There is a subtle quandary about responsibility throughout the novel that Gordon can't seem to solve. Perhaps, there is nobility in his rejection of business and marketing, no one could deny that, because he obviously understands the brokenness of marketing and the capitalism that shapes his world, and perhaps he is also literally disenfranchised from true wealth—after all, he can only earn a wage by making other men profit—yet, there is still the question of his own willingness to face his personal responsibility.
For a closer look at the dilemma of self that Gordon faces, the reader could investigate Gordon's emotional encounters with embarrassment. Broadly speaking, he feels embarrassed by the social impositions that his family makes him live up to because of their historical wealth and privilege. But, they are waning in terms of wealth, so his ability to live up to their standards is darkened by the panic in his community about losing wealth, so he feels pressed to save his whole family, to restore them to a wealthy lifestyle that he has always hated anyway.
When he rejects wealth and money, that is simultaneously a rejection of his family's perception of life. The question he faces is about joy and happiness, so it could be framed as an ethical quandary, because Gordon cannot see a path forward. He rejects the worldview he adopted as a child, but without a new one to replace it, he stays permanently paranoid and unable to decide a new way of life. He fails, but his failure is a martyrdom that reflects the brokenness of his society. The question of responsibility is simply whether he had to be a martyr, or whether he could have illustrated the brokenness some other way.
