English
Tom Buchanan’s arrogance is a clear indication that he thinks highly of himself. This was shown by his flashy behavior by boasting that he has breeding knowing that he came from a very prominent family. His character is tainted with racism when he despised intermarriage between blacks and whites. His domineering behavior over his wife Daisy shows that he is a control freak. He treats every person around him as a commodity that he can buy with his money even his mistress Myrtle. His social attitudes manifest racism and sexism, by disregarding the moral standards he expects from others. This can be illustrated when he was outraged after beginning to suspect the affair of Daisy and Gatsby. Tom considers himself invincible with all his fame and fortune. He believes that he is on top of the world and every person should bow to him.
Although Nick knows the involvement of Gatsby in illegal activities to amass his wealth, he still feels that Gatsby is more compassionate than the rest of the members of the high society. Nick is an honest man who disapproved of any act that will violate the law. He was fully aware that Gatsby’s money came from sketchy business dealings but he admired Gatsby for believing in his dream. Nick is a polite guy who can easily get along with other people, but he is also brutally frank. He is not afraid to voice out his opinion. Although Nick maintains high standards for every person he meets, he is keen on maintaining his standards. His admiration for Gatsby’s incorruptible dream will tell is that Nick admires Gatsby’s honesty and purity despite his illegal dealings. However, Nick wants to keep his principles and is not swayed by the corrupt and fast-moving world of East coast high society.
The symbolic statement of Wilson of “eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg” means that the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg are like the eyes of God. The eyes will also represent the view of the characters about themselves. It means that the eyes will always see if one has committed wrong act that has done harm to others. This can be illustrated in the case of Myrtle who knows that she has committed a wrong doing by having an affair with Tom. Myrtle paid for this wrong doing when she was accidentally hit and killed by the car driven by Daisy.
Nick feels sorry for Gatsby because no one came to his funeral even Daisy. She did not even send a message or flowers to grieve for the death of Gatsby. Nick’s attitude shows Gatsby’s incorruptible dream means that he still has hope for the future. His solid upbringing had taught him the greatest lesson in life by placing hope in people, and not on things or material wealth. Nick’s loyalty to Gatsby until the time of his death showed his sense of responsibility because he believed that Gatsby is one of the honest people he met in his life. Nick placed his hope on Daisy as a “thing” because she loved money and power. Daisy tolerated the infidelity of Tom because she knew Tom had to money to support her material desires.
The concluding image of The Great Gatsby is Nick’s vision reminds the audience that men associate their fantasies with women. In the case of Daisy, she became the ultimate fantasy of Gatsby which he long to have, but remained to be elusive. Gatsby’s dream goes beyond reason and possibility since he did everything he could to win over Daisy, but still failed in the end.
