Fitzgerald exposes the corruption of the 1920s through the characterization of Tom Buchanan. He makes Tom into a violent, egotistical person who thrives in diminishing the roles and values of others. Jeffrey Decker examines this demise in character in the 1920s when he state, “The Great Gatsby (1925) represents the diminishing moral authority…” (Decker, "Gatsby's Pristine Dream: The Diminishment Of The Self-Made Man In The Tribal Twenties). ‘Moral authority’ can be defined as authority that is based on basic principles and fundamental truths of the world. The decline in moral authority can be shown through the way that Tom Buchanan reacts with the rest of society. This is evident when Tom says, “Civilization’s going to pieces,” broke out Tom…
Society tends to have a myriad of unspoken problems that plague its entirety as a whole. With numerous underlying issues that slowly fester from the center of the core to the outside, society constantly attempts to suppress and ignore the genuine problem. One of the ever present obstacles that seemingly will go unattended to is moral decay. Though many people may recognize the issue at hand, it’s become a pattern to let it be as it is, as opposed to fixing it from within. Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the decaying of social and moral values through his use of symbolism and characterization.…
In today’s society, if asked what values individuals admire, the majority would say kindness and humbleness. On the other hand, in the 1920’s the word “kind” would associate with something different from today . The depiction of respect has dramatically changed over time. For example the 1920’s is an exemplar of moral and social corruption. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom is portrayed as fake and selfish. Through imagery and diction, it shows the moral, social corruption of 1920’s society and the American Dream.…
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys a message about idolization and adoration of individuals because of their wealth, power, looks, and belongings. In The Great Gatsby Nick tells the story of some of the inhabitants of the West Egg and the East Egg. Nick seems to have a cynical and scornful tone towards the residents of the West Egg and East Egg because of their immense lack of morals. He observes the dangers of wealthy living and admiration of others through Tom and Daisy, Gatsby, and Myrtle. In the story Gatsby loves Daisy because of her beauty and wealth, and Tom despises Gatsby for this. However, ironically, Tom is having an affair with Myrtle who is married to George. In the novel, Tom seeks the affection of Myrtle because she admires him, unlike Daisy who feels she is his equal.…
In this novel the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald creates Gatsby as a character who becomes great. He begins life as just an ordinary, lower-class, citizen. But Gatsby has a dream of becoming wealthy. After meeting Daisy, he has a reason to strive to become prominent. Throughout his life, Gatsby gains the title of truly being great.…
In the 1920s, the American Dream gave people the idea they could achieve everything they hoped for with a little hard work. It also embodied the idea of honest, self-sufficient, intelligent people with happy successful families living in America. The Great Gatsby tells a story of a man named Nick Carraway who moves to New York in the summer of 1922. He meets his cousin Daisy Buchanan, her husband Tom Buchanan, and James Gatsby. The four of them spend most of the summer together. Gatsby attempts to win Daisy back from Tom, as they had a relationship together in the past. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates the corruption of the American Dream through the characters of Daisy, Gatsby, and the marriage of Tom and Daisy.…
The 1920’s were an interesting time in U.S. history. Women were exercising more of their rights, the prohibition act came into play and crime was on a rise. In The Great Gatsby you can see social break down very clearly throughout the book. The ones that stood out from the rest to me was about the breaking vowels and promises of marriage or friendship. In the book we find two lovely couples driven by the desires of others; so, they were torn apart from each other as they broke the binding of marriage. We also see friendship rotting away as people turn against one another, often seeing the worst in them instead of the best. With tempers rising the lies are thrown at each other, their relationships are at a boiling point. “I hope she'll…
The Prohibition commenced on 16th Janurary 1920, which was followed by the Volstead Act (formally known as National Prohibition act) a year later. The government's intent was to raise the nation’s moral standards, however, it had the opposite effect. In practice it was difficult to enforce and it was not difficult for drinkers to find alcohol, as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel makes very clear. Bootlegging, the unlawful production and provision of alcohol, became big business, making fortunes for criminals such as the gangster Al Capone. This appears to be the principal source of Gatsby’s wealth, the core of corruption within his…
