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Jack Wilson

Honors Literature Period 2

Ms. Windisch18, March 2012

Philosophers have tried to answer ontological1

questions since the dawn of human

existence; but despite their greatest efforts, no cogent answer has ever been or will ever

be found. However, by observing how we treat each other and how we form our

perceptions of others, a piece of literature can help us approach an understanding of

ontology. In the roaring twenties, eEach social class despite being different in wealth

was equal in its immorality, an immorality that forever changed our perceptions of

humanspeople of the time period. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

portrays the social interactions and aspirations of the upper, middle and lower classes in

the roaring twenties through the characters of Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker and Myrtle

Wilson and shows how each social class despite being different in wealth was equal in its

immorality.

Daisy Fay Buchanan is symbolic of how upper class women were perceived in the

roaring twenties. Beneath her veneer of beauty and charm, Daisy is actually corrupted by

wealth, incompetent and dependentand her lust for money. When he Fitzgerald describes

her voice as it was full of moneythat was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell

1Ontology is the study of being. Unlike other forms of philosophy it does not focus on why we are here, or what it means to be

moral. Rather, it focuss on what it means to exist. Not a purpose for life, but rather, an explanation of how we live and how

our moral decisions do affect our being.. In short, ontology is who we are when we exist, what is our being and what is the

perception of our being. When one says that we evaluate how something affects our ontology we generally agree that the

means by which we gather knowledge are perception because what we perceive is the only thing that we can truly have

internal confirmation.

Comment [JW1]: Transition betw

end of this sentence and the next sthink it is adequate but not necessa

worth an excellent

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Comment [JW2]:Daisys paragrashould say that despite being pure

innocent on the outside she is corru

her wealth and incompetence. It sh

two independent paragraphs one f

wealth and greed and one for her

incompetence.


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in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals song of it (Fitzgerald 120), , Fitzgerald heprovides a

clear correlation between wealth and corruption. By characterizing Daisys voice as full

of money, Fitzgerald implies that greed is at the core of Daisys moral charactereven

though it may not be apparent on the surface. .

Likewise, Daisys very name symbolizes how is perceived by societyher corrupted

character. For example,This is due to the fact that a Daisy is a flower with a white

outside and a yellow inside. The white outside is representative of her innocence, and

throughout the entire novel she wears white clothing, for example, she is wearing a white

dress when she has lunch with Nick and again laterat Gatsbys party. (Insert citation for

Fitzgerald) But, the yellow inside of the flower illustrates her corrupted inside, the

corruption that money and wealth has caused. Hence, contrary to her outside, her inside

is corrupted just the like the flower for which she was named after.

Daisy represents how women are perceived by acting extremely incompetent, and

dependent on the source of her wealth. Moreover,Daisysbecause of the....

wealthWealthshe [that she] enenjoys and [due to] the privileged class to which she

belongs, Daisy expects [and needs]others to take care of her (Pelzer 127). Throughout

the entire novel Daisy is dependent on either Tom or Gatsby. In And, in the end she

chooses Tom not necessarilybecause oftrue love but because she knows his wealth will

take care of her. She originally gives up on Gatsby due to his lack of wealth despite his

pure heart, which illustrates her dependence on those who provide for her. For her entire

life, Daisy has been waited on hand and foot. The first time she met Tom he threw her a

magnificent party and treated her like a Queen. (Add internal citation here from the

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Great Gatsby). Her desire for wealth and her need for attention make her seem

incompetent and dependent. Thus, Daisy is symbolic ofthe an upper class , a class that is

perceived to be corrupted and incompetent throughout the entire novel.

Jordan Baker, on the other hand, is symbolic of how the women of the middle

class middle class women were perceived in the era as . Jordan represents the women

who had needed to earn their new money as well as and the women that are willing

towould do anything to rise to the top to society and join the upper class. This portrays

women as the epitome of evil and agents of greed. For example, at her golf tournament

Jordan is willing to cheat in order to win, At her first big gold tournament[as] there was

a row that nearly reached the newspapersa suggestions that[suggesting that] she had

moved her ball from a bad lie [spot] in the semi-final round (Fitzgerald 62). Her

cheating and her deception demonstrate her greedbecause as it portrays how that she she

is willing to stop at nothing to win, no matter the price. Jordans iniquity universalizes a

negative depiction of the middle classbecauseas, Jordan thinks nothing of cheating to

win an important gold tournament (Studyworld Studynotes, The Great Gatsby 5).

Jordans actions further portray the iniquity portrayed by Fitzgerald. Whether it be

drinking or cheating the roaring twenties was full of immorality.

