Theme Of Ignorance In The Great Gatsby

Improved Essays
Imagine having to attend a party in which all the guests know information about a person’s affair against their spouse. In this situation, most people would want to share this information with the victim of the marriage, but in the second chapter of The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway does the complete opposite. Nick Carraway was forced to go to a party of Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson’s, where he gains insight on their relationship. Nick remains a silent bystander and does not tell Daisy about this event. Nick also meets many characters that do not share the same background knowledge of Daisy and Tom’s marriage as he does, but they still prove to be bystanders. Along with this, the people Nick meets in this chapter lack knowledge and, therefore, …show more content…
They lack knowledge or information which leaves them believing false thoughts. The most innocent ignorance can be shown through Mr. Wilson. Tom states that Mr. Wilson believes that Myrtle leaves so often to visit her sister in New York. His lack of knowledge or intelligence keeps him from noticing his wife’s suspicious actions. Then comes Catherine, who shows ignorance about her sister’s affairs, but also through other subjects as well. Catherine mentions she has been to one of Gatsby’s parties, and she already has believed some of the rumors she heard. She did not get information directly from Gatsby, but yet she believes that he is the nephew of Kaiser Wilhelm’s who was the ruler of Germany during World War I. Another example of ignorance in chapter two comes from Myrtle. Myrtle tells Nick how she first met Tom. She first fell for him on a train because of how well dressed he was. At the party in chapter two, Tom breaks Myrtle’s nose with a punch because she mentioned Daisy’s name. Myrtle’s ignorance of relating a well-dressed man with a well-behaved man got her into an abusive affair. The second part of the title, “The Bystanders and the Ignorant” is shown through the guests at the party and their belief in false …show more content…
The guests are aware that Tom and Myrtle are both married, but they do not speak out against this wrongdoing. They do not inform Mr. Wilson, or Daisy of their spouse’s affairs, and do not even let Myrtle and Tom know that cheating is wrong. Along with the bystanders in this chapter comes a high level of ignorance. In all the titleless chapters, the second chapter can be named, “The Bystanders and the Ignorant” for its relation to how the characters in this chapter act and think. Nick Carraway quotes in the novel that he is “one of the few honest people” that he has ever known, but chapter two outlines a suspicion to the reader that this is false. As the guests at the party, including Nick, all stand at an event of wrongdoing, they fail to stand up for what is right or discover the truth of certain situations on their

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    This statement is ironic because it infers that Daisy herself is not a fool in this world and this tortures her. In reality Daisy’s ignorance of the world tortures her, not her ability to see reality. Daisy ignorantly thinks that her relationships with both Tom and Gatsby are going to work out perfectly. With Tom Daisy does not fight her husband on his sexual relationship with another women, she lets it knowingly happen and does little to nothing about it. She allows for herself to be cheated on and everyone knows that she has been continuously cheated on, so why does she stay?…

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Curley’s wife is just that, Curley’s wife in name only. She doesn’t try to spend time with her husband, and her husband doesn’t try to spend time with her. They look for each other, but really Curley’s wife just wants to flirt with all of the other ranch hands. Curley’s wife says, “ I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.” However, Curley holds onto the fake reality he created with his emotions, even though his logic is telling him that his wife and him don’t have a good…

    • 1508 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nick describes them as careless people since they did not show up to the funeral of Gatsby. Nick would have at least thought that Daisy would send flowers or a letter, she insteads hides and gets away with Tom. Keep in mind that this whole nightmare happened because Nick agreed to inviting Daisy over for tea. This is careless because he knew that Tom is having an affair with Myrtle. Nick does not tell Daisy, which means that he is covering for Tom.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When Nick first visits Daisy, Tom receives a call from his mistress. Jordan informs Nick that Myrtle often calls the house. When Nick accompanies Tom Buchanan on the train, his own behavior becomes morally questionable, as Nick seems almost duplicitous with Tom 's adultery, and he himself becomes involved in the morally ambiguous event: When introduced to Tom and Myrtle 's secret apartment, Nick is unsure of how to respond; however, he is persuaded by Tom, stating that “Myrtle [will] be hurt if you don’t come,” and gets drunk, “ for only the second time in [his] life.” Getting drunk is a personal experience, especially because Nick had only been drunk once before, showing his tolerance. Though Nick declares himself to be "one of the few honest people that I have ever known," he becomes involved with Jordan Baker, who is not only a cheat in her profession but also a cheat in life. Also, although Nick has stated that he follows his father 's advice of being careful about criticizing others who have not had his "advantages in life", and he asserts that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," Nick insistently judges others.…

