Appearances Can Be Deceiving - The Great Gatsby.

Daisy's deception results in the death of an innocent man: Gatsby. As well as being disloyal and untruthful concerning her relationship with Tom, Daisy was also dishonest by neglecting to confess that she was the one who had hit Myrtle while driving home in Gatsby's yellow car. She let Gatsby take the blame for her. Of course, he had no problem doing so because he loved her so deeply: " 'Was Daisy driving?' 'Yes', he said after a moment, 'but of course I'll say I was' "(Fitzgerald 144). Gatsby's caring act and Daisy's dishonesty culminated with the shooting and death of Gatsby by Myrtle's husband. Daisy's deception in lying with regard to the accident, combined with her selfishness and egotism had fatal consequences; Gatsby's death could have been prevented.

The abusive, controlling and hypocritical Tom demonstrates additional examples of the consequences of lies and deception in the novel The Great Gatsby. Tom Buchanan was, without a doubt, very lucky to be married to Daisy. To their friends, they seemed to be the perfect couple. But, appearances can be deceiving. In reality, their relationship was only a show put on by them to maintain their social standing. It was not merely the fact that Tom was cheating on Daisy, but that he was cheating on her with a woman of a far lower social status. In the words of Miss Baker, "Tom's got some woman in New York" (Fitzgerald 15). Tom was a hypocrite. Although he was having an affair, he did not approve when Daisy spent time with Gatsby. But Tom's adulterous affair did not deceive the public for long. When his infidelity became public it affected his standing in the community and neither Daisy nor Tom could deal with these societal pressures. As a result, Tom and Daisy were forced to leave New York and create a new life elsewhere.

Tom remained with Daisy because she defined his social standing. Daisy had an excellent reputation among the elite. She had never done anything to embarrass herself: "They moved with a fast crowd, all of them young and rich and wild, but she came out with an absolutely perfect reputation" (Fitzgerald 78). Tom used her not only for her wealth, but also for her impeccable social standing. He never expressed his guilt about lying to Daisy. When they were married, Tom had Daisy convinced that he loved her and that he would be a good husband. He really only married her for the money and power he would gain. The fact that he never considered her feelings showed that his life was full of selfish actions, which led him nowhere. The price Tom paid for lying to Daisy was high. He sacrificed true love for money.

Gatsby was, perhaps, the greatest example of how lies and deceit can have dire consequences. Before Gatsby left for the war, he knew that he was in love with Daisy Buchanan. But he also knew that if he were unable to amass any wealth, he would never win her as his bride. And so the life and image that Gatsby portrayed was only a façade to win Daisy's favour; however, he ultimately, and sadly, only deceived himself. Gatsby and Nick became close friends, and over time, Gatsby revealed that he was hopelessly in love with Daisy Buchanan, a woman whom he had known and loved before the war. Gatsby lied and misled others to obtain a greater social status in an attempt to win Daisy's heart. Nick, Daisy's cousin, conveniently lived in the house next door to Gatsby. Nick believed that Gatsby's façade of being a rich man living in West Egg was praiseworthy after Gatsby showed Nick the picture of him at Oxford, as well as his medal of honour from the war. We later discovered that Gatsby had invented everything regarding his past and had, in fact, gained his money from bootlegging. This deception was an additional attempt to win Daisy's love. However, he did not succeed at his task. He never achieved his dream of acquiring Daisy's affection.

Unbeknownst to both Nick and Jordan, Gatsby was using them both as a means of meeting Daisy. As well as creating a false past, Gatsby used people and manipulated events to make sure he would 'run into' Daisy. During a meeting between Jordan and Nick, Jordan presented an idea of Gatsby's to Nick: " 'He wants to know,' continued Jordan, 'if you'll invite Daisy to your house some afternoon and then let him come over.'.... 'He wants her to see his house, ... And your house is right next door' " (Fitzgerald 80). Gatsby was using not only Nick, but also Jordan to get to Daisy. He had confronted Jordan at one of his own parties, telling her how he had yearned for Daisy for the five years they had been apart. Gatsby demonstrated, once again, that he used his friends in order to obtain what he wanted, but even this was not enough to win Daisy.

Gatsby also used Nick and Nick's social standing to further his own dreams. He wanted Daisy to see how poor Nick looked in comparison to him. He used Nick merely as a tool to get to Daisy only Nick never realized it. Gatsby would have gone to any lengths to preserve his façade of wealth and to win Daisy's love. His existence became one enormous lie. Gatsby's deception and his true personality were finally revealed with disastrous consequences to himself. In turn, Gatsby, a man who was supposed to have an image of wealth and self-confidence, was, in fact, proven to be cowardly and insecure. And in the end, despite all his lies and all of his manipulative actions, he lost Daisy, the woman of his dreams. But Gatsby's lie regarding Daisy's involvement in the car accident, created his own destiny - his death.

An overview of East and West Egg from Nick Carraway's perspective reveals how the characters in the novel abused one another's trust. They lied, they deceived and they used one another to obtain what they wanted at any cost. Indeed, the people who surrounded Nick were determined to obtain a glorified sense of happiness, and it was Nick, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, who exposed the extent to which the characters would go to achieve this sense of security and illusive happiness. Tom and Daisy never attained happiness in the course of the novel. Their strong reputation was ruined and they were forced to leave New York. But the consequences of Gatsby's lies were much more serious - irreparable, in fact. His deception resulted in his death; his fate was sealed. And so, as the final page of The Great Gatsby is read, we, the readers, are left with a valuable message from Fitzgerald - that our approach to life can greatly interfere with the pursuit of happiness.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company,

1925.

The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott. London: Oxford University Press, 1931.