Examples Of The Butterfly Effect In The Great Gatsby

The butterfly effect is an idea where a small disturbance at one point in the system results in a large deviation at later points. Its name comes from an analogy used where if a butterfly flaps its wings in Mexico, then future weather patterns will be drastically different compared to what they would be because of the small amount of random chaos given to the wind by the butterfly. This is taken for granted by philosophers, calculated by mathematicians and forgotten by the general public. This ignorance is exactly what Nick Carraway abhors in the novel The Great Gatsby. Carelessness is a bad trait when it comes to other peoples lives, but it carries with it a general sense of not worrying about the future. This contentment is to be desired.

In the book, Nick despises most characteristics of rich people but most of all dislikes the childishness of their demeanor. He tells us at the end of the book that “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” It is this which Nick does not approve of, the influencing of other peoples lives and then leaving them to sort it out. In The Great Gatsby, the rich do not solve the problems they create, they leave that for the poorer people. Nick tells us that it is mainly the social strata that Daisy, Tom, Jordan and Gatsby belong to which does this. He compares this disregard of consequences to drunkenness, in which people do not care, and to an extent, do not fully realize what they are actually doing, and thus ignore how their actions affect other people. However, this is not the only consequence of their attitude. For better or for worse, Tom, Daisy, Jordan and Gatsby all feel empowered and believe that they can alter their own life. They feel that they are in command over their future, and thus do not worry about life in general. Instead they are able to pursue what makes them happy, whatever that may