Great Gatsby “A Bad Lie” Essay Example

is because they crave the attention and affection from other people because they don’t know what they really want in life.One of the infamous mishaps of notoriety caused by Jordan Baker was being caught at her first golf tournament which is known in the book as the “bad lie”. Nick found out that “At her first golf tournament there was a row that nearly reached newspapers – a suggestion that she had moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round” (60).

Golf is a sport known for being truthful. The players must record their own performance and they’re trusted to do so. This shows that Jordan is willing to do anything she can to win and have things her way, even if it means cheating. Overall, Nick is still involved with Jordan but he is afraid to truly love her because she is a liar and a cheater. Nick recalls Jordan lying when “she left a borrowed car out in the rain with the top down and lied about it” (60). This shows that Jordan is selfish and cares only about her and not others well-being and Nick is scared to love her because of the bad traits she has but still sticks around.Throughout this whole book, we question who Gatsby really is. He lies about his life, his past, and his money.

He’s known to be mysterious, scary, and a killer but supposedly they’re just rumors. Another thing he lied about was his name. His real name is James Gatz and one reason why he lies about his name is because he’s hiding something. Gatsby technically lied when he told everyone

that his money was passed onto him through a family member. Dan Cody is not blood related family but Gatsby looks to him as a father figure “I am the son of some wealthy people in the middle west – all dead now. I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition” (66). This shows that Gatsby didn’t have to work for his status.

He says that his education at Oxford was because his ancestors had gone there, so in a way he had “connections” to get into the school and he did not have to earn his way in. The money was from Dan Cody and also from his bootlegger business. Gatsby lies about almost his whole life because he wanted Daisy to notice him. He wanted Daisy to notice his large parties hoping that one day she would come to him. All the things he does, is for love and to be reunited with his first love again. It’s crazy how love can make people do the craziest things.The biggest premier lie in the entire book that leads to a tragic ending is when Gatsby takes the fall for Daisy. After the outburst in the hotel, Daisy had to choose between Gatsby and Tom.

Stuck in the situation Daisy started having mixed emotions and believed that she was stable enough to go out for a drive with Gatsby. On their drive a woman (Myrtle) runs out towards the car thinking that it was Tom who was driving but sadly it wasn’t. Under so much pressure and

tension Daisy did not see Myrtle and accidently hit her leaving her to die in the middle of the road. After the incident, Gatsby and Nick runs into each other outside of Daisy’s home and Nick asks, “Was Daisy driving?” and Gatsby replies, “Yes, but of course I’ll say I was” (126). Gatsby takes the fall for Daisy because he cared about her and he thought it was the right thing to do for Daisy’s safety.The next day, Wilson started assuming the driver of the car was Myrtle’s lover and decides to punish the man for his sins. Wilson goes to Tom hoping Tom tells Wilson who the owner of the car was “so by that time he knew Gatsby’s name” (139). This quote foreshadows what is to come.

The “he” is Wilson and he finds out that the yellow car belonged to Gatsby. He asks people for directions to Gatsby’s house so you know something was going to happen which would lead to the climax. As angry as Wilson was, Wilson headed over to Gatsby’s mansion and see’s Gatsby in the pool and suddenly he shoots Gatsby and then he shoots himself.Throughout this whole novel, you can see that some people are not who they seem to be. Other people are willing to put themselves at risk for the ones they love. Each lie covered a different story and all the lies combined together created a huge tragedy. Gatsby claimed that he killed Myrtle when he really didn’t and Nick cuts off ties with Jordan from his life because she’s a liar and a cheater which would affect their relationship. In the end Gastby

died taking the blame for Daisy, Myrtle died wanting to see Tom, Nick lost Jordan because of her dishonesty, Wilson died trying to finish the truth, and Daisy and Tom went for a “trip” to start a new beginning.

Everyone went on with their lives as if nothing happened. As humans, we tend to do things like lie about things that we feel is best for ourselves and others but we never realize how bad the outcome of these lies can result in. In the Great Gatsby, you never know the truth until it’s too late.