The Great Gatsby

Earth is an imperfect world, full of imperfect people who think and act imperfectly each day. Humans are single minded. They continuously take more then they give. Greed often finds more pleasure in taking from others than in giving to itself. I believe that greed is the only thing that can truly distract one from having true bliss. Everyday, we are so consumed with materialism that we lose the true meaning of giving, and turn to greed.

During the time of Jesus Christ, greed was destroying lives. Judas committed the ultimate sin by allowing the love of money to corrupt his heart to the point that he betrayed Christ. "Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over" (The Message Bible, Matthew 14:10-11). After Judas indicated to the high priest who among them was Jesus, Judas received his reward and Jesus was crucified. "Overcome with remorse, he gave back the thirty silver coins to the high priest saying, 'I've sinned, I've betrayed an innocent man.' Judas then left the temple and hung himself."(The Message Bible, Matthew 27:3-4.) Judas allowed greed to contaminate his values, loyalties, and the foundation of his beliefs, making greed one of the seven deadly sins.

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, unfolds a love story woven into a sinful blanket of greed and lust. Greed contaminated the relationship between Daisy and Gatsby when Daisy tells Jay that he is not rich enough for her. Gatsby desires Daisy that he uses illegal ways to make money, by becoming a bootlegger. He chooses a life of immoral and criminal behavior to be with a woman. However, he does not end up with her. In fact, he looses everything, including his life. Gatsby believed that this money would buy Daisy's love. Every weekend, Gatsby threw large lavish parties at his West Egg mansion to flaunt his magnificent house, fancy cars, and his designer clothes, hoping to attract Daisy. However, that still did not satisfy Daisy. Greed left them wanting more, and more. "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 has made..." (Fitzgerald, 179) Social standing manipulated Daisy into marrying Tom. Although Tom committed adultery, and was aggressive with her, Daisy chose Tom because of his social status and the content of his wallet. Greed affects your judgments and morality, and makes you do things you normally would not.

In Emily Bronte classic, Wuthering Heights, Bronte manipulates the desolate setting and vigorous characters in order to examine the self-destructive pain of compulsion; desire so strong as to corrupt the most basic human feeling, love. She created a distorted world, in which greed was powerful enough to rip out and conquer even the most puissant love ever imaginable. Catherine Earnshaw was torn between her two loves, Mr. Heathcliff and money, making her life miserable. Catherine deeply loved Mr. Heathcliff with her whole heart and soul. However, Catherine's obsession with money was just as strong. Catherine contemplates leaving Heathcliff for Edgar solely because of his wealth. "And he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighborhood, and I shall be proud of having such a husband."(Bronte, 79) "It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how much I love him: and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am." (Bronte 81) Catherine