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Examples Of Hollowness In The Great Gatsby

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Hollowness in The Great Gatsby

Throughout the novel, you get the sense that the characters with the most money, are the least happy. Even though they appear to have everything one desires, they still want what they cannot have.Whether it be longing for the love of someone they cannot have, or being unfaithful and without morals, hollowness is portrayed in many different ways throughout the book.

In this novel, Jay Gatsby is a newly wealthy man who throws the most expensive, extravagant parties. Many people believe they know how Gatsby came to be, but the truth is his that his motivation for making so much money was solely to win over Daisy, the love of his life who is married to another man. Despite Gatsby's seemingly content attitude, he still reveals his unhappiness in life when thinking about Daisy. An example is when Nick describes Gatsby talking about the past, saying, “He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself …show more content…

She has always been wealthy, and always aspired to be wealthy. She is used to living in luxury, and is dependent on Tom to provide for her. When describing Daisy's voice, Gatsby says, “Her mouth is full of money” (Fitzgerald 120), meaning even her voice sounds like the stereotypical wealthy person’s. Daisy also reveals her hollowness as a person when she says “I hope she’ll be a fool- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 17). In this quote, Daisy demonstrates the hollowness of the upper class by hoping her daughter will be a fool instead of a proper young lady. She believes the upper class does not value intelligent woman, so she believes her daughter will have a better life if she acts how the social standard wants her to

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