The secondary characters of both novels help to emphasize the theme by blatantly opposing the morals of the time period. Whereas the moral decay of Gatsby and Hester Prynne can be argued, Jordan Baker, of The Great Gatsby, and Mistress Hibbins, of The Scarlet Letter, both behave in ways that unquestionably oppose the morals of the time period. Jordan and Mistress Hibbins act as exaggerations; they commit similar sins to the protagonists to reiterate the moral decay. Jordan Baker amplifies Gatsby’s fraudulence as she too is a liar. Nick describes her as “incurably dishonest” (62), but unlike Gatsby she does not cheat to get ahead, but rather to keep the advantage she has. Gatsby invents a new life and commits crimes in pursuit of a dream but …show more content…
He claims that “she left a borrowed car out in the rain with the top down, and then lied about it” (61) and connects it to an earlier scandal in which she was accused of cheating at a golf tournament. Jordan, as opposed to Gatsby who is developed more as a character, is one-dimensional. She is defined only by her lying and cheating, and therefore is representative of unobscured moral decay. Jordan’s immorality is never justified by an excusable reason. Nick speculates that the lies stem from her inability “to endure being at a disadvantage” (62). For Jordan, her deception acts as a defence mechanism, a method of self-preservation that allows her to keep her status and reputation. When Nick informs Jordan that he is moving back to the East, she immediately tells him “without comment that she [is] engaged to another man.” (188). Nick doubts the authenticity of her announcement, and instead views it as another example of Jordan trying to protect her reputation. It is the selfish, almost meaningless, logic behind her sins that depict Jordan as a symbol of moral decay. Jordan, herself, admits to being dishonest when she tells Nick that he is not any better than she …show more content…
Mistress Hibbins is initially mentioned when the townspeople gather outside of the prison. She is immediately labelled as a witch, and the possibility that the townspeople assembled because she “was to die upon the gallows” (pg 47) eliminates any conjectures that she is a pious citizen who follows the Puritan religion closely. Like adultery, witchcraft demonstrates moral decay in the Puritan society but unlike Hester, who committed one sin, Mistress Hibbins continues to be immoral throughout the duration of the novel. Mistress Hibbins is intentionally used as a parallel to Hester, as she appears in scenes where Hester faces a crisis. For example, when there is debate about Hester’s ability to raise Pearl as a good Puritan child, Mistress Hibbins tempts Hester into going to the forest with her, because she “promised the Black Man that comely Hester Prynne should make [a meeting].” (107) Mistress Hibbins' association with the devil is evidence enough to her moral decay, but Hester’s refusal is an even stronger testimony. Hester, despite being perceived by all the townspeople as a sinner, does not want to be associated with someone as immoral as a witch. The correspondence between Hester’s major struggles and Mistress Hibbins continues when Mistress Hibbins tells Hester that she knows she has been to the forest to
Jordan baker is a famous golfer. Nick likes Jordan Baker’s figure, high spirits, and her high classiness. Though he hates how she is dishonest. In the beginning of the story, he mainly explains things. The following quote is an example of one of her lies and also tells the reader how Nick feels about her:
To begin with, after the party from the city returns to Tom’s home, Jordan invites him inside, but he responds, “‘No, thanks…’ I’d be damned if I’s go in; I’d had enough of all of them for one day, and suddenly that included Jordan too” (142). By refusing to enter Tom’s house, he symbolically declines the acceptance of the upper class; something he, Gatsby, and Myrtle all avidly desired and worked towards up to this point. Rather than value those material characteristics that had appealed to him before, he chooses his moral principles instead. His relationship with Jordan perfectly symbolizes his primary choice . Later on, after Gatsby’s death, Nick “found himself on Gatsby’s side, and alone…it grew upon me that I was responsible [for Gatsby’s funeral], because… [Gatsby deserved] that intense personal interest to which every one has some vague right at the end” (164). Once again, Nick favors his personal beliefs over following societal expectations. He stands by the mysterious figure of Gatsby, who possessed “an extraordinary gift for hope”(2) that Nick admired, while everyone else keeps a safe distance and watches, as onlookers in a zoo does to the animals. By admitting his part in the events that took place, primarily Gatsby’s downfall, Nick shows he is not the same careless person as Tom and Daisy who leave their mistakes for others to fix . Whether Nick’s belief that everyone should have a living person stand by h im/her after death is a universal truth or not, he follows his heart rather than the crowd. Finally, before he leaves to the Midwest, Nick “wanted to leave things in order and not just trust that obliging and indifferent sea to sweep my refuse away” (177). Particularly, Nick wanted to end his relationship with Jordan, supporting his original belief that a person should only have one
The Great Gatsby: The Destruction of Morals. In The Great Gatsby, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald shows the destruction of morals in society. The characters in this novel, all lose their morals in an attempt to find their desired place in the social world. They trade their beliefs for the hope of acceptance.
To start off, Nick Carraway is responsible for the death of Gatsby. During the harmonious relationship with Jordan Baker, Nick displays tolerance of Jordan Baker’s dishonest behavior and considers her dishonesty as incurable. Nick expresses his thought to Jordan by saying, “It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply ” (58). However, Nick’s forbearance of woman’s dishonesty develops, and his tolerance of dishonesty reaches an apex. Nick soon covers and hides the origin truth of Myrtle Wilson’s death, and he lets Gatsby assume the responsibility of Myrtle’s death. The next day, Nick sees the abandoned corpse of Jay Gatsby at his pool. After the death of Jay, Nick hides the secret of Myrtle’s death from Tom, but displays his disappointment toward Tom. If Nick had told anyone that Daisy was driving the car, George would not have shot Gatsby. Nick Carraway’s wrong decision that was not to tell anyone Daisy ran over Myrtle has led the Gatsby’s death. Moreover, Carraway’s wide tolerance has not prevented the death, but caused it. He is respo...
