Lies and Fortune
Mahli Strasser
Junior Composition: Orange 2
Is living a fake life of fame and fortune worth the pain of living and keep up with all of the lies? Many of the characters in the novel, The Great Gatsby, face this question. The characters must make challenging decisions to decide if all of the lies are worth the suffering or should they just live a normal life. Throughout the book many of the characters lie and cheat. Even though each character cheats in his or her own way, they all do it for the same reason which is to be wealthy and have a high social class. The theme for this novel is, sometimes it is worse to live a life full of lies and riches than to live a life full of normality. Jay Gatsby is in love with …show more content…
But the most frequent lying she did was to herself. She thought she was born in the wrong class. On page 34 she talked about how she married a man in a class that was below her and thought she deserved better. Myrtle says “…but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.” She told herself that she deserved to have fancy dresses, Tom, and all of his fortune. Myrtle did not want her old, boring life. She wanted a life like Daisy’s. But while living her “dream life” there were many complications that arose. She still had to deal with her old husband, George Wilson, and her jealousy of Daisy because Daisy has everything Myrtle wants. On page 125 Fitzgerald showed how jealous Myrtle was of rich women. “…her eyes, wide with jealous terror, were fixed not on Tom, but on Jordan Baker, who she took to be his wife.” Myrtle wanted the American Dream. She wanted the handsome husband, to be outrageously rich, to have a high social class, and to live in a big, fancy house. This proves that lies and riches are worse than a normal life. Her “dream life” had jealousy, lies, and was fake. But even though her real life didn’t have tons of money, it still had a husband who loved her very much and maybe if she realized her real life wasn’t so bad she wouldn’t have had such an awful and gruesome …show more content…
In a lot of ways Gatsby and his mansion are very similar. On the outside of the mansion you saw a gigantic house that could host a lot of parties and could see that it was very expensive and well kept. Even Daisy was overwhelmed when she saw it for the first time. On page 90 Daisy and Gatsby talked about his mansion. “That place right there?” she cried pointing. “Do you like it?” “I love it, but I don’t see how you live there all alone.” But once you enter the mansion, it looked different from its vast outside. Inside you could see the false truth and loneliness. When everyone looked at Gatsby, they saw his handsome looks, high social class, and his fortune. When Nick saw Gatsby for the first time he thought the same thing. But after Nick got to know Gatsby, he saw who he really was. Nick could see his unhealthy desire getting Daisy and his lies. Everyone saw Gatsby only for his lies, just like how everyone only saw the expensive outward appearance of his mansion. Imagine if his mansion was just a normal house. Yes, it isn’t as extravagant, but it would still be a good, stable home. It wouldn’t have all of the cheating and the lying. It wouldn’t have been deserted like the actual mansion. It would be the same thing for Gatsby if he didn’t lie about his whole entire life, and just had a normal
Mahli Strasser
Junior Composition: Orange 2
Is living a fake life of fame and fortune worth the pain of living and keep up with all of the lies? Many of the characters in the novel, The Great Gatsby, face this question. The characters must make challenging decisions to decide if all of the lies are worth the suffering or should they just live a normal life. Throughout the book many of the characters lie and cheat. Even though each character cheats in his or her own way, they all do it for the same reason which is to be wealthy and have a high social class. The theme for this novel is, sometimes it is worse to live a life full of lies and riches than to live a life full of normality. Jay Gatsby is in love with …show more content…
But the most frequent lying she did was to herself. She thought she was born in the wrong class. On page 34 she talked about how she married a man in a class that was below her and thought she deserved better. Myrtle says “…but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.” She told herself that she deserved to have fancy dresses, Tom, and all of his fortune. Myrtle did not want her old, boring life. She wanted a life like Daisy’s. But while living her “dream life” there were many complications that arose. She still had to deal with her old husband, George Wilson, and her jealousy of Daisy because Daisy has everything Myrtle wants. On page 125 Fitzgerald showed how jealous Myrtle was of rich women. “…her eyes, wide with jealous terror, were fixed not on Tom, but on Jordan Baker, who she took to be his wife.” Myrtle wanted the American Dream. She wanted the handsome husband, to be outrageously rich, to have a high social class, and to live in a big, fancy house. This proves that lies and riches are worse than a normal life. Her “dream life” had jealousy, lies, and was fake. But even though her real life didn’t have tons of money, it still had a husband who loved her very much and maybe if she realized her real life wasn’t so bad she wouldn’t have had such an awful and gruesome …show more content…
In a lot of ways Gatsby and his mansion are very similar. On the outside of the mansion you saw a gigantic house that could host a lot of parties and could see that it was very expensive and well kept. Even Daisy was overwhelmed when she saw it for the first time. On page 90 Daisy and Gatsby talked about his mansion. “That place right there?” she cried pointing. “Do you like it?” “I love it, but I don’t see how you live there all alone.” But once you enter the mansion, it looked different from its vast outside. Inside you could see the false truth and loneliness. When everyone looked at Gatsby, they saw his handsome looks, high social class, and his fortune. When Nick saw Gatsby for the first time he thought the same thing. But after Nick got to know Gatsby, he saw who he really was. Nick could see his unhealthy desire getting Daisy and his lies. Everyone saw Gatsby only for his lies, just like how everyone only saw the expensive outward appearance of his mansion. Imagine if his mansion was just a normal house. Yes, it isn’t as extravagant, but it would still be a good, stable home. It wouldn’t have all of the cheating and the lying. It wouldn’t have been deserted like the actual mansion. It would be the same thing for Gatsby if he didn’t lie about his whole entire life, and just had a normal