Moral Changes in the 1920s: How Dishonesty, Trust, and

Individualism Impacted Many Lives

By: Neisa

P:

Dishonesty never ends with good consequences.

E:

“It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete.” ( Fitzgerald 170 )

P: “ Public opinion polls time and again show that honesty

is among the top five characteristics people want in a leader, friend, and lover. And the world of entertainment is full of stories, films, and songs which describe the tragic consequences of betrayal.” (Ekman 805)

I: Dishonesty is one of the worst ways that

someone can live their life because they not only lie to other people, but also so to themselves. In The Great Gatsby, many people do not tell who they really are. Because of all the dishonesty going on, the ending is very tragic and Myrtle, Gatsby, and George Wilson end up dead.

P:

Trust is very important in a relationship, but when it is broken, people are at risk of getting hurt.

E:

“ ‘Suppose you met somebody just as careless as yourself.’

‘I hope I never will,’ she answered. ‘I hate careless people. That’s why I like you.’

Her grey sun-strained eyes stared straight ahead, but she had deliberately shifted our relations, and for a moment I thought I loved her.” (Fitzgerald 63)

P:

“One key reason for our words being interpreted negatively, rather than positively, is the quality of the relationship between the speaker and the hearer.” (Wright 30)

I:

Trustworthiness is a very important quality that two people can share in a relationship and if this bond is destroyed, many problems can arise. The Great Gatsby represents trust in many different ways. An example is when Gatsby tries to impress Nick and Daisy and lies to them about how he became so rich. He believes that they will never find out that he is not telling the truth, but unbeknownst to him they soon discover that he is lying. When this occurs, they get upset and he risks losing them both.

P:

Blind belief in individualism can cause conflict and chaos.

E:

“ ‘Look here, old sport,’ he broke out surprisingly. ‘What’s your opinion of me anyhow?’

P:

“Sociologist Robert Bellah calls individualism ‘the default mode’ of American culture. It provides the rhetoric and political convictions to which people instinctively turn--whether or not it makes sense in the situation.”

I:

Individualism can be a bad characteristic that a person develops because they may think that they are better than everyone else. Gatsby is one of the characters in The Great Gatsby who acquires this trait. Another person who can be described as individualistic is Tom. Tom gets upset with Daisy because she goes out with Gatsby one time, but he has been cheating on Daisy for a while.