Doing wrong: the morality of

the 1920’s

By Reyanne
 Criminal
activity

Immorality of
the 1920’s

Hypocrisy Selfishness
 Hypocrisy
Tom has a hypocritical characteristic
that shows that he is only satisfied
when he gets everything his way
“Only the shallowest of human
aspirations are met by decisions that
are guided by marginal cost benefit
evaluations” (Steele, pg 8)

“’I know I’m not very popular. I don’t

give big parties. I suppose you’ve
got to make your house into a pigsty
in order to have any friends- in the
modern world’” (137)
Tom’s ignorance is a characteristic that is
shown by the way he reacts to Daisy’s
actions towards Gatsby. Though Daisy is
having an affair with Gatsby, before, Tom
was having an affair with Myrtle Wilson
long before Gatsby and Daisy were
together. His hypocritical views show that
he feels like it doesn’t matter that he is
having an affair; if Daisy is, it is immoral to
his point of view. Perhaps he feels that he
owns Daisy like she is property, not a
human being with a heart and feelings.
 Criminal Activity
Gatsby had done business in
bootlegging to receive money
“’Oh I’ve been in several things,’ he
corrected himself. “I was in the drug
business.” (95)

"It is his first offense. We might as well

let him go" (pg 1)
It seems like to commit a crime, in the
1920’s, is just an ordinary thing to the
people of society. In order to get money
or what they want they are willing to break
the law for it. Gatsby in his quote is
saying that he used to be involved with
people that sold drugs. He speaks it like he
it is just a statement like something that
he just used to do when he was younger.
As if the consequences of the act is minor
and will not result in jail time because he
can just buy his way out of court.
 Selfish Views

All Characters show selfishness in the way

they act with one another.
“They were carless people, Tom and Daisy-
they smashed up thing and creatures and
then retreated back into their money or
their vast carelessness or whatever it was
that kept them together, and let other
people clean up the mess they had made.”
(188)

“In the late nineteenth century had its own

particular system of moral and social
values and created an ideological
framework that reflected the desires, fears
and aspirations of those who were
politically dominant” (pg 6)
When the death of Myrtle Wilson was made
by Daisy, it seemed as if both Daisy and
Tom didn’t care about what happened.
Daisy, without even the slightest
hesitation allowed Gatsby to take the
blame for her killing Myrtle. After Myrtle
died it was as if Tom didn’t even care that
she was dead, though he spent all his time
with her. Tom told George Wilson that it
was Gatsby that ran Myrtle over, which
resulted in George killing Gatsby and
committing suicide. It was because of
their actions that the results of others
ended so terribly.
The Great Gatsby portrait the examples of
how in the 1920’s, society was based on
self desired views and criminal actions.
Though the flaws of the characters were
not directly shown, the personality traits
obviously caused damage to all the people
around them as well as themselves. And
because of them the lives of the
characters will never be the same.
The End
 Works Cited
• Steele, G.R. "Understanding economic man: psychology,
rationality, and values." Infotrac. 2006. Web. 14 Dec. 2009.
• Guinote, Paulo. "The old bohemian Lisbon (c. 1870-c.
1920): prostitutes, criminals and bohemians." Infotrac.
2002. Web. 12 Dec 2009.
• Nussbaum-Gomes, Mina. "The subconscious in organizational
control: the case of Mitsubishi Heavy Industry." Infotrac. 2
004. Web. 14 Dec. 2009.
• Adler, Jeffrey S. "'It is his first offense. We might as well let him
go': homicide and criminal justice in Chicago, 1875-1920." I
nfotrac. 2006. Web. 12 Dec. 2009.
• "A letter to character educators." Infotrac. 1993. Web. 14 Dec.
2009.