Throughout the story “The Great Gatsby” there are countless symbols that pop out to the reader. Symbols are so apparent that there is not a chapter missing at least one. F. Scott Fitzgerald does an exceptional job at situating symbols in the text. However, there are a select few that stand out over the others for being most controversial…
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald focuses on the wealthy class that live in New York, and takes place during the “Roaring Twenties”, and era of economic prosper and recklessness after World War I. Fitzgerald highlights the irresponsibility and lack of morality that derives from wealth. Throughout the novel, there are a number of characters that abuse their wealth or power in a way to excuse their moral irresponsibility. Through Gatsby’s disputed accumulation of wealth and Tom’s unceasing trysts, Fitzgerald paints a vivid picture of two men who choose to use their wealth and objectives as an excuse for their immoral habits.…
Daisy is a great example of how greed can obstruct your judgement and morality. The fact that in the story, Daisy says "Rich girls don't marry poor guys" and "You don't have enough money for me to marry you", tells us that she is all about monetary gain, even if it's at the cost of true love. Even when Gatsby, the man she said those things to, shows back up in her life with a new-found wealth that he obtained solely so he could obtain Daisy's love, she turns him down and stays married to a man stuck in the ways of the "old…
In The Great Gatsby, there are examples of corruption in most of the characters introduced. Some examples are more overt, such as Gatsby’s business acquaintance and alleged 1919 World Series ‘fixer’, Meyer Wolfsheim. But there are multiple cases where corruption can be found beyond the surface. Old money Tom and Daisy Buchanan, described by the narrator, Nick, as “careless” and “destructive”, despite having no engagement in illegal activities—with the exception of the novel’s climatic car fatality. Both parties are involved with Gatsby and both relate directly to his dream of gaining both monetary wealth and Daisy’s love.…
F. Scott Fitzgerald displays several prominent themes throughout The Great Gatsby. For example, Fitzgerald uses moral corruption, albeit there are other themes, but this one is the most prevalent. Without this theme, the novel would not have progressed anywhere near as fluid as it did the way Fitzgerald wrote the novel. Throughout the novel, the theme of moral corruption, aside from being subtly shown through the entire novel, becomes more prevalent throughout. This is demonstrated by Gatsby’s behavior and dreams corrupting Daisy’s morals even further than they already are. There is also the fact that there are acts of adultery committed by Tom and Myrtle. Aside from that, there is also Daisy’s second corruption as shown in the reason…
You have been taught your entire life to follow your dreams. You have always been told to believe in yourself. There are all these success stories of celebrities and professional athletes following their dream and working hard for it. But what about those who work hard and follow their dreams and fail? What do the celebrities have over the everyday people? Yes, they may have worked harder than some, but the majority works just as hard. Corruption has definitely had an impact on success in the past. Look at someone like Al Capone, the inventor of organized crime in the 1920s. He most likely achieved all of his dreams. Did he work hard? Probably, but he worked illegally in order to get his money and authority. He smuggled alcohol, which was illegal at the time, and did other illegal business. This was a cold-blooded business…
It is easy for someone to lose their morals when encountered with enormous amounts of money. Moral decay is clearly painted in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby showing the corruption driven by a green light that is represented as money. Both Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, men of money are mirrored opposites of each other; possessing general similarities in which certain differences are distinguished. For example, both men have money, Gatsby’s means of achieving wealth, though illegal ways that are more justified than Tom’s. Tom earns money from inheritance, whereas Gatsby constantly works to achieve a social rank acceptable to Daisy’s liking. Both men show off their money. Gatsby throws numerous amounts of parties in an attempt to attract Daisy, whereas Tom brags about his money to impress. Finally, both men share a relationship with Daisy, where Daisy is Gatsby’s number one priority, whereas Tom sets her to the side. Tom is more selfish and self-centered, completely dislikes Gatsby’s selfless behavior. Although Gatsby has justified reasons for attaining wealth, his selflessness leads him to his end whereas Tom’s immoral actions keep him from harm.…