He says that‭ “[‬a]mong the broken fragments of the last five minutes at table I remember the candles being lit‭ [‬by Daisy‭] ‬again,‭ ‬pointlessly,‭” ‬which symbolically depicts that although perhaps Daisy tried to revive her marriage with Tom,‭ ‬it was a lost cause from the beginning‭ (‬Fitzgerald‭ ‬15‭)‬.

However,‭ ‬what they did have in common was greed. Nick puts it perfectly when he says:

This passage refers directly to the way that Tom and Daisy effectively killed Gatsby through both their action and inaction. Tom directed Wilson to kill Gatsby,‭ ‬and Daisy did nothing to stop him. Daisy could have saved Gatsby’s life by simply admitting that it was she who killed Myrtle,‭ ‬but she refuses to make such a serious personal sacrifice for Gatsby,‭ ‬even though he was willing to do the same for her. Neither of them shows any remorse for this,‭ ‬moreover. Tom believes that his actions were fully justified,‭ ‬and Daisy disappears just before Gatsby’s death,‭ ‬never to return in the novel. Tom and Daisy are social climbers—their only real goal in life is to reach this distorted ideal of the American dream. In that respect,‭ ‬they succeed,‭ ‬but they ultimately do not find the happiness they sought out.

‎	‏F. Scott Fitzgerald’s depiction of the American dream is understandable when taken in the context of the decade he wrote it in. Fitzgerald wrote‭ ‬The Great Gatsby right in the middle of the roaring‭ ‬20‭’‬s,‭ ‬a decade characterized primarily by excessive self-indulgence and superficiality. For the American people,‭ ‬World War I‭ “‬was a shock,‭ ‬but it was a‭ ‬liberating shock which left most of the energy and imaginative brilliance undamaged‭” (‬Hoffman‭ ‬110‭)‬. As a result,‭ ‬Americans felt invincible,‭ ‬and it showed in the way the society began to develop. Reckless spending became the norm,‭ ‬and eventually led to the great depression at the end of the decade,‭ “‬a financial crisis,‭ ‬which proved subsequently also to have been a moral crisis‭” (‬Hoffman‭ ‬112‭)‬. 

	Nick’s choice of the financial sector as an area to pursue a career shows the moral costs of upward mobility in a way that is different from the previous examples of Tom and Daisy.‎ ‏Nick says that he‭ “‬came back restless‭” ‬from the war,‭ ‬which was part of his rationale for moving out east‭ (‬Fitzgerald‭ ‬3‭)‬. Nick goes on to say that he chose to go into the bond business because‭ “[‬e]veryone‭ [‬he‭] ‬knew was in the bond business‭” (‬Fitzgerald‭ ‬3‭)‬. A person who works with bonds is likely to earn more than say,‭ ‬a farmer,‭ ‬which was a profession of choice for much of the time leading up to the‭ ‬1900‭’‬s. The life of a farmer was desirable at the time because it gave the worker a connection with the land he owned—a connection with the country he lived in. The focus during the‭ ‬1920‭’‬s was not on the country,‭ ‬however. It was almost entirely on the self.