Through his portrayal of the events in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald condemns the lack of morality and spirituality during the 1920’s. He portrays the 1920’s as a time where society has substituted materialism and instant gratification in place of structure and spirituality. He emphasizes the society’s moral blindness in many characters, including those who have money and those who lack it. The community, as a whole, refuses to condemn unlawful activity and wrongdoings. By means of the billboard in the valley of ashes, he connotes the possibility of paganism as well.
Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s “hulking brute of a husband”, epitomizes a lack of morality. He believes in racial superiority and that everything good in society has resulted from the work of Nordics. He believes that his “old money” supersedes both “new money” and no money. He exercises his believed superiority over the lower class in several situations, such as when he breaks Myrtle’s nose as well as during his conversation with the man selling puppies, saying “Here’s your money. Go and buy ten more puppies with it. He, to a lesser degree, condemns new money as well, mainly because he doesn’t believe that they’ve earned the money fairly and he hates that they’ve come from a lower class. Tom’s affair with Myrtle Wilson emphasizes both moral blindness and the refusal to condemn wrongdoings. Tom willingly admits his affair, yet Daisy has come to ignore it, at least outwardly. Tom thinks that Daisy will understand his affairs, believing “Once and a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time. The fact that Daisy refuses to condemn Tom’s actions adds to Fitzgerald’s portrayal of society’s view on sin during the 1920’s. Because society during the 1920’s doesn’t hold marriage in a sacrosanct position, they tolerate sins such as infidelity and lust. Myrtle Wilson uses her affair with Tom as an attempt to achieve an upper-class status. While she does seemingly love Tom, her habits prove that she has greater motives for having an affair. Although she has the decency to keep her affair a secret to her husband, her behavior leads him to realize what has happened.
Instead of divorce, he decides that they will move away to split her from her affair. This again restates society’s refusal to express disapproval toward sin, as Myrtle’s husband refuses to condemn her in any severe manner. Jordan Baker acts as a means of addressing another sin, due to her frequent dishonesty. Because a scandal had erupted about her moving a ball during a golf tournament, Nick recognizes her at the Buchanan’s party. Nick states that she had once left a borrowed car out in the rain, then lied about it.
Jordan, because of her dishonest manner, can not endure being at a disadvantage. However, Nick states “Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply”. Even knowing of her dishonesty, Nick still casually dates Jordan. Again, the sins of society during the 1920’s are largely ignored. Possibly the greatest ignorance towards morals shown in The Great Gatsby occurs in a very surprising and disturbing manner, seen through the lack of mourners at Gatsby’s funeral.
Although hundreds of people had associated themselves with Gatsby through his parties, none of them feel the need to attend his funeral. In his death Gatsby has become useless to the partiers, so they go elsewhere to fulfill their needs. Inhumanity towards Gatsby emphasizes society’s avarice, proving that Gatsby’s partiers cared more about the party than him. Even Gatsby’s friends other than Nick, such as Meyer Wolfsheim and Klipspringer, find excuses not to come to his funeral.
Even though Fitzgerald had sufficiently portrayed the extent of sin during the 1920’s, he adds the billboard in the city of ashes to move his argument one step further. By making the “eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleberg” a spiritual figure in his novel, he connotes the possibility of paganism. George Wilson, Myrtle’s wife, goes as far as to even call them “the eyes of God. ” While this does not directly portray paganism, as he could simply be making a reference to the fact that God watches over society, it suggests the possibility that society is on the verge of paganism.
Fitzgerald, noting that society had already indulged in extensive amounts of sin, may have used the billboard to foreshadow what he believed would come next in this society without morals. Although Fitzgerald could not possibly have known of the depression to come, he certainly portrays that society has followed the wrong path. By offering no source of judgment towards society’s morals, he may have been suggesting that society still had the power to overcome this period of lawlessness.
And if they refused to do so, Fitzgerald leaves the results open to the reader’s imagination. Although not directly alluding to biblical stories such as Noah’s Ark, his portrayal of society certainly resembles the societies portrayed in the stories. Possibly, if the Great Depression had not ended this period of immorality and lack of spirituality, Paganism may have arisen as a significant force. Sources: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1996. CliffsNotes, and Kate Maurer. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (Cliffs Notes). New Jersey: Cliffs Notes, 2000.
