The Theme Of Corruption In The Great Gatsby

New York City, overwhelmed with success, money and image in the 1920s was drowning in corruption. F Scott Fitzgerald composed a riveting novel, The Great Gatsby, which follows the journey of several characters dealing with love, greed, confusion and lust during the 1920s. Fitzgerald illustrates the corruption of the American dream by allowing us to follow the downfall of Jay Gatsby, revealing the reality of the American dream.

The wealthy in the late 20’s was corrupt and selfish. In the Great Gatsby the upper class is shown as corruptive. The people in the upper class such as Tom and Daisy don’t really care about their actions because they feel invincible due to their amount of money and the power they have. Fitzgerald illustrates the corruption in the way upper class is care-less about their behavior.

The Corruption of the American Dream and Society, first took place in the 1920’s, also commonly known as the “roaring twenties”, when this new ideology erupted. Therefore, this idea of the free market and opportunity took over the market industry, especially in stocks. People started seeing possibility to become very wealthy without anyone to stop them. They ended up liking this lifestyle which boosted the decay of the American Dream and Society. Where people could care less about the true meaning of American Dream which is about freedom, hard work and prosperity; instead, people had begun to care a great deal about social status. In addition, The Great Gatsby, which is set in the heart of the “roaring twenties”, where F. Scott Fitzgerald ties his thoughts and his life experience of this damaging effect on the people into his book. Using the main characters he shows us how the men and women in his life were, how they were caught up in all of this. In addition to the downfall of the American Dream the reader can also pick up the themes of corruption of Society and the emptiness behind the glamour of the Jazz Age from the characters.

In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald many of the characters could be classified as corrupt and morally dishonest. Not one character in the story is not hiding something that can affect someone's else's life. The characters are backstabbers are just filled with lies . The mains character like Gatsby and Nick Carraway are both ok with lying, deceiving, tricking,and messing with people's lives. Both men involve themselves in immoral affairs with women and they both know of the illegal system going on. Daisy is one of the most corrupt character, she plays with the hearts of Gatsby and Tom, the only men in her life. Then there is Tom and Ms.Baker, Tomis in involved in the speakeasies, Ms baker rigged the golf tournament she played in. You can’t anyone in the novel because they might end up biting you in the butt or having you killed like Gatsby.

Often when thinking of symbolism, people and actions are thought of first. Guilt now a days leads to corruption, whether it is guilt for what has happened in the past, present or what is wished to happen. Guilt is all over the world; Corruption is all over the world. Tim O’Brien author of The Things They Carried, takes the reader to the Vietnam War, on his life travels during and after the war. F. Scott Fitzgerald author of The Great Gatsby, takes readers to the Roaring Twenties to see the life of different social classes and the problems that may come along when they all come together.

While Gatsby’s dream of attaining and starting over with Daisy remains pure, his means of achieving his dream are, unfortunately, corrupt. There are plenty subtle hints about Gatsby’s immoral practices yet unadulterated heart throughout the novel. For example, in the beginning of the novel a woman at one of Gatsby’s parties chatting with her friend states, “You look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody’s looking at him. I’ll bet he killed a man” (44). This statement doesn’t bluntly say he is corrupt but gives honest insight into his public image and inserts the thought that Gatsby could have possibly been involved in illegal actions during his pathway to wealth.

Many early twentieth century writers described the themes of desperation, disillusionment, and loss post-World War One. Famous authors like Hemingway and Fitzgerald were considered a part of the Lost Generation as their themes followed the corruption and impulsiveness of the American Dream. In the book The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests through characterization, setting, symbolism, tone, and point of view how Nick Carraway witnesses a set of impulsive people morally bankrupt their lives.

In a state of oblivion, the greatest of men can get corrupted by the object they seek.The thing they desire with great ferocity blinds them and it becomes their only focus, causing them to ignore the casualties they incite in the journey.This corruption courses throughout Fitzgerald's ‘The Great Gatsby’, while centering itself on a young man madly in love with a young woman, and the great ordeals he pursues her love.As simple as the plot is presented, the underlying theme of the novel centers on the wildness of the American dream while paralleling on the destruction each character gets in the end.It lends you glimpses into the lives of the rich and shows you their desperation for fulfillment.This novel has haunted readers for many

“But with every word Daisy was drawing further and further into herself, so he gave that up, and only the dead dream fought on . . .” (135). Fitzgerald shows how Daisy only cares and looks out for herself. If she is not satisfied by the man she is with, even if it is her husband, she cheated on Tom with Gatsby because she saw everything Gatsby has. She has never been with a man for love, maybe for Gatsby before he was sent off to war, but, she has only been attracted to men who have beautiful mansions and are very wealthy. Daisy is just empty, and is only a dream, she symbolizes how people in America want wealth and success but they do not see the illusion of their goals.

Corruption is a dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power and humanity is a virtue associated with basic ethics of altruism derived from the human condition. In the novel the great Gatsby humanity is over-ruled by corruption. The great Gatsby novel reveals how corruption has destroyed the essence of humanity as Gatsby undying love for Daisy leads him into the ways of corruption in order to win Daisy love. Tom and Daisy corruption is the essence to the destruction of the great Gatsby humanity. Daisy is merely a selfish, shallow, careless, hurtful woman that Gatsby loves with a lot of admiration, vitality and determination.

Jay Gatsby is a handsome and rich guