Essay on Honesty in Friendship – Free Essay Example

Our society today is filled with people who will do anything to be famous and make money, but is it worth it if you are deceitful and lonely? When people come to fame and wealth they either inherit it or work toward their wealth, whether that is being diligent or unearned. With these pleasures come secrets, meretricious friends, false accusations, deceptions, and known mistakes. These characteristics can shape the reality of how so much wealth can affect a society. A great illustration of this is the book The Great Gatsby. In this book, Mr. Gatsby is seen as a wealthy man who has many friends, when in reality he ruins his friendships and is dishonest. Fitzgerald demonstrates how being dishonest can cause friends to repudiate their friendship(s).

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Trust and honesty are two major factors that build a friendship. Gatsby broke these two building blocks of Nick and his relationship when he lied about his past. Mr. Gatsby tells Nick how he has inherited his money by saying, “My family all died and I came into a good deal of money” (Fitzgerald, 65). Then this lie caught up with Gatsby when he was telling Daisy how long it took him to save up enough money to buy his new house when he says, “It took me just three years to earn this money that bought it”(Fitzgerald, 90). Nick knows he is lying so he makes the remark “I thought you inherited your money”(Fitzgerald,90) calling Gatsby out, he comes back explaining how he lost it but now Nick is mysterious about Gatsby. Jay Gatsby had lied about his past to Nick, making Nick suspicious about what Gatsby has ever told him about his past. This also leads to Nick not fully believing that Gatsby is ever telling the truth. Right after Jay Gatsby is deceitful to Nick about his past, he then deceives him again when Nick asks him what kind of work he does Jay answers with “That’s my affair” before he realizes that it isn’t an appropriate reply”(Fitzgerald,90). Gatsby realized that he should have not replied with that answer because it is not explanatory and he knows it will make Nick more curious. All of this dishonesty ruined Nick and Gatsby’s friendship.

By being dishonest and untrustworthy it is hard to make friends. Gatsby lied to Nick more than once making Nick suspicious and curious not only about Gatsby’s past but including their relationship. Gatsby dies at the end of the book, most characters believe that his past has finally caught up with him and he deserves it. Fitzgerald centered his book The Great Gatsby around dishonesty and deception. Would you be friends with a wealthy and famous person even if that meant they were untrustworthy?