Selfish People

In the book and the film, you can see that there are many characters who are selfish, everywhere and from everyone in all kinds of ways. One of the first things you notice is that when Nick talks about Gatsby's parties, he hears that people go there and don't even know who Gatsby is. They talk about the rumors they heard about him, but yet use all of his drinks, becomes drunk, enjoys the music, and go into his house.


In example, Tom. He is cheating on his wife, Daisy. He does not treat her with the utmost respect by cutting off her sentences, going out in public with his mistress. Tom's mistress, Myrtle, is also selfish. She too has a husband and goes out with Tom. When you cheat on your spouse, you are being selfish. You feel as though your un- happy and cannot stand to be nice or have the heart to think about how they feel. You just think about your own feelings and what you need to do to be happy again. And if you have children with your spouse, you are being selfish in not thinking of your children and how would they feel? Or how it would effect them.




Another example for being a selfish person is Jordan. Nick has said that she cheats and is a liar. When you cheat and lie, you think of yourself and how could you benefit from it, if you took it or if you lied to keep something from being known. She is said that she cheats on her golf tournaments. Meaning that she wants to win and will go to any length to win, again thinking of herself. Selfishness is everywhere, these are only some examples that Fitzgerald portrayed in The Great Gatsby.