Selfish

In The Great Gatsby many of the characters could be depicted as selfish. Their selfish attributes, however, are shown in different ways. Both Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan are selfish, they hurt the people they are married to as they strive to fulfill their own desires. More so when Myrtle bluntly ignores her husband when Nick meets her for the first time.


Gatsby has an innocent kind of selfishness, its not as straight forward and its more due to his love for Daisy. His can be justified by the way his character strives to fill his loneliness and meet his desires. His loneliness is why he throws the large parties in hopes of Daisy arriving one day.


Gatsby's party goers are snobbishly selfish. With each entrance to a party in the book, the reader finds that many people drift into his lawn with only the intention of a good time and nothing to do with Gatsby himself. They come and go as they please, with hopes of a lively party and bootlegged alcohol. Many of his guests even spread rumors about the man of mystery.


Source: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald