The Great Gatsby is a mess of emotions and actions of ridiculously wealthy people. This story crafts a perspective of how they view the world and how they view themselves and others. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925, is a great representation of wealth during the peak of the jazz age, otherwise known as the roaring 20s. Are the people who reside here in West Egg considered good people? To figure out what makes a good person, I thought about what I personally strive for to be better, and thought about the good people in my life. What reasons do I look up to them for and what do they do that really stands out against other people? Which positive traits are the most admirable, and when put into perspective, how do they act with these traits? A good person respects themselves and others who are deserving of respect and strives to help others selflessly and with humility. To classify someone as deserving of respect, I believe they must be honest, respectful, and accepting of their mistakes if any are made. Tom practically meets none of this criteria, as he is self absorbed and narcissistic. He is a liar, unloyal, and very mean. He only thinks about himself, and if he is thinking about others, it is about how he can actively make things worse for them. Gatsby cares for others, he has more respect and dignity, but he only helps and cares for others when there is something for him to gain in the end. This manipulative aspect of his personality, makes him worse in a way.

The story starts with Nick arriving at his new home in West Egg, New York. Nick moves here next door to a man named Gatsby, who owns a big beautiful house and provides a mystery for Nick. Who is he and why is he so intriguing? Nick goes to see his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom, whom he had previously known from college. Nick hangs out with them for a while, where he meets Jordan Baker, a professional golf player; he takes somewhat of an interest in her. The next day, Tom and Nick take a train up to Long Island. Tom stops by a garage to see a woman named Myrtle, who he is cheating on his wife with. He comes in, makes fun of her husband, then takes her with him. Later, they go to an apartment that Tom owns in New York, specifically for him and his mistress. They throw a big party and Nick gets very drunk. Jordan and Nick go to a huge, extravagant party thrown by Jay Gatsby himself. After some very strange interactions, Nick finally meets Gatsby himself, and learns that they actually served together in the forces. We learn about the history Gatsby and Daisy have. They loved each other before Gatsby went to war, and once he did, she married Tom. Gatsby still loves her and is longing to get her back. Gatsby drives Nick into town for lunch, he tells Nick all about his past, which Nick starts to suspect him of lying about. At lunch, Gatsby introduces Nick to a very shady man named Meier Wolfshier. Nick starts to suspect Gatsby of getting his money in shady and illegal ways. Gatsby convices Nick to invite Daisy over for tea so he can finally reunite with her. Daisy comes over and she and Gatsby finally talk to each other. (Fitzgerald 1-96).

Tom is not a good person as he has no sympathy for others. If he is thinking about other people, it is about how he can make their life worse. He is a sociopath who only cares about himself and how he can benefit from other people. Tom actively cheats on his wife, which he does not even care that she is aware of. In the first chapter, she says how sometimes it is better for women to stay oblivious. “That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 17). He torments and makes fun of the husband of the lady whom he is cheating with. He purposely stresses him out by acting like he won’t sell him a car for which he had been waiting a long time. He proceeds to lie straight to his face and take his wife. Tom has no morals, and always wants to prove himself as better than or above everybody around him. He shows this through all of his actions, and we can see how deeply insecure he really is. When Nick mentioned how Tom had accomplished nothing since football, it sure seems like Tom agrees.

Gatsby is an okay person, as he is very kind to people, but not in a way that can help them improve themselves. He is a people pleaser and only involves himself when he thinks he will be getting something in return. It is likely that he only chose to get close with Nick once he realized Nick could help him get closer to Daisy. When Nick offers to invite her over for tea or finally get them talking again, Gatsby makes all kinds of thank yous and offers to Nick on how he could make some extra money on the side, and even offers to have his lawn mowed (Fitzgerald 82-83). He is constantly throwing parties just so he can insert himself in the middle of this popular group of wealthy people. Nobody knows him, who he is or why he is there. But, they go to his parties, which gets him the attention he longs for. In reality, Gatsby is just a sad, lost, and lonely man. He feels ashamed of what his life is really like, so he makes up stories about his past and puts on an act to deceive those around him.

A good person respects not only others, but themselves. They treat everyone with equality, and strive to make a positive change in any way they can. With enough effort, I think anyone can be a good person. The Great Gatsby is a very interesting novel, as I think none of the characters perfectly fit the criteria to being a good person. Tom needs some kind of epiphany or wake up call to realize how deep of a delusional hole he has dug himself into. He is completely detached from reality and it would take a lot of work to fix that. Gatsby is a lot closer to that, though. He needs to think about others more often, if he started to think more about how others may be able to benefit from certain situations instead of just himself, he would see some positive change. During the 20s, nobody really had morals, which makes these behaviors not too out of the ordinary, for the standards of those days. If people were very wealthy, they did not have too much they had to care or worry about. So why not act like it?