Great Gatsby Essay

F. Scott Fitzgerald's character of Nick seems like the only one that is not corrupted and doesn't lie, for the most part he stays this way until the end of the novel when he is forced to tell a little white lie. A little white lie is not going to hurt anyone, according to Stephanie Ericsson's essay "The Ways We Lie." "The white lie assumes that the truth will cause more damage than a simple, harmless untruth." This is the case with Fitzgerald's character of Nick, ever since his dads advice he's tried to keep a high moral standard. With the death of Myrtle, Tom's mistress, Nick feels forced for the sake of his cousin Daisy and Tom's marriage not to tell Tom the truth. "There was nothing I could say, except the one unutterable fact that it wasn't true." (178)

The "Out-and-Out Lies" as described by Stephanie Ericsson fit the way the character of Fitzgerald's novel Jordan lies. "At least when this sort of lie is told it can be easily confronted." Stated by Ericsson, this fits into Jordan because her character is just such an open liar. Jordan lies about all sorts of things, she even lied in her golf tournament to get her way. Nick, the narrator of Fitzgerald novel notices how Jordan lies but he claims that he doesn't mind it just because she's so obvious. "It made no difference to me. Dishonestly in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply—I was casually sorry, and then I forgot." (58) Nick ended up not caring about Jordan's lies just because she was such a compulsive liar and a gossiper, she would do anything to get her way. At least Jordan was up front and open about her lies and everything in general, this is described in Ericsson's "The Ways We Lie" essay as well. "If this were the only form of lying, there would be no such thing as floating anxiety..."

Tom, one of Fitzgerald's characters from "The