This quote displays Gatsby’s willingness to lie, even if it were for a good cause. The lie however impacts George Wilson, who decides to murder him in revenge. Gatsby’s lie to save someone reveals how lying is not a good or safe method to help someone because in the end, a lie will never bring be too beneficial. Another example would be “It passed, and he began to talk excitedly to Daisy, denying everything, defending his name against the accusations that had not been named. But with every word, she was drawing on the dead dream.” (Fitzgerald 134) The quote is portraying how Daisy is getting uncomfortable about Gatsby’s occupation. Gatsby lied to everyone about the way he earned his money, now Daisy has strained relations with Gatsby as a result of hiding the truth from Daisy. Lies cannot bring any good regardless of how they are being used to do, people who use them will never bring anything good with

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    The “Great” Gatsby? Bob Marley was once quoted saying that, “the greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” This idea flawlessly accentuates the false idea many have about Jay Gatsby. He is seen as an immensely wealthy bachelor who on the surface seems to be “great” (as the title of the book represents), but in reality his importance is just a “great” illusion. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the main character, Gatsby himself, should not be considered great due to the fact that he relies on wealth and a single woman to be happy, and he is essentially a man built on dishonesties.…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This seduces the reader as we cannot push boundaries in our everyday lives. During the harsh fight of affection between Tom and Gatsby, Gatsby begins to state that Daisy is leaving Tom, but Tom answers, “She is not leaving me! Certainly not for a common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on her finger.” (Fitzgerald, 132-133) Daisy never actually says she will not leave Tom. It is her actions that shows she is lying.…

    • 1390 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    According to Tony A. Jaskins Jr, “If you don’t understand it fully, don’t speak on it. Too many people have full opinions, with half the facts.” In the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, a boy named Holden Caulfield is telling his story from a mental hospital to put it simply Holden is struggling. He lies so much to cover up who he really is, a kid that’s angry and depressed about his brother Allie’s death. In the book Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is the guy with the huge house on the West Egg who throws extravagant parties every weekend.…

    • 157 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Their is many ways to tell a lie and many are shown in the novel THE GREAT GATSBY. Jordan Baker is a example for just a few like when she lied about not moving her ball from a bad lie and everyone revoked their confession and it died away this would be a example of dismissal and which they act as if it didn't happen and won't admit to it dismissal is one of the more dangerous lies for it allows the dismissal of facts feelings and perceptions of all things this plays into Jordan's character quite well she is a remarkably dishonest person who cannot stand to be at a disadvantage which could be her downfall considering she borrowed a friend's car then left it out in the rain without the top down then lied as though she didn't because that would…

    • 282 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1920s/Great Gatsby Paired Essay The 1920s were a period of prosperity and opportunity and a period of excess and unrest. Some people think the time in the 1920s were hard times, for example people struggled with money and jobs. Other people believe it was an easy time where no one really had to worry about anything. They partied, spent money, just had fun, and have no worry in the world.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    By refusing to broadcast the truth about his past, Gatsby was actively hiding his past in order to ensure a successful future. For Gatsby, image spoke volumes, so he held it in utmost importance. He works diligently to appear confident in every decision he makes, demanding the respect of those around him.…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel, The Great Gatsby, it shows a prime example of how society’s accepted standards can cause an individual to hide who he or she really is to others. As set in the novel, there exist two different social-status communities called the West Egg and East Egg, which create tensions between the main characters. Likewise, most of the main characters fight for the approval of others, which directs them towards dishonesty and eventually their downfall. Some of the characters that end up suffering repercussions from having a facade of lies are Jordan Baker, Myrtle Wilson, and Jay Gatsby.…

    • 1068 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jay Gatsby Contradictions

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Fitzgerald focuses heavily on the topic of Gatsby’s many illusions, whether they be about his past or occur during his present. For example, Gatsby’s story of his past in comparison to his real past is wrought with lies. Gatsby goes off on a tangent to Nick, and Nick narrates, “With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter. The very phrases [that Gatsby spoke] were worn so threadbare that they evoked no image except that of a…character” (Fitzgerald 66). Nick begins to see through Gatsby’s lies, but Gatsby later provides a photo and war medal that make Nick question whether or not he tells the truth.…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    301617-Great Expectations Essay Growing up, the term do not lie and to tell the truth is very prominent. In the bible do not lie is repeated. It is in the ten commandments as “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.”. The book Great Expectations demonstrates on how lying is considered, and always is considered wrong.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Behind The Lies: The Truth Within Finn The lies that is instilled within the story “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” are rooted within the main characters. Twain is able to present these lies by the use of dialogue from one character to the other or by simply going into the mind of Huck himself. The use of lies in the story makes it more exciting to the reader as it creates scenarios at which the reader is able to experience first-hand.…

    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Tom said, “He (Gatsby) and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong” (pg. 143). Since Gatsby didn’t earn his wealth in the most honorable ways, he is seen as a fraud. He only achieved part of the American Dream (money), the other part has more to do with acceptance than anything else.…

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book The Great Gatsby he lies about his past and takes the blame for Daisy killing Myrtle. This shows how he is dishonest and in return nothing good happens for him. Another time that someone is dishonest in the book Of Mice and…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Great Gatsby True

    • 1259 Words
    • 5 Pages

    There are many stories of how America became great. Those stories all have a similar theme, the relentless pursuit of the American dream, resembling the founding father’s dream of freedom, liberty, and justice. However, the story of those whose dreams are not accomplished is hardly ever told. Scott Fitzgerald does just that in The Great Gatsby with a depiction of the cold truth: not all American dreams come true.…

    • 1259 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The trouble with lying and deceiving is that their efficiency depends entirely upon a clear notion of the truth that the liar and deceiver wishes to hide” -Hannah Arendt. This quotation expresses the way lying is a coverup for a bigger problem that someone wishes to hide. Lying is done on purpose in order to deceive someone just like in the novel The Girl on the Train. In this novel, characters such as the protagonist, Rachel, an alcoholic and Tom, Rachel’s ex husband both play a role in deceiving others. In The Girl on the Train Hawkins examines the way which lying dismantles people’s communication, creates distance, establishes obstacles, clouds the truth, and breaks up communication through the relationships of Anna and Tom, Rachel and…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    He lets rumors go around that he has performed certain actions when he really hasn’t. The rumors included things like he killed a man, or he was a German spy, or that he was the cousin of a royal. He also had the honest intention to free Daisy from her unhappiness (Fitzgerald 130). He planned on trying to repeat the past (Fitzgerald 110), even though Nick pointed out that it was impossible. He tells Gatsby that he has to keep moving forward, no matter how much Gatsby wants back what he technically…

    • 1908 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays