Selfish People

In the story of The Great Gatsby, many of the characters are considered selfish people. Daisy for example, wants one thing out of life, wealth. She wants to have a good reputation and feel important to society, and the only way she feels that is through her money. In the book Daisy's daughter Pammy is rarely mentioned, showing Daisy's lack of care and maturity. She is solely focused on her own wants and too preoccupied with those to focus on her daughter.  Her selfishness is also shown through the way she handles things with Tom and Gatsby. She leads them both on, and doesn't give either of them a yes or no answer.  That is, until the end of the story when she runs away with Tom, but even then its only because Gatsby died, making the decision for her.  She constantly relies on other people to get her through life and has no self-determination. This shows her selfishness by the way that she is too lazy to figure things out herself.  She is rich and wealthy from "old money" and Tom's money, not because of anything she personally has done to earn it.

Another selfish character in the story is Myrtle Wilson.  She, like Daisy is worried about her reputation. She ended up married to George Wilson who works in a garage in the Valley of Ashes and unfortunately doesn't make a lot of money. Myrtle doesn't like this, therefore cheating on him for Tom.  Tom is extremely wealthy with a good reputation making him extremely appealing to women like Myrtle.  Myrtle's selfishness causes her to betray her own husband.

These are just two characters who demonstrate the selfish attitude in the story. Both of them are focused on their own desires which mainly include desire for a good reputation and wealth. The way they go about obtaining these two things show the extent of their selfishness as well.