The Great Gatsby: Tragedy From Lies In the world people try to hide things from each other but one way oranother they find out what they are hiding. In the Great Gatsby by F. ScottFitzgerald, the secrecy and deceit practiced by Jay, Daisy, and Myrtle leads toinevitable tragedy when the truths are revealed.
Jay failed to realize that if you tell a lie most of the time theytend to come to a boil and burst. For example, “My family have been prominent,well-to-do people in this Middle Western city for three generations. “. . . .
pg. 2why did he have to lie when he knew that if they really got to know him theywould find out the truth. Jay gave everyone the impression that he was this kindof rich-snobbish guy. Who knows why.
It is not always good to lie. In Jay’s casewhen it came down to them finding out the truth they didn’t know whether he wastelling the truth or lying. So it was hard for them to believe what he wassaying. Daisy was another who would lie because she thought it would keephappiness.
The way she lied was different from Jay. She lied to keep the personshe thought was the love of her life, Tom happy. Daisy’s relationship with TOmwas quite unusual. Tom was having an affair with Myrtle and Daisy really wantedto be with Tom, but not really because she only did it because she thought shehad to. Daisy was really in love with Jay but because she felt like she had tobe in love with Tom she would make up lies to keep them together.
Tom prettymuch felt the same way or he thought Daisy really liked him so he didn’t want tobreak her heart. But for them it didn’t really work out well. If they would oftold each other their feelings and wouldn’t of held them back from each otherthey could of discussed their personnal situations and they might of had a niceseperation. But since they chose to keep things back from each other and lie toeach other everything went terrible. For instance when the story about Jay andDaisy was coming out she still wanted to keep it a secret so she said “Pleaselet’s all go home.
Why don’t we all go home?”. . . pg.
131 it was coming out but shewas still trying to keep things back from Tom. What Daisy failed to understandwas the lying was not helping at this point at all. In this conversation Daisycontinued lying saying “Why- how could I love him-possibly?”. . . .
pg. 132 when sheknew she loved him. The largest of all lies was the Myrtle and Tom affair because everyonein the story seemed to evolved around this issue. Alot of people didn’t reallycatch what was going on. Until Mr.
Wilson found out, Myrtle’s husband. He lovedher alot and he did not want to let her go so he locked her in the closet andsaid “She’s going to stay there till the day after to-morrow, and then we’regoing to move away. ” . . . .
pg. 137 this is the kind of punishment she recievedafter she lied but he wasn’t going to let her go. He was going to keep herlocked up until he got ready to move because she always talked about moving. Otherwise she was going to try to run away with Tom. In the meantime Mrs.
Wilson(Myrtle) is screaming through the closet “Beat Me!”. . . .
pg. 138 as if he was theone in the wrong not her. In conclusion none of these lies were kept going for along time. Jayeventually told the truth and got together with Daisy.
Myrtle was ran over byGatsby’s car and Mr. Wilson commited suicide. But lies always tend to collapse.The secrecy and deceit that was practiced by all of these individuals allcollapsed and the truth was revealed
