Dark Shadows of The Great Gatsby Essay Example

A coward is defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary, as one who shows disgraceful fear or timidity. Cowards are all around us whether we see them or not. Someone can act like the most courageous, confident, and valorous person in the room, but behind the curtain, they are imprisoned by fear and insecurities. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald impels his characters to portray powerful, truthful, and brave roles throughout the book; however, the only truth we see in his characters are their cowardly acts of weakness, carelessness, and fear while destroying everything they touch.

Nick is unknowingly a weak character from the beginning of the novel to the end. As the narrator, he sets the stage for his own cowardice actions stating that: “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues  and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known” (Fitzgerald 59). Nick claims to be one of the few honest people he knows, but as the novel progresses, all the reader witnesses Nick do is to lie, deceive, and cower at confrontation. He judges his friends and family for the choices they make: Tom's lifestyle, Daisy’s personality, Jordan’s character, or Gatsby’s actions towards Daisy. Nick hides behind other people's  problems and becomes oblivious to the consequences of his own actions. His moral ideals become even more questionable in a conversation with Jordan when Nick agrees to help Gatsby connect with Daisy, “‘he wants to know,” continued Jordan, “if you'll invite Daisy to your house one afternoon and then let him come over.’” After Nick hears this, he continues to judge Gatsby writing: “He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed Starlight to Casual moths – so that he could “come over” some afternoon to a stranger's Garden” (Fitzgerald 78). Gatsby gets Jordan to ask Nick if he can meet Daisy at his house as a way for him to see Daisy unbeknownst to her. Nick is completely baffled at Gatsby's approach, after seeing his assertiveness at the party he threw while trying to persuade Daisy to attend.  Gatsby also shows his weakness by waiting five years for Daisy and the only move he makes is asking someone else to ask the person he wants a favor from for help to break up a marriage.

Gatsby and Daisy both fear the consequences of their actions which are hiding in the darkness of their own selfish desires. First, Nick calls out Gatsby saying. “‘You’re acting like a little boy,’ I broke out impatiently. ‘Not only that but you’re rude. Daisy’s sitting in there all alone’”(Fitzgerald 88). Nick sets Gatsby straight after he tries to run away from his actions, claiming that he has made a mistake. Nick encourages him to get back inside because Daisy is all alone. They both show flaws of carelessness and fear. Nick is careless as he encourages the affair between Gatsby and Daisy, his cousin. Nick ultimately fears the failure of not pleasing everyone even if it goes against the morals he claims to have, while Gatsby is fearful of the whole situation, already wanting to leave after waiting for this exact moment for 5 years. Gatsby cowers in his pursuit of Daisy and is careless with her emotions. Later in the novel, Daisy runs away from a life-changing mistake after ending the life of myrtle: “‘Anyhow—Daisy stepped on it. I tried to make her stop, but she couldn’t so I pulled on the emergency brake. Then she fell over into my lap and I drove on” (Fitzgerald 144). Daisy never stopped driving after hitting Myrtle, she just kept going and only stopped after Gatsby pulled the emergency brake. Daisy, overwhelmed by her actions flees the situation instead of taking responsibility and uses Gatsby's love for her to have him take the fall. Daisy does nothing but fears her own carelessness and the damage she brings upon others. Her morals remain unchanged, with no guilt in her eyes, as she leaves behind the destruction she has caused. 

Daisy and Tom both act careless and weak in the novel, being self-centered and only concerned with themselves. The Portrayal of Women in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and its Relationships to Indonesian Women on education by Himawan Agung Rida Pambudi explains:

In this flashback narrated by Jordan, it informs about Daisy’s past and how she came to marry Tom, despite she still being in love with Jay Gatsby. In fact, she seems to care about him enough after receiving a letter from him, she threatens to call off her marriage to Tom. And indeed, the next day she marries Tom, showing her reluctance to question the place in a society dictated by her family and social status. (52)

The true depth of feeling Daisy has for Gatsby is revealed after receiving a letter from him the day before her wedding. This tests Daisy’s character to turn away from her obsession for social status and financial wealth. She ultimately fails and marries Tom the following day. Daisy reveals her weakness as she is unable to break free of the hold self image has on her. By the end of the novel, after Daisy’s murder of Myrtle and Gatsby’s death, she and Tom are back together, “conspiring” and “careless” once again, despite the deaths of their lovers. As Nick said, they “weren’t happy…and yet they weren’t unhappy either” (Fitzgerald 145). Their marriage is important to both of them, as it calms down their status as old money aristocrats and brings stability to their lives. Tom and Daisy’s marriage is not built on the love they have for each other, but instead the love they have for security, in money and self image. Unhappy but content knowing their relationship covers their true fears, giving them a slight peace of mind. In uncovering the insecurities Tom and Daisy have being alone with no wealthy image reveals that no love is greater than their obsession for status. 

Tom is a character in the novel who cowers in shame at his own actions. Tom exploits those shameful actions freely in the beginning of the novel. The Great Gatsby: Driving to Destruction with the Rich and Careless at the Wheel by Jacqueline Lance states “Tom is having an adulterous affair and is careless enough with his marital relationship that he takes a call from his lover while he is dining at home with his wife and friends.”(28) Tom, only concerned with himself, takes a call to his mistress in front of the company and his friends and wife. He shows weakness for his own desires, unable to step away from the other life he has for even a second. “Just as they carelessly cause injury to people and property while behind the wheel, they inflict similar emotional wounds on those with whom they come in contact” (28) With no concern over material things they freely cause chaos and destruction to what's around them. With this mindset they also do it to the people closest to them, conveying the characters as a whole as self centered people who run to the shadows, breaking everything and everyone they touch along the way.

These characters are imprisoned by their lack of backbone. When faced with challenges, these characters fall short of our expectations and crawl back to their cowardly acts of weakness, carelessness, and fear. Nothing these characters face will change the way they feel towards themselves. They will stay unaware of the damage they cause to others, and will continue to strive forward to their own selfish desires.

Work Cited

“Coward.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coward. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott), 1896-1940. The Great Gatsby. New York. Scribner's sons, 1925.

Lance, Jacqueline. "The Great Gatsby: Driving to destruction with the rich and careless at the Wheel." Studies in Popular Culture 23.2 (2000): 25-35.

Siddiqui, Mohammad Junaid, and Ã. Seher. "Portrayal of Women in The Great Gatsby and The Castle of Otranto." Electronic International Journal of Education, Arts, and Science (EIJEAS) 1.1 (2015).