    • 1039 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The untruthfulness made people rethink how they felt about Gatsby. Gatsby was born poor and was not born rich he was supposed to be left inheritance by one of his mentor figures but that did not come through. Although tensions were high between Tom and Gatsby because of Daisy; Tom attended one of Gatsby’s parties intended on starting trouble. In chapter 7 Tom realizes that Daisy is having an affair with Gatsby which fires up even more tension between the two. Tom feels betrayed because of Daisy’s affair with Gatsby but the whole while he has been cheating on her with his Mistress Myrtle.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Therefore, whenever Mr. Collins’ says anything “Charlotte wisely [does] not hear” it. If she did pay attention to what he is saying, she will always be embarrassed, because he is always saying foolish things, or compliments women, even though he is married. Fortunately, Mr. Collins is seen as unimportant to Charlotte’s eyes, making it easy for her to forget about him, which brings “a great deal of comfort [in the house].” Charlotte’s abilities to forget about him, allows her to be able to relax, and do her own tasks without having any type of disturbance form Mr. Collins and his thoughts. Charlotte’s reason for marriage is based on the convenience of having money and a home, while Mr. Collins reasons for marriage is to please someone else. Their marriage is heavily influenced by…

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hester avoiding communication with Pearl causes her to think that Pearl is unusual when she is eager to learn about their social status, scarlet letter and minister, Dimmesdale. Hester’s lack of discussion with Dimmesdale about his secret causes a weak relationship between them when he becomes ill by punishing himself, having a vigil, and dying. Hester realizes that her errors in communication cause consequences with her family when the narrator states, “Hester could not but ask herself, whether there had not originally been a defect of truth, courage, and loyalty, on her own part, in allowing the minister to be thrown into a position where so much evil was to be foreboded” (114)... An examination of communication between relationships in…

    • 1550 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At Gatsby’s party she was “offended” (107) because everyone there was followed their emotions not other, superficial things. Daisy married tom because of the gestures she showed her, like for their wedding Tom gave her “a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars” (76). This was a grand gesture and Daisy thought it was love, but she was wrong. Love isn’t about how much you can give someone; it’s about how many feelings you have for someone. Daisy was also upset it the dance because at the party a guy kissed a girl and “it wasn’t a gesture but an emotion” (107).…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Rather than speaking out against the man who cheated on his cousin Daisy, he visited the woman he had an affair with, explaining “Though I was curious to see her, I had no desire to meet her—but I did” (24). Nick lacked moral judgement and his inability to distinguish between right or wrong was evident that he had a fragile moral compass. Only later when he became friends with Gatsby, he began to experience much more of life’s bitterness: corruption in the upper-class, dishonesty and adultery. Nick honestly stated, “—Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn” (2), meaning the rich lifestyle that Gatsby had and everyone desired, is exactly what he despised. The indecency wealthy people were capable of was exposed to Nick through Gatsby, making Gatsby responsible for the moral compass and mature adult Nick had grown into.…

    • 2648 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Despite Daisy being the instigator of Myrtle’s death, she disregards Gatsby’s funeral, in order to make sure she is not convicted of murder. Tom also showcased carelessness as he took part in a multitude of affairs, which led to the destruction of his marriage, yet he still continues to partake in his extramarital affairs ignoring the heartache that could be affecting Daisy. Consequently, Tom and Daisy never take responsibility for the detrimental effects of their careless actions. Therefore after unexpectedly reuniting with Tom in the streets of New York, Nick reflects upon his cousin’s and her husband’s actions saying, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness of whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald 188). This quote demonstrates the level of carelessness that Daisy and Tom upheld and also exhibits their inability to take ownership and responsibility for their uncaring and reckless words, attitudes, and actions.…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays