e to win back his beloved abruptly ended with a decisive close. And the lavish parties with caterers, bartenders, and orchestras never drew his “golden girl” to the scene. The characters of The Great Gatsby are in constant search of their own identities—a second theme. They think that the only ingredient to happiness is wealth and possession. At the beginning of the novel, certain images of the characters are embedded in the reader’s mind, but as each one approaches a goal, he or she becomes more absorbed in desire and shows a shocking change in temperament. When Nick went to Tom and Daisy’s house for dinner one evening at the beginning of the novel, Daisy attempted to make plans with Nick. She said, “What’ll we plan? What do people plan? (p.25).” She acts nave and innocent with no sense of independence. Contradicting this episode, she kills a woman in a car accident and goes home to, literally, eat cold chicken. She is in constant dispute with herself; she truly has no idea of what to do, and her husband, Tom, has the same dilemma. Tom believes that his exterior belongings make him the “brute of a man (p.25)” Daisy says he is. After Tom read the book The Rise of the Coloured Empires, he became violently angered by the threat of another race submerging the whites. This shows that even though Tom felt superior, he had inner self-doubt that he could be defeated which caused him to react with rage. Both Tom and Daisy eventually discover the shameful history they have so carefully amassed yet are still unable to overcome their deceit and allow themselves to retreat back into their money and vast carelessness.A corrupting effect of wealth can easily be found among both the established rich people of East Egg and the newly rich residents of West Egg. The people of East Egg, such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan, have developed in a world of money and hold an empty future of p...