Like God observing the world, we are the observers of The Great Gatsby. According to German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s two categorical imperatives, Daisy and Jay were unethical. Kant’s categorical imperatives state; ‘Act as if your action could be elevated into universal law’ and. Based on the principles of Kant, Daisy and Jay were unethical in several ways, according to Kant’s two categorical imperatives. Daisy used people emotionally and lacked responsibility, and Jay was manipulative towards the people around him. The Great Gatsby is a great example of a society that does not abide by Kantian principles.
Scott Fitzgerald was viewed as both a patron and a doubter of the sudden emergence of the Flapper. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows his disapproval through background information and descriptions of Jordan and Catherine, Myrtle Wilson’s sister. Jordan is a self-motivated, rebellious, unmarried golfer who, similar to Catherine, likes to party. Jordan once told Nick, “I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy” (Fitzgerald 49). Fitzgerald criticizes the idea of the flapper through Jordan by including a newspaper article that Nick recalls about her. The article said, “...she had moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round. The thing approached the proportions of a scandal” (Fitzgerald, 56). Similar to Jordan, Catherine exhibits characteristics of an untrustworthy and dishonest person. When Nick meets Catherine for the first time she tells him, “‘Myrtle really ought to get away from him’ resumed Catherine to me.’They’ve been living over that garage for eleven years. And Tom’s the first sweetie she ever had’” (Fitzgerald, 35). Catherine shows that she is rebellious as she tries to persuade Tom and Myrtle into leaving their spouses. Both Jordan and Catherine are rebellious and self-centered, which were common traits among
Nick mentions that Jordan is careless due to the fact that she is dishonest and
Nick overlooks the wrongness of Gatsby's bootlegging, his known associations with speakeasies, and with the character Meyer Wolfsheim, a man rumored to have fixed the World Series in 1919. Yet he is disapproving of Jordan Baker for cheating ina golf game. He also says that he is prepared to forgive this sort of behavior in a woman, "It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you cannot blame too deeply, I was causualy sorry, and then I forgot" it seems like he can't accept her for being "incurably dishonest" and then he says that his one "cardinal virtue" is that he is "one of the few honest people" he has ever known.
Fitzgerald writes, “His acquaintances resented the fact that he turned up in popular restaurants with her and, leaving her at a table, sauntered about, chatting with whomsoever he knew” (Fitzgerald 24). Also, when Nick relates Jordan Baker of being dishonest demonstrates as Fitzgerald addresses, “At her first big golf tournament there was a row that nearly reached the newspapers--a suggestion that she had moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round” (Fitzgerald 57). Foremost, Nick states that he is honest, but is
The characters of The Scarlet Letter showed the ruthless, orthodox society of Puritan society. Hester was a feministic, self-reliant conformist, living on her own. In the novel, she showed she wasn’t able to abandon her society completely, leading her to move on the outskirts of town. In essence, she could keep her distance but maintain her connection to the community. She and Mistress Hibbins, who she admired in the film and despised in the book, are the only characters in both the book and movie who behave according to their own personal beliefs. Hibbins’ minor function in the book evolved into an imperative role in the film. Her relationship with Governor Bellingham wasn’t well portrayed in the film, when this connection prevented her prosecution in the book.
The 1920’s were a time of social and technological change. After World War II, the Victorian values were disregarded, there was an increase in alcohol consumption, and the Modernist Era was brought about. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a perfect presentation of the decaying morals of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald uses the characters in the novel--specifically the Buchanans, Jordan Baker, and Gatsby’s partygoers--to represent the theme of the moral decay of society.
Most self respecting people have ethics and morals they try to abide by. They create standards that they live life by and construct their own philosophy with. In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, morals and ethics are a scarce practice. Jay Gatsby lives his life by the over bearing morals and values of devotion, corruption, and his will to control.
‘The Great Gatsby’ is social satire commentary of America which reveals its collapse from a nation of infinite hope and opportunity to a place of moral destitution and corruption during the Jazz Age. It concentrates on people of a certain class, time and place, the individual attitudes of those people and their inner desires which cause conflict to the conventional values, defined by the society they live in. Gatsby is unwilling to combine his desires with the moral values of society and instead made his money in underhanded schemes, illegal activities, and by hurting many people to achieve the illusion of his perfect dream.
Throughout Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, there is a broad spectrum of moral and social views demonstrated by various characters. At one end, is Tom, a man who attacks Gatsby's sense of propriety and legitimacy, while thinking nothing of running roughshod over the lives of those around him. A direct opposite of Tom's nature is Gatsby, who displays great generosity and caring, yet will stop at nothing to achieve his dream of running off with Daisy. The moral and emotional characteristics of Gastby and Tom are juxtaposed, Tom, the immoral character and Gastby, the moral character while the other characters' moral and emotional developments appear between these two.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jordan Baker was bold, deceptive, and needed variety and stimulation. This is what made her to be the Orange character that she was. Those who fit into the orange category of personality fit these criteria and more. She is modern, she is hypocritical, and she is in love with her glamorous life.