''A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.'' Said by Thomas Paine, the man who wrote Common Sense during the American Revolution. His words apply to this story in a variety of ways, the key idea being that almost everyone in The Great Gatsby is somehow living a lie and sacrificing their own happiness to protect their social standing, and oddly enough, none of between them does not seem to be affected. by the artificiality that surrounds the people around them and themselves. They are perfectly content with the fact that no one in their lives is truly authentic, but that they are hollow, dishonest shells masquerading as human beings. Most people end up blind to it, not even realizing how artificial their lives are. Although Daisy is completely and fully aware of her husband Tom's involvement with his mistress Myrtle and his affection towards Gatsby, neither is. will file for divorce. This is because both of them are completely superficial people. When Tom entertains Nick at his apartment with Myrtle and a few other guests, Catherine leans toward Nick and explains that Tom and Myrtle should leave the people they are married to and run away together to get married as soon as possible. On page 33, chapter 2, Catherine then says about Daisy, “You see, it’s really his wife who’s keeping them apart. She is Catholic and they don't believe in divorce. Nick then said to himself that "Daisy wasn't Catholic, and I was a little shocked by the complexity of the lie." This conversation just shows that Daisy and Tom are not the successful 1920s couple they are trying to make everyone believe, but are instead adulterous. Obviously... middle of paper ... had all those glamorous parties in the summer, it meant nothing after his death. Early in the book, Nick says, "Sometimes they would come and go without having met Gatsby at all." What was very depressing and even ironic about Jay Gatsby was that even though hundreds of faces were in his house at the same time, he was always alone. He rarely had friends and even fewer people who knew who he really was. All the while, he let his life be consumed by the materialistic spectacle he put on Daisy, a woman who really only cared about herself. He too became a superficial snob like those around him. After his death, a guest from Meer Three showed up at his funeral, proving that Mr. Jay Gatsby, the man with everything, really had nothing. The man who chased a dream that was never realized. Works Cited Fitzgerald, Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004.