Throughout history, the wealthy have always been able to escape their unlawful actions while the less fortunate have had to face the consequence, we see that exactly in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. While many believe that no one can escape their wrongful actions, F. Scott Fitzgerald and “ Luxury Shopping, from the Other Side of the Register” by Carmen Maria Machado, demonstrates how the fortunate are careless people who are able to escape their unlawful actions with ease. Why is the fortunate usually careless people? In the Great Gatsby, Tom and Daisy were introduced as careless characters throughout the book.
Due to their high status, Tom and Daisy could care less about others and would rather act arrogant and spoiled. Tom and Daisy were said to be, “‘ 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 the mess they had made’” .
This confirms that they were careless people throughout the book and shows how arrogant they were. Tom would do anything that he pleases and Daisy is clueless enough to act careless due to her high status. The fortunate are reckless people usually because of their high income, and with high income comes positive benefits. In Luxury Shopping, from the Other Side of the Register by Carmen Machado, she writes, “ The wealthy have reaped far more of the benefits of the economic recovery than the poor and middle-class” (Luxury Shopping, from the Other Side of the Register).
In spite of this, it shows why the fortunate are usually careless, the rich have much more benefits than other classes therefore whatever they do, there wealth can be a reason not to take any responsibility. To sum it up, the more fortunate are sought out to be careless because money affects your actions in society.
The fortunate are able to live and escape things with ease due to them having enough money to do so. Daisy was the one to blame for Myrtle’s death, yet she wasn’t accused for it at all. After Myrtle’s death, Daisy and Tom moved away with quickness so they wouldn’t have been blamed for Myrtle’s death. Nick says, “‘ I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon and taken baggage with them’”. The rich, Tom and Daisy, were able to escape there consequences just by simply moving away. The less fortunate wouldn’t be able to escape there consequences due to them not being fortunate enough to buy a ticket to move away. Another example of when you’re rich, you live with ease is Gatsby’s and Daisy’s relationship.
Gatsby waited, “So I walked away and left him standing here in the moonlight — watching over nothing”. Daisy could care less about Gatsby because her life is already set. Daisy is rich thanks to Tom, so why would she care about Gatsby? Why would Daisy want to adjust her life when she’s doing just fine? This shows that the fortunate can live with ease because when there life is already set, there is nothing to worry about. To conclude, the fortunate are careless people who are able to escape their actions through unlawful events and ultimately escaping them with ease. The adverse will have a tougher time compared to the wealthy due to them having less connections and wealth when trying to escape a consequence. This ultimately means that as a person of high class, you are able to escape consequences fairly easier.
Reckless Tom and Daisy in Gatsby. (2023, Feb 23). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/the-great-gatsby-presents-tom-and-daisy-as-reckless-characters-throughout-the-book/