Moral Decay In The Great Gatsby

Human nature empowers even the most unfortunate people to reach for superiority. In search of these aspirations, some people become obsessed with perfecting past decisions, or returning to a “golden time”. However, human nature renders the seeker unable to achieve such a delusion. F. Scott Fitzgerald explores this principle within his novella, The Great Gatsby. Establishing déjà vu throughout the novel, Fitzgerald juxtaposes cyclical plot with the unattainability of the past to portray flaws in human nature at what seems to be the zenith of Gatsby’s American Dream.

The The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, shows the tale of Jay Gatsby as he struggles to achieve his dream of recreating the past, a dream which ultimately fails. Through Gatsby’s decline into moral ambiguity, Fitzgerald shows that relentless pursuit of an unattainable dream will lead to a downward spiral of moral decay, ending in tragedy.

Morally ambiguous characters appear in many works of literature. The exemplary ambiguous character in Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” is Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a morally ambiguous character because of the actions he takes in order to achieve his own goals, Daisy. Furthermore, through Gatsby’s moral ambiguity, Fitzgerald reveals that setting a facade is ultimately bad.

The setting is very joyful, graceful and inviting, but within the town hides much evil (mostly Miss Strangeworth) which one might also say is fairly ironic. The author is very skilled at making a well developed setting, which suits the themes of deception, secrets and incorrect first impression very well and makes the reader think more to conceive what is really happening or how the setting connects to theme, characters and other literary devices.

Why do we often look up to the higher class? Why do we crave the fabulous lifestyles of the wealthy and famous? Murder, cheating, gambling and wild parties are just some examples of what went on in The Great Gatsby. First of all, the rich were also criminals and may have gotten their endless money in illegal matters. Secondly, most all of the rich characters shown throughout the book were unfaithful to his or her spouse. Thirdly, the wealthy were lavishly wasteful and did not seem to care about others. Finally, a character that expresses immorality the most is Tom Buchanan. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, his intentions were for people to learn to know that being rich or the hunger for money can lead to the immoral actions including some

To what extent of a person becoming more well- known, popular, rich, and more or less famous is the limit to their values, morals, and true self? Many during the age of 1920 started to be faced with such a question. How does it happen and how do their morals go so quickly out the window when faced with a new and higher social or economic state? In this story Gatsby was a fine young man with dreams and aspirations for his future and who he wanted to become. Him deep down still had these morals inside of him, but with the increase in his wealth, like many others, these morals began to fade to the background. Fitzgerald is able to show us how Gatsby and the people he surrounded himself with lost their morals through when Daisy left Gatsby for Tom, and when Gatsby was killed.

True love is seen through a relationship of two people. Love exists when two people give all their trust, loyalty, and support to one another. Now imagine finding out all of the love and loyalty was false? Betraying a loved one can make someone capable of things they didn’t even know they were capable of. Betrayal is the breaking of a trust that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals. In The Great Gatsby, characters pursue in the action of having an affair and the result of betraying their loved ones. In the book, The Great Gatsby, the concept of true love is portrayed in a way that negatively affects the characters.

Although Gatsby does meticulously pursue his dream, Gatsby’s pursuits are futile and condemned. Throughout the novel we continually see the immense struggle that Gatsby endures while pursuing his dreams of wealth and Daisy, which were often connected. During the early years of Gatsby’s life, Gatsby pursues wealth and he eventually does attain this; however, the acceptance he hoped to achieve through his wealth was something that he never acquired. For instance, when Gatsby was asked to dinner out of required politeness by the socialites of East Egg, he was eager to be involved and immediately agreed. However, Gatsby was unaware of the discontent signals being portrayed by those that lived in East Egg. Nick describes the awkward situation

The Great Gatsby is a book with no limits, but also no happiness. If you take a close look into the book you can see for yourself that nobody in the book was actually happy. I believe that if you have good morals and ethics then you can achieve happiness. We see very little true happiness within the characters throughout the course of the book. Fitzgerald’s standpoint on morals and ethics in this book is that there are no boundaries. That a man can cheat on his wife, and likewise, but that person will never truly be happy. We never really see happiness at all in this book. There may be parts in the story where someone might be having fun at a certain point, but when

Tom and Daisy Buchanan disguise themselves as wealthy, upper-class people from the East, but, when their immorality threatens their reputation, they find they are no better than their heritage, which stems from the Midwest. When Tom and Daisy constantly try to position themselves as having a better reputation, it establishes that they do not have the status necessary to be part of eastern upper-class. Tom and Daisy both initiate affairs in which neither truly care for the person they are having the affair with. Nick witnesses “Tom Buchanan [break Myrtle's] nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 37). Tom uses Myrtle, his mistress, for sexual pleasure, but does not care for her well-being. Tom uses her because his marriage with Daisy was not made for love, but rather to increase their social standing. Daisy also has an affair with her former lover, Gatsby, and after observing his wealth, she develops a relationship with him. Both Tom and Daisy are unsatisfied with their relationship, but rather than tarnish their social status with divorce they choose infidelity. Tom and Daisy’s desperation to maintain their status causes their immorality. Furthermore, in many instances Tom insults Gatsby, especially to degrade his wealth and achievements. For example, Tom says, “I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife” (130). Tom knows that he can only cause true damage by insulting Gatsby’s accomplishments. Tom desires to damage Daisy’s

Imagine moving to New York in the spring of 1922. You have no money, and you live in a small cottage in West Egg, right in between the wealthy homes. Your dreams are big and simple: become rich and live well. Everything is great at first, until you meet your mysterious neighbor and nothing would ever be the same again. In The Great Gatsby, that is the life of the narrator, Nick Carraway. In the book he meets many characters, with their personality bursting at the seams. However, their personalities aren’t always the brightest as Nick discovers, and through their actions it becomes hard to tell whether they are morally good or morally evil. Nick himself is morally ambiguous, as is Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby.

The use of personification to describe the motor road contributes to the need to get away from the Valley. According to Nick, “the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it” and “shrink[s] away” from the Valley. This could imply that the Valley is a scary place because the word ‘shrink’ is typically used when a character is scared or feels threatened. Since rich people are usually the ones that own cars in this time period, the motor road benefits them more than anyone else and they more than likely find the Valley of Ashes a pretty terrible place, which would explain why the road shrinks away from it. Another example of personification is used when Fitzgerald talks about how the train passes through the Valley.

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, depicts the corrupt lifestyle in the 1920’s. The theme of moral decay is addressed numerous times through out the novel by characters actions and expressions. Narrated by Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby leans you into the unseen area of the jazz age. Published in 1925, Fitzgerald explains how criminal doings, lying, and adultery cause the consistent moral decay through out the novel. Moral decay was first explained by criminal actions as a result of several events that took place.

Throughout one’s life, one is constantly told to do what is right despite the consequences or results. In reality these morals are practiced less and less as people worry less about the consequences of ignoring these morals. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald saw the disintegration of humanity early in the 20th century. In his novel, “The Great Gatsby”, written in 1925, he exemplifies the moral decay that surrounds society. He uses symbols such as the billboard of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, who serves as a representation of a forgotten God, to showcase the lack of care for things that were once important, such as morality.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby moral decay is a re-occurring theme throughout the story. Fitzgerald uses stylistic devices to express how moral decay leads to destruction in the life of an individual. Fitzgerald uses metaphors to highlight wealth and materialism in key characters and in particular Daisy Buchannan. Degradation of moral values are also explored through symbolism in the novel.