How Is Gatsby Selfish

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Jay Gatsby - Ever since his impoverished childhood in rural North Dakota, Gatsby longed for wealth and sophistication (American Dream) —he dropped out of St. Olaf’s College after only two weeks because he could not bear the janitorial job from which he was funding his tuition. Though Gatsby has always wanted to be rich, his main motivation in acquiring his fortune was his love for Daisy Buchanan, whom he met as a young military officer in Louisville before leaving to fight in World War I in 1917. However, Gatsby's 'love' for Daisy could also in turn be seen as a selfish obsession, since his dream of being with Daisy was never deterred by the fact she had a family, moreover a young daughter. Gatsby dedicated himself to winning Daisy back, and…show more content…
His social attitudes are laced with racism and sexism, and he never even considers trying to live up to the moral standard he demands from those around him. Fitzgerald uses Tom Buchanan to illustrate the wrong way to go about achieving the American Dream, Tom does so by surrounding himself with material possessions. Living what many would consider a perfect life Tom Buchanan seems to have everything, money, a fancy house, and a beautiful wife. Although he may have all these things, it is the mentality that goes with having them that makes you happy and not the actual ownership of them. Treating everything as a possession, Tom bases all of his happiness on what he does or does not have. Tom even treats his relationships with women as thought they are possessions. As you would smash a punching bag or a pillow Tom takes out his aggression on Myrtle, his lover, "Tom broke her nose with his open hand". This view on the treatment of women is also visible in his relationship with…show more content…
Myrtle is unhappy with her marriage to Wilson and feels it is not going to take her anywhere. Therefore she knows that she is going to have to find another man to bring her out of the valley of Ashes. Initially Myrtle thinks that Wilson is the man who she had been looking for, when she first saw him in a suit she thought for certain he was the kind of man who she was looking to marry. Only later does she find out that the suit was not his "Crazy, the only crazy was when I married him". While still married to Wilson, Myrtle does everything in her power to try and imitate the life she sees Tom and his friends living. She attempts to throw parties, similar to Gatsby, but they are almost all failures that demonstrate how much lower in class then Tom she really is. In fact, it is her lowness in class that is what keeps Tom from forming a real relationship with her. Although Tom tells Myrtle that the reason that they cannot form a solid relationship is that Daisy is catholic, "it's really his wife that is keeping them apart…" everyone, with exception to Myrtle and her sister, knows that is not the real reason. A person of Toms stature would never marry a women from the Valley of Ashes, and Myrtle is too naïve to realize that. Myrtle is another person who puts all of her hope of
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