A Fool’s Gold: The Tragedy of Gatsby in F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

Jealousy, greed, and deception are all characteristics of evil and have been since the beginning of time. Because of the behavior of those who spitefully use these traits in wickedness, they have been known to cause countless tribulations. Kingdoms have fallen, alliances broken, families divided, and even some friendships couldn’t survive the stranglehold of these evils. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, all of these personalities play a huge part in making for a superb American novel.

Jealousy appears in its most common form. It’s the classic showdown featuring two men wanting the same woman. Even though Daisy is taken, Gatsby is determined to make her his companion. Every time he sees Daisy, or how it’s symbolized “his dream”, it’s a mix of emotions. Its pleasure in that he enjoys everything that she represents: wealth, beauty, power, and an image of happiness. Its pain in that he realizes the true reality that he and Daisy are apart. Not only were he and Daisy not an item, but to add insult to injury she broke her promise she had made to him before he left for the war five years before.

Greed comes into play when Gatsby becomes unsatisfied with lavish lifestyle. His unquenchable desire for the “American dream” despite his already outstanding reputation. He has become so obsessed with the image he wants to portray, that he loses sight of what’s really important. It reappears when Tom, Daisy’s husband, begins an affair with Myrtle. This brings to the forefront another dilemma. The fact the Tom wasn’t satisfied enough with his marriage, he had to go and find another woman to make himself happy. Not thinking of how Daisy felt and how hurt she would be if she ever found out.

Deception rears its ugly head when Tom becomes jealous of