The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel set in the 1920s from the perspective of Nick Carraway, who describes his time with Jay Gatsby, a man who is trying to regain the love of Daisy Buchanan. Sociopathy, or antisocial personality disorder, is a condition that is typically characterized by a person not caring about the rights of other people and showing little to no remorse for violating those rights. Throughout the novel, Gatsby exhibits behavioral traits that are linked to sociopathy, such as being manipulative, acting impulsively, and demonstrating a lack of empathy, which could allude to Gatsby being defined as a sociopath.
First, Gatsby displays a trait of sociopathy through manipulation by throwing grand parties and using his charm to get what he wants. A sociopath could exhibit “deceitfulness, repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for pleasure or personal profit” (Fisher). Gatsby throws extravagant parties just to get the attention of Daisy, and to try to convince her that she should love him instead of Tom. Gatsby pressured Daisy into telling Tom that she never loved him: “‘You never loved him.’ She hesitated…‘I never loved him,’ she said, with perceptible reluctance” (Faulkner 101). Even though Daisy was clearly not in a truly happy and healthy relationship with Tom, Gatsby still tried to manipulate Daisy into telling Tom that she never loved him and she was always in love with Gatsby. He used the stress from the fight between Tom and Gatsby as a tactic to get Daisy to feel pressured into saying what he wanted her to. Even though it was very clear that Daisy didn’t want to, Gatsby turned to telling Daisy how he wanted her to feel instead of asking her how she really felt until she eventually gave in, which is a very manipulative tactic to make Daisy say what he wants her to say.
Next, Gatsby shows another trait of sociopathy through his impulsivity, in being willing to do anything to win back Daisy’s love. The DSM-5 says a sign of sociopathy could be “Impulsivity or failure to plan” (Fisher). Throughout the book, almost all of Gatsby’s actions are driven by his desire to win back the love of Daisy, which would make him unable to think thoroughly and properly. Gatsby bought a mansion across the lake from Daisy with the only idea in his mind being impressing Daisy to win her back. By doing this, Gatsby was relying on Daisy still loving him even though she is married to another man and they haven’t seen each other in five years. Gatsby also demonstrates impulsivity during the big argument between him and Tom: “‘She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me’” (Faulkner 100). Being caught up in the moment, Gatsby impulsively told Tom what he thought happened when Daisy married Tom. Gatsby had no way of being sure this was true, and Daisy had never blatantly told this to Gatsby. This impulsivity is disguised to be thought of as Gatsby having such a great love for Daisy that he couldn’t control himself; but if Gatsby truly loved Daisy, he would have never put her in a situation where she could have been put in danger if Tom got too angry. Gatsby’s impulsivity was driven by his need for competition against Tom, and not his love for Daisy, which can be interpreted as a sign of Gatsby being a sociopath.
Finally, Gatsby consistently demonstrates a lack of empathy for the duration of the novel. Gatsby has a “Lack of remorse, indifference to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another person” (Fisher), as he often acts without thinking about anyone else. When Gatsby thinks about Daisy he wants “Nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’ After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken” (Faulkner 84-85). Gatsby acknowledges that if he convinces Daisy to tell Tom that she doesn’t love him, it would cause a lot of pain and it would destroy Tom and possibly Daisy. Gatsby uses his own selfish thoughts of wanting to be with Daisy to convince himself it is okay to do whatever it takes to win her back. It would clearly make Tom upset if Gatsby and Daisy got together, and even though Tom is having an affair, Gatsby should feel at least slightly remorseful for destroying their marriage and family, but he simply does not. Gatsby goes about his relationship with Daisy without thinking about whether or not Daisy wants to be in a relationship with him, the feelings of Tom and Daisy’s daughter, or anybody else that could be affected by this decision, which makes it clear that Gatsby is very indifferent and rationalizes hurting others.
Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby, it can be seen that Jay Gatsby is alluded to as a sociopath by demonstrating traits like being manipulative and impulsive as well as having a lack of empathy, which are all traits that are linked to being a sociopath. Jay Gatsby is a very complicated and nuanced character, which adds depth and complexity to the novel. Overall, the traits of sociopathy as well as other traits of Gatsby, play a very important role in the significance of the novel and make it more interesting and complex for the reader.
Works Cited
Fisher, Kristy, et. al., Antisocial Personality Disorder, National Center for Biotechnology Information, 29 Feb. 2024, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546673/, Accessed 18 Apr. 2025.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, Scribner, 2004. Digital.
