The story of the great Gatsby can be considered a morally bad one, even though some characters face punishment for their sins.
People commit sin in different ways throughout the book.
- Characters who commit the sin , know fully that they are doing something wrong. Daisy asks
- Nick to watch out “In case there’s a fire or a flood” or “any act of good” when she is talking to Gatsby.
- Honesty – a cardinal virtue –is valued in the book.
- Myrtle and Gatsby are punished because of their sins, while Daisy and Tom , got away apparently without being punished. They “let other people clean up the mess they had made….”
- Tom and Daisy’s punishment is the burden of guilt that they will have to carry for the rest of their lives.
- The only people who are not punished in the book are Jordan and Nick. because they are not guilty of lust.
- Husbands are indifferent towards their wives in Gatsby’s parties which is morally bad.
- Almost nobody comes to Gatsby’s funeral, because he has made his money in an illegitimate way.
- Myrtle’s face “contained no facet or gleam of beauty”, suggesting an association between she and devil.
- Wives and husbands cheat on each other. Tom on Daisy, Daisy on Tom , Myrtle on Wilson. Family is not valued enough in the book.
- Nick does not reveal his homosexuality to the readers, because it is morally bad for the time frame of the book.
- Sloan does not show any respect for Gatsby, suggesting that illegitimate wealth does not buy respect.
