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Question 3
The minute a child is born, an admirable parent will do everything in their power to teach their child right from wrong. The problem in the world is that all parents’ morals and standards are not exactly the same. An action that one child is taught may be morally permissive in one household, but not acceptable in another household. Every religion has moral guidelines and principles for their followers to abide by. The Ten Commandments are a set of moral standards that could pertain to the story, The Great Gatsby. Not every one of The Ten Commandments pertain to the story, but most of them do. Fitzgerald stresses throughout the novel that your actions have consequences, and a strong adequate moral foundation is key for an exceptional life.

The fourth commandment says to always honor your mother and father. Jay Gatsby abandons his family at an early age, and travels the world with Dan Cody. Jay did not think about how his actions would affect his parents. Gatsby’s early years were full of poverty and misfortune. As a result, he was not always the nicest to his parents. He believed in the green light at the end of the dock by Daisy’s house. This light represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future. He hopes to repay his father because he feels bad about leaving home at an early age. Fitzgerald explains that he hopes to repay his father by saying, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And the one fine morning- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Jay did not honor his parents, and had a poor relationship with them; therefore, he grew up differently than he would have if he’d have stayed home.

According to the fifth commandment, thou shall not kill. A terrible mishap occurs towards the end of the story that involves Jay Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom’s yellow car. It begins when Myrtle Wilson has a fight with George Wilson. She informs him that she is leaving and she walks out to the road. Meanwhile, Gatsby and Daisy come whizzing by in Tom’s yellow car and fatally hit Myrtle, instantly taking her life. When Tom realizes who hit Myrtle, he is devastated and furious. In spite of Gatsby, Tom tells George Wilson that Jay Gatsby is the man who killed his wife. George Wilson is very unstable and he thinks very brashly. George arrives at Gatsby’s estate and murders him. He then turns the gun on himself, and takes his own life.

The commandment that is most frequently broken is the sixth commandment. The sixth commandment states, thou shall not commit acts of adultery. Throughout the story, the reader learns that the majority of the characters are having affairs with a number of the other characters’ spouses. Tom Buchanan is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson. Tom Buchanan attempts to hide his affair by taking Myrtle to an apartment. George Wilson is left on the outside of this interweaving web of adultery. While this is occurring, Daisy Buchanan begins having an affair with her former lover, Jay Gatsby. Many of the characters find it very easy to cheat on their spouse; as a result, they continue to lie and cheat. The characters’ poor moral decision making results in terrible outcomes for them. Myrtle and Gatsby end up dead. Tom and Daisy have to live with each other, always knowing that they both cheated on each other. They will probably be haunted by the idea that the other one is cheating on them because of their history. Their marriage will never be the same.

The seventh commandment states, thou shall not steal. Jay Gatsby was a man who prestiged from rags to riches. The problem was that he gained his wealth and power through criminal activity. Jay was a bootlegger. He illegally smuggled and distributed alcohol. He gained his money wrongfully, and disobeyed the seventh commandment. Jay Gatsby became too powerful and felt as though he could steal whatever he wanted. He took Tom Buchanan’s wife from him, and he paid the consequences.

The ninth and tenth commandments state, thou shall not covet your neighbors house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbors. These commandments mean that one should not wrongfully desire his neighbor’s possessions. The crowds that attend Gatsby’s lavish parties are composed of wealthy people. Many of his guests envy and want the power and wealth that Gatsby has. As included with the sixth commandment, many of the men in the story desire to acquire another man’s wife. Fitzgerald displays his concern about man’s greed by inflicting pain to the greedy men in the story.

The Catholic faith believes that sinners must admit their sins and make peace, or they will be punished for their sins. Fitzgerald administers this idea of moral decisions to The Great Gatsby. Every character in the story that made corrupt moral decisions was punished in some fashion. The extent of the punishments that Fitzgerald administers range from a corrupt marriage to a fatal accident. Fitzgerald’s moral decision concern is very evident throughout the story.

Question 3
I liked how your response uniquely sorted the story’s events into cause and effect. I also agree with the idea that Nick was an enabler third party that added to the poor moral decisions of the other characters. If Nick would have informed everyone about what was going on behind their backs, perhaps the story’s events would have turned out differently. Nick did the wrong thing by helping to hide the affairs. The consequences of the other characters’ actions would not have been as severe if Nick did not help hide their affairs.

