In F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald addresses many of the themes of the 1920s, with a particular focus on the wealthy and leisured class, the “old money,” those whose wealth allows them to be careless and destructive without consequences. In the novel, this group of people is characterized by Tom and Daisy, a couple who quietly move through life, destroying relationships and lives without knowing or caring. Tom's privileged upbringing has made concepts of morality and responsibility completely foreign, and he is the driving force behind this mutually corrupt relationship: his disregard for anything except his personal pleasure shapes the interactions between him and Daisy. Daisy, on the other hand, is a blank slate, a mirror of her surroundings, a whimsical, empty-headed girl who just wants to have fun. The carelessness that Tom's money and influence give her, and, by extension, Tom's own carefree habits, makes Daisy a sad shell of a person. Daisy is not inherently corrupt and destructive, like Tom, but that makes no difference because Tom has already passed on the worst of his characteristics to her. Indeed, it is Daisy, not Tom, who commits the ultimate sin at the end of the novel, and it is Daisy, not Tom, who avoids taking responsibility for this terrible act and instead allows destroying innocent lives for his actions. . Daisy and Tom are the perfect couple. Neither cares the least bit about the other and both live an absurd and dreary life, thinking they have found happiness, when instead both are disinterested in the ease of living they enjoy . This disinterest makes Tom and Daisy victims of the wealth and influence that are so commonly seen as lust...... middle of paper ......The Great Gatsby. 1925. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. Lance, Jacqueline. “The Great Gatsby: Driving towards destruction with the rich and the reckless behind the wheel.” » Studies in Popular Culture 23.2 (2000): 25-35. JSTOR. Internet. April 4, 2014. Ornstein, Robert. “Scott Fitzgerald’s Fable of East and West.” Academic English 18.3 (1956): 139-43. JSTOR. Internet. April 6, 2014. Schnieder, Daniel J. “Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby.” University Review 31 (1964): 13-18. Vashon Island School District. Internet. April 14, 2014.Uenishi, Tetsuo. “Are the rich different? : Creating a Culture of Wealth in The Great Gatsby. » Japanese Journal of American Studies 22 (2011): 89-107. Ouadax. Internet. April 6, 2014. Wang, Ya-huei. “A psychoanalytic interpretation of Gatsby’s misperception of reality in The Great Gatsby.” Voices of Academia 7.1 (2012): 62-71. Mara Technological University. Internet. April 6. 2014.