The Great Gatsby Pathological Liar Analysis

In F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby, Gatsby is a narcissistic, pathological liar, as well as an entitled, hopeless romantic.

Usually, someone lies to gain an advantage, or cover up truths that the public will frown upon. However, people such as Gatsby lie on instinct in any given situation. Jay Gatsby creates a world on the basis of his deceiving facts and has no plans of coming to a halt anytime soon. F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as a pathological liar, and from Nick Carraway’s point of view, he is aware of Gatsby’s never ending false accusations. “His voice was solemn, as if the memory of that sudden extinction of a clan still haunted him. For a moment I suspected that he was pulling my leg, but a glance at him convinced me …show more content…
Furthermore, Gatsby acts as his own spectator and tries to mold his life around the public 's opinion of himself. He is a culprit of having this behavior frequently throughout the novel with Daisy at the core of this enigma. Gatsby creates an act for the sake of Daisy, without wanting to tell her about his true colors. According to literary critic Katie Koster, “It is of crucial importance to note that Gatsby evinces no conscious sense of guilt for deceiving Daisy” (Koster). Gatsby does not tend to care whether Daisy knows the truth about his true fame and fortune or not. Hypothetically speaking, if Daisy were to stay with Gatsby rather than Tom, Gatsby would have no intentions of ever telling her about the mystery about his life that have left so many people curious. Gatsby will only follow through if it benefits him the most in the end. There is no legitimate proof that he feels guilty for doing what he has done to Daisy. Thus, Gatsby shows no sympathy to anyone and only cares about his self image. Gatsby sees Daisy as a mirror rather seeing Daisy as an individual. Gatsby loves Daisy because Daisy loves him, and he uses that as a gateway to use her for his own advantage. For Gatsby, Daisy is his dopamine that keeps him on task for his self image and keeps his narcissistic engine running. Also, Daisy reassures Gatsby about his self-image by just being a part of Gatsby’s life. If Daisy leaves him, he will feel melancholic not at the thought of her, but at the thought of losing that key aspect of his life that kept his egotistical behavior at an all time high. For example, at the end of the novel, Gatsby does not care the slightest if Daisy calls him or not because he realizes at this point that Daisy and her tangible objects will no longer benefit