In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses reckless driving as a metaphor to show the carelessness of the wealthy characters. Many of the characters are reckless drivers, such as Jordan Baker and Daisy Buchanan. They don’t seem to care about the well-being of other drivers that they may hurt from being bad drivers. In the novel, driving techniques symbolize social status and character which later channels death and destruction. In The Great Gatsby, the author uses reckless driving as a metaphor to show readers how people of higher social class live their lives in destructive ways. In The Great Gatsby, the author uses the role of reckless driving to show carelessness and destructiveness of Jordan Baker’s character. Professional golfer, Jordan Baker …show more content…
Tom has a high social status which displays irresponsibility and carelessness in The Great Gatsby. Nick says, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (191). As Nick explains, Tom Buchanan lives a careless lifestyle which shows through the way he destroys Gatsby’s life. Like Jordan and Daisy, Tom only cares about his own well-being. Tom says, “‘I told him the truth,’ he said. [. . .] He was crazy enough to kill me if I hadn’t told him who owned the car. His hand was on a revolver in his pocket every minute’” (190-191). Readers can probably suggest that Tom does not tell the truth because it’s the right thing to do; he tells Mr. Wilson the truth to save himself from getting hurt. Tom’s actions also lead to him destroying Gatsby’s life. Like most of the characters in The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan reckless lifestyle implies that he is a reckless driver as
In the novel The Great Gatsby by American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jordan Baker portrays a professional golfer who is both Daisy Buchanan’s friend and a woman with whom Nick Carraway, the narrator, becomes romantically involved with. She is poised, blonde, very athletic, and physically appealing. Throughout the story, Baker represents a typical privileged upper class woman of the 1920’s Jazz Age with her cynical, glamorous, and self-centered nature. Despite the fact that she is not the main character, Jordan Baker plays an important role in portraying one of Fitzgerald's themes, the decay of morality, in the novel.
Jay Gatsby is know to be a man of many riches and enjoys to throw humongus parties every weekend. However, based on Nick Carraway’s description, Gatsby’s parties are very prodigal. Nick describes the amount of workers and tools need to fix Gatsby’s house after a party: “[a]nd on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears…” (Fitzgerald 39). By listing the amount of servants needed, Nick exploits the recklessness of Gatsby’s parties. In addition, by using the word “all day” the reader can infer there was quite a big mess the servants were tasked with cleaning. Thus, Gatsby’s gigantic party is just money spent to create a huge mess. Nick also describes the
Fitzgerald has used Tom in The Great Gatsby, to demonstrate the power that men had during the 1920s. In order to understand Tom's purpose in the book, it must be known that he has been purposely set up as a character the reader does not like. Fitzgerald has done this, as he does not like men whose lives mirror Tom's. Tom is a violent man, who is completely in control of the women in his life. He shows how disrespectful some men were to women. For example, he breaks his mistress Myrtle's nose.
During Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, it is apparent to be an absurd time for the wealthy. The shallowness of money, riches, and a place in a higher social class were probably the most important components in most lives at that period of time. This is expressed clearly by Fitzgerald, especially through his characters, which include Myrtle Wilson, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and of course, Jay Gatsby. This novel was obviously written to criticize and condemn the ethics of the rich.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald affiliates driving with greed and carelessness by revealing Jordan Baker's selfish motive while driving and Daisy's recklessness when driving. He uses the specific incident of when Daisy kills Myrtle to portray carelessness. After a heated argument bet...
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is his statement of lifestyle in America in the 20’s. The author develops unlikable characters like Tom Buchanan an Old Money racist and Daisy a vapid spoilt individual to show the greediness and wealth in the 20’s. Overall, the worst character in this novel is Daisy Buchanan because she is careless, insensitive, and disloyal.
Fitzgerald uses cars to demonstrate that the rich believe that they are superior and above all the rest. The rich use their money as a way to make their own rules. The people of higher class demonstrate that they can not take responsibility for their actions. They also go through life not caring what they leave behind. They speed through all decision they make not caring if they break hearts or take lives. Fitzgerald uses cars to symbolize the carelessness of the wealthy which ultimately leads to death.
Her sequence of lies leads George Wilson to believe, senselessly, that this was all Gatsby’s fault. The shame of the affair eventually compels Wilson to shoot Gatsby and then commit suicide. Daisy, could have owned up to her mistakes and saved Gatsby’s life, but for Daisy Fay Buchanan, self-preservation is far more valuable than personal merit. This in fact proves “the greatest villain in the Great Gatsby is in fact Daisy herself, for her wanton lifestyle and selfish desires eventually lead to Gatsby’s death, and she has no regards for the lives she destroys” (Rosk 47). Nevertheless, Nick Carraway sees right through her disturbing ways and reflects upon the Buchanan’s. After Nick ponders a thought he muttered “They are careless people Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they made” (Fitzgerald 170). Many people see Daisy Buchanan as a poised, pure, and elegant woman who is happily married; however, few like her cousin, Nick Carraway, suffer from knowing her true self: careless, deceptive, and selfish. Daisy is able to use money to get her out of every situation she runs
How can one be so careless? In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom and Daisy were both careless in their actions. Their choices affected those around them, in the end killing three people. Tom showed his carelessness by cheating on his wife Daisy, openly showing off his mistress Myrtle, and telling Wilson that Gatsby owned the car that killed his wife. Daisy showed her carelessness by cheating on her husband Tom, openly showing her love for Gatsby in front of Nick and Jordan, and killing Myrtle without stopping like any sane person would. Tom and Daisy 's actions caused negative impacts on the people around them, however they had their money to lean on. Their money got them away at last where they didn
"They'll keep out of my way," she insisted. "It takes two to make an accident."
