Carelessness in The Great Gatsby
In F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby carelessness is a significant theme. In this book, F.Scott Fitzgerald has written about a society in New York where folks desire immense wealth. With wealth comes tremendous carelessness. The concept of carelessness plays a major role in The Great Gatsby since throughout the book there are many moments in the character’s lives that involve their careless behavior. Their careless behavior is very self-centered due to how concerned they are with themselves, which puts others in danger such as the time when Daisy’s carelessness kills Myrtle. Three pertinent examples are Daisy and Tom’s carelessness towards their life and money, Gatsby carelessly blowing his money away to impress Daisy and the deaths due to Tom and Daisy’s reckless behavior.
"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to 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. . . .” (Fitzgerald, p.170). This quote correctly portrays the way Tom and Daisy behave. They are constantly neglecting the way they behave and the moment they understand they are wrong, Tom “retreats back to his money... and let's other people clean up the mess he had made" as Nick put after meeting Tom (Fitzgerald, p.170). Daisy indicates that it is not her responsibility to be mindful of her actions, rather its other people’s duty to be mindful of her. Daisy wasn’t fully devoted to her relationship with Tom. Although she learns her husband is having an affair with someone else, Daisy ignores that fact and moves on like it doesn’t bother her. Tom is more careless with a hint of destructive nature. He is careless and dispassionate in his relationship with Daisy his wife, and Myrtle, his mistress. His carelessness allows Gatsby to earn his wife’s heart. When Daisy and Gatsby have an affair again, the only action Tom executes is he takes his wife, and goes out of town for several days. His careless behavior leads to his wife, friends, and even Wilson to find out about his affair with Myrtle Wilson. Undoubtedly, Tom doesn’t want everyone to know what he has been doing, however, his careless actions reveal the truth. Daisy exposes her irresponsible character when we encounter her daughter “That's because your mother wanted to show you off." (Fitzgerald p.117). She shows her lack of motherhood towards her own child, but at the same time, the quote helps us understand that Daisy treats her daughter like an object.
One of the prime examples of carelessness in this novel is when he throws luxurious parties at his home and lets anyone enter, mostly strangers. “There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens, men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Fitzgerald p.39). Gatsby puts a huge amount of money into th...
