Open Prompt: October 2nd

1970. Choose a character from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you (a) briefly describe the standards of the fictional society in which the character exists and (b) show how the character is affected by and responds to those standards. In your essay do not merely summarize the plot.

In the Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway is a character who lives in a high class society in the suburbs of New York City. He is exposed to the luxuries of the American Dream, attending parties and envying the materialistic lifestyle that his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, leads. Although Nick wishes that he could be more like his neighbor, he realizes that the money Jay possess and the society that Jay lives in does not define his morals or character as an individual. Nick is an observer of the society he lives in and learns how hypocritical and arrogant once they have money; he then changes his delusional way of thinking and decides that the way you act defines they who you are, not the materialistic possessions that you own. 

Jay Gatsby is a soft spoken man in West Egg who is one of the richest man that Nick knows, and has an appeal of modesty and wealth in Nick's eyes. Nick perceives  Jay as "a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty." However, as time progresses and Nick starts observing how people interact with Jay, he notices that Jay does not have as many friends and loved ones as he assumed. Nick also dislikes how Jay was having an affair with a married woman, one who was in love with the rich lifestyle that Jay had but would not dare runaway from her husband and admit that she was in love with someone else. This notion of dishonesty made Nick realize how unfaithful people are, and the amount of money one owns does not determine how you act or think. 

Once Jay passes away and no one attends his funeral, Nick then discovers that no one actually knew Jay nor did they like him, they were only interested in the parties that he threw and what he had to offer. This implicates that society was selfish and only wanted what was best for themselves. This shallow behavior that once appealed to Nick made him realize how disgusting and hypocritical people were. Nick does away with the idea that rich are "classy", and that it is better to be poor and modest. 

The society in which Nick lives in makes him realize how money can destroy virtues and human character, and how shallow and hypocritical society can become with materialistic possessions. Thus, Nick responds in the sense that he does not conform to society, and lives happily as an individual who has morals.