Question 3
The minute a child is born, an admirable parent will do everything in their power to teach their child right from wrong. The problem in the world is that all parents’ morals and standards are not exactly the same. An action that one child is taught may be morally permissive in one household, but not acceptable in another household. Every religion has moral guidelines and principles for their followers to abide by. The Ten Commandments are a set of moral standards that could pertain to the story, The Great Gatsby. Not every one of The Ten Commandments pertain to the story, but most of them do. Fitzgerald stresses throughout the novel that your actions have consequences, and a strong adequate moral foundation is key for an exceptional life.

The forth commandment says to always honor your mother and father. Jay Gatsby abandons his family at an early age, and travels the world with Dan Cody. Jay did not think about how his actions would affect his parents. Jay did not honor his parents, and had a poor relationship with them; therefore, he grew up differently than he would have if he’d have stayed home.

According to the fifth commandment, thou shall not kill. A terrible mishap occurs towards the end of the story that involves Jay Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom’s yellow car. It begins when Myrtle Wilson has a fight with George Wilson. She informs him that she is leaving and she walks out to the road. Meanwhile, Gatsby and Daisy come whizzing by in Tom’s yellow car and fatally hit Myrtle, instantly taking her life. When Tom realizes who hit Myrtle, he is devastated and furious. In spite of Gatsby, Tom tells George Wilson that Jay Gatsby is the man who killed his wife. George Wilson is very unstable and he thinks very brashly. George arrives at Gatsby’s estate and murders him. He then turns the gun on himself, and takes his own life.

The commandment that is most frequently broken is the sixth commandment. The sixth commandment states, thou shall not commit acts of adultery. Throughout the story, the reader learns that the majority of the characters are having affairs with a number of the other characters’ spouses. Tom Buchanan is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson. Tom Buchanan attempts to hide his affair by taking Myrtle to an apartment. George Wilson is left on the outside of this interweaving web of adultery. While this is occurring, Daisy Buchanan begins having an affair with her former lover, Jay Gatsby. Many of the characters find it very easy to cheat on their spouse; as a result, they continue to lie and cheat. The characters’ poor moral decision making results in terrible outcomes for them. Myrtle and Gatsby end up dead. Tom and Daisy have to live with each other, always knowing that they both cheated on each other. They will probably be haunted by the idea that the other one is cheating on them because of their history. Their marriage will never be the same.

The seventh commandment states, thou shall not steal. Jay Gatsby was a man who prestiged from rags to riches. The problem was that he gained his wealth and power through criminal activity. Jay was a bootlegger. He illegally smuggled and distributed alcohol. He gained his money wrongfully, and disobeyed the seventh commandment. Jay Gatsby became too powerful and felt as though he could steal whatever he wanted. He took Tom Buchanan’s wife from him, and he paid the consequences.

The ninth and tenth commandments state, thou shall not covet your neighbors house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbors. These commandments mean that one should not wrongfully desire his neighbor’s possessions. The crowds that attend Gatsby’s lavish parties are composed of wealthy people. Many of his guests envy and want the power and wealth that Gatsby has. As included with the sixth commandment, many of the men in the story desire to acquire another man’s wife. Fitzgerald displays his concern about man’s greed by inflicting pain to the greedy men in the story.

The Catholic faith believes that sinners must admit their sins and make peace, or they will be punished for their sins. Fitzgerald administers this idea of moral decisions to The Great Gatsby. Every character in the story that made corrupt moral decisions was punished in some fashion. The extent of the punishments that Fitzgerald administers range from a corrupt marriage to a fatal accident. Fitzgerald’s moral decision concern is very evident throughout the story.

Question 3
Considering how immorality affected the characters, did you think it was strange that Tom was able to walk away almost without being affected at all?