Moreover, in the middle class, people such as Jordan are not corrupted by the

money itself but rather for the desire for wealth.. ,This This immorality propels women

like Jordan to be successful no matter the cost asJordan will [to] stop at nothing to

succeed in her [their] world (Studyworld Studynotes: The Great Gatsby 5). Her desire

for success therefore, trumps her moral decision calculus inciting a negativeperception


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deleteriousof to women in ofthe time period. Despite her social standing being lower

than that of Daisy her unique desire to be wealthy drivers her iniquity. Hence, Jordan

illustrates women full of iniquity and those who are willing to do whatever it takes, no

matter the moral cost, to rise to the top.

Contrary to Daisy and Jordan, Myrtle Wilson is representative of the poor lower

class2

women, only dreaming of rising above the ashes and starting a new life. This

desire for a fresh start deceives Myrtle and other lower class women by giving them a

taste of something that they can never have. Myrtles appearance like her attitude is not

attractive but rather, frank and abrupt as, She was... in her middle thirties, and faintly

stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can. [And hHer

face..., above blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty (Fitzgerald 29-

30). Hertough hardy appearance also illustrates her desire to rise above the ashes to a

soft, comfortable life that the wealthy women such as Daisy lead.

Her taste of the good life, or the American Dream comes when she serves acts

as Tom Buchanans s mistress in New York City,. (Fitzgerald 27). For example,

TThrough herselfish quest, to seek a little of the good life, Myrtle... gladly accepts

[Toms advancesTom]... and takes advantage of his generosity. In particularFor

2The Great Gatsby takes place in three distinct settings. There is the Oyster Bay Region (known by East and West Egg in the

novel), the Flushing Meadows region (Valley of Ashes) and New York City. The poorest of these three regions is the city valley

of ashes. There is practically no money and all these the people inhabitantswant is a chance to rise above the ashes in other

words have a fresh start in a world full of wealth and prosperity. Thus, when I say the rise above the ashes the analogy implies

a fresh start.


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example, when Myrtle is with Tom she goes on extravagant shopping sprees..,

practicallybuying everything in sight (Bloom 71) , as. Myrtle is always willing to spend

a little of Toms money on dogs, magazines or perfume. (Insert internal citation) It gives

hera impossible dream a hope and only makes it harder more difficult for her to return to

her loving husband Wilson.

This dream of wealth betrays Myrtle as she embarks on a hopeless journey for

happiness in wealth, something she will never truly have. This is illustratedwhen she, is

never truly happy reaching out for something she can never have, never finding

contentment in either situation...[and].... aAs she meets her tragic end and her

husband[Wilson] realizes the lie that she has been living, [as] he is left alone to avenge

her betrayal (Searles 45-46). Thisportrays depicts the women of the lower class seem

as needybut and still hopeless. This hopeless dream,almost essentially dehumanizing

deceiving themby as making their escape from poverty is impossible. Thus, Myrtle

represents the lower class women in the roaring twenties with big hopes and dreams; but

the impossibility offulfilling thosemaking those dreams come realities renders them

helpless, hopeless and needy.

In the Great Gatsbyy the three women Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker and

Myrtle Wilson each play a vital role in portraying the social structure. Likewise, these

three women also play vital roles in determining how women are portrayed in their

societal roles. This is explained when, The reader is exposed to three distinct levels of

society each with its own triumphs and trials. Daisy typifies a [rich] women of the era,


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while Jordan represents a defiant up to date women and Myrtle illustrates a typical

working class women trying to escape the harsh realities of her meager existence

(Searles 43). Within these social classes Daisy portrays women as corrupted, spoiled and

dependent. Jordan depicts women as self-reliant but immoral and deceptive and Myrtle

illustrates women trying to rise above the ashes to have the ability to be spoiledescape

their harsh reality. Each of these women portray women each social class in a negative

connotation within their social classes suggesting that women people at the time where

devalued compared to men. despite being different in wealth, were equal in iniquity.


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Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. Gatsby. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1991.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1925.

Lewis, CS. Mere Christianity. 1943. New York.

Pelzer, Linda C. Beautiful Fools and Hulking Brutes: F. Scott Fitzgeralds the Great

Gatsby (1925). Women in Literature: reading through the lens of gender. Ed.

Jerilyn Fisher and Ellen S. Silber. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003. 127-

129.

Searles, Susan. Fitzgeralds the Great Gatsby. Explicator 50.1 (1991): 45-47.

Studyworld Studynotes: The Great Gatsby. 1996. Studyworld. 29, February 2012.

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