Gatsby realizes that life of the high class demands wealth to become priority; wealth becomes his superficial goal overshadowing his quest for love. He establishes his necessity to acquire wealth, which allows him to be with Daisy. The social elite of Gatsby's time sacrifice morality in order to attain wealth. Tom Buchanan, a man from an "enormously wealthy" family, seems to Nick to have lost all sense of being kind (Fitzgerald 10). Nick describes Tom's physical attributes as a metaphor for his true character when remarking that Tom had a "hard mouth and a supercilious manner...arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face...always leaning aggressively forward...a cruel body...[h]is speaking voice...added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed" (Fitzgerald 11). The wealth Tom has inherited causes him to become arrogant and condescending to others, while losing his morals. Rather than becoming immoral from wealth as Tom has, Gatsby engages in criminal activity as his only path to being rich. His need for money had become so great that he "was in the drug business" (Fitzgerald 95). Furthermore, he lies to Nick about his past in order to cover up his criminal activity. Gatsby claims to others that he has inherited his wealth, but Nick discovers "[h]is parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people" (Fitzgerald 104). Gatsby enters a world where money takes precedence over moral integrity. Materialism has already overshadowed a portion of his spiritual side. A quest for true love is doomed for failure in the presence of immorality. Once wealth has taken priority over integrity, members of the high social class focus on immediate indulgences, rather than on long-term pleasures of life such as love.
Gatsby believes in the aforementioned "American Dream." Thus, Gatsby believes that money alone will allow him to enter the upper class. However, the unspoken truth of the "American Dream" is that class mobility requires money and the culture typical of the upper class. Gatsby becomes wealthy, but his lack of this culture prevents him from fulfilling his goal of social mobility. Writer Andrew B. Trigg discusses Gatsby 's inability to climb the social ladder: "culture provides a barrier to entering the top echelons of the leisure class" (Trigg.) Throughout The Great Gatsby, Gatsby 's lack of taste is evident, which leads to the upper class 's rejection of him. Gatsby repeatedly displays his wealth in excessive ways. Gatsby throws extravagant parties, buys flamboyant clothes, and purchases an opulent car and mansion. Throughout the novel, these displays of wealth are met by criticism from those that Gatsby is trying to impress. Tom Buchanan, Daisy 's husband, and a man of inherited wealth, detests Gatsby. In Chapter seven, Tom frequently criticizes Gatsby for his gaudy displays of wealth. First, Tom criticizes Gatsby 's car: " 'Come on, Daisy, ' said
Nick is astonished at this information. He finds it hard to believe that Tom, with a beautiful wife and child, would be having an affair with some woman in the city. Miss Baker thinks “everybody knew” about the affair, yet Daisy is still with Tom. Being too ignorant to make herself believe it’s true, Daisy is willing to stay in the marriage, even when she is presented with an opportunity from Gatsby to escape. Daisy is willing to stay with Tom just because he has “old money,” and that shows how important it is to her. Everyone else’s morals are just as bad as Tom’s because they know about what’s going on and know that it’s wrong, but they don’t say anything about it. Later in the story, when Wilson is looking for the driver of the yellow car that killed Myrtle, he also suspects that person of having an affair with...
Themes of violence and carelessness are found throughout the text of The Great Gatsby. A violent act is portrayed in every chapter of the novel but one; often, the episodes are the products of passion, but they are also frequently due to carelessness. Myrtle Wilson’s tragic death perfectly embodies the sort of negligence, passion, and power that hangs about calamity throughout the novel. The driver, Daisy, appears suddenly, kills Myrtle, and leaves suddenly, without taking responsibility for damage done. "The ‘death car,’ as the newspapers called it, didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically for a moment and then disappeared around the next bend" (Fitzgerald 144). The accident that killed Myrtle Wilson was a senseless and reckless act- the result of frayed nerves and a distracted mind. Daisy did not watch out- nor did she stop, investigate, or try to explain herself. The fact that her confession could have saved Gatsby’s life is infuriating and typical of the character. This idea of carelessness seems common to women within the novel; Jordan Baker is another classic example of violence by negligence. She is breezy, carefree, and completely irresponsible, a striking impression made crystal clear in every situation, most notably when discussing her driving. When Nick scolds that she is a rotten driver, and that she should be careful, her blithe excuse for her negligence is that, "Well, other people are" (Fitzgerald 63). This flippant answer is an accurate glimpse into Jordan’s nature. Jordan Baker’s reckless abandon is just one example of the careless natures that contribute to violence within the novel. This thread of irresponsibility permeates throughout the novel. Tom and Daisy themselves are, in the end, deemed to be careless and dangerous. As Nick says, "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…" (Fitzgerald 188).
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.