Question 3
Morality( or the lack of it)is a big theme in the novel. Characters in the novel could be divided into categories bases on their tendency to abide by their good morals. Characters of these opposing categories are presented quite differently.
"Good" characters are presented as innocent, naive, and old fashioned. Examples of "good" characters include Nick and...well, pretty much just Nick. This does not mean, however, that all of his decisions are morally correct. Nick, like most people, act base on what he "feels is correct".
The "Bad" characters are presented as greedy, arrogant, boastful, and abusive. None fits these characteristic as well as Tom does. He has an affair on his wife, but at the end gets away with it. Gatsby strays from the "badness" and takes the blame for Myrtle's death to spare Daisy. Gatsby, however, does not "get away with it". Instead, Mr. Wilson, tipped off by Tom, kills him. It seems that Gatsby paid the price for his immorality, but Tom( the most immoral of them all) gets to come away unscathed.

Question 3
In response to Carasuni

In the second paragraph of your response, I really like how you explained the chain reaction of going against moral values. Tom and Myrtle's relationship certaintly causes many problems in the novel outside of their affair. If it was not for their affair, Myrtle's life would have most likely been saved. This shows that going against moral values not only affects your life, but others lives as well

Question 3
In response to Kayladiller:

Reading your post made me realize how love for another can greatly affect the moral decisions one makes. You discussed how Gatsby had first met Daisy when he was a young man in the army. In order to impress her he made one of his first immoral decisions by lying about his background. Later on he becomes involved in bootlegging, again, to impress Daisy. He buys a huge house and throws extravagant parties, trying to attract her attention. These actions give the impression that Gatsby cares more about material possessions than people. He pursues a relationship with Daisy, even though he is fully aware she is married to Tom. Love and affection can cause people to make immoral decisions they would not have otherwise, as displayed in the novel by Gatsby. Had Jay Gatsby never fallen for Daisy, he may have been a more honest and morally correct character.

Question 3
in response to DominiqueCarino.

I like how you focused on Toms way of thinking. He did feel completely justified in all his actions. He felt nothing he did would push Daisy away so it was o.k to have another affair. He blamed all the consequences on someone else. I never gave much thought to just how self absorbed Tom was,I'm glad you pointed it out.

Question 3
The moral decisions that the characters make effect both them and others. Relationships were ruined and lives were changed. Each moral decision almost had a domino effect.

One of the most effective moral decisions was Gatsby's to continue to pursue Daisy. Even though she was married to Tom he felt that he loved her more and deserved her in a way.An effect was Daisy responding to him. If he had been able to move on with his life after hearing Daisy was married, she was likely to have done the same. She may never of had to even know he was in West Egg. But he invited her over to his house and rekindled the lost flame between them. In a chain of events them being together would lead to Gatsby's death. If he hadn't forced Daisy to renounce her love to Tom. They wouldn't have been together in his car leaving the apartment. Daisy wouldn't have been so upset that she'd ask to drive, and so wouldn't have hit Mrs.Wilson. Finally Mr.Wilson would not have assumed it was him and shot him.

Gatsby is not the only man who made effective moral decisions.Tom deciding to cheat on Daisy with Mrs.Wilson made an effect similar to Gatsby's. He was fairly open about his affair so Daisy came to know about it. Knowing this pushed her even closer to Gatsby. If Tom had been a loyal husband maybe Daisy would have resisted a relationship with Gatsby. The relationship also contributed to multiple deaths. Though I can't say it was fully responsible, everyone is responsible for their own decision. Mrs.Wilson ran out to the car thinking Tom was in it, Daisy was behind the wheel and killed her. Mr.Wilson was in such a state of grief that he shot Gatsby thinking he had killed his wife, and then committed suicide. Its possible that if Mrs.Wilson hadn't thought Tom was driving the car, she wouldn't have gone onto the road to get its attention. Then the entire situation would have been avoided.

So every decision managed to effect multiple people. The decisions that were made shaped the story. If one of the characters had changed a decision the entire story would be effected.

Question 3
in response to mrumom

I liked the fact that you paralleled the actions of Tom and Daisy. The situation is usually presented with Gatsby and Tom being immoral, and sometimes it's forgotten that Daisy had a part to play in Gatsby's wrongdoing, although he is the one who bears the brunt of the blame. I also agree with you that the novel is outstandingly immoral! This fact alone should show any reader that Fitzgerald is very much concerned with morality and people's decisions.