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  • Essay / Theme of Honesty in The Great Gatsby - 988

    He claims that his upbringing instilled in him high morals and values, unlike those of Easterners. As a result, faced with the inevitable falsification of those he considers friends, Nick struggles to withhold his judgment internally. There are two excellent examples of dishonesty in this novel: Jay Gatsby's fabrications and Jordan Baker's evasions. There are several instances where Nick suspected Jay of hiding the truth. His first impression of Gatsby was one such moment: “Some time before he introduced himself, I had had the strong impression that he chose his words carefully” (Fitzgerald 32). Another example of distrust is when Gatsby talks about how he worked for three years to earn the money to buy his house and Nick questions this because Gatsby told him earlier that his money was an inheritance . Jay quickly tries to get over his lack of concealment, leading Nick to remark, "I think he barely knew what he was saying, because when I asked him what line of work he was in, he replied, 'That's my business,' before I realized that was not an appropriate response” (Fitzgerald 58). Jordan Baker exhibits another form of dishonesty: lying to get what she wants. We discover that Jordan is lying about leaving "a borrowed car in the rain with the top down," which triggers Nick's judgment: "She was incurably dishonest." She was not able to bear being at a disadvantage” (Fitzgerald 38). This may be due to her need to feel superior to others. Overall, the magnitude of the lies Nick encountered made him yearn for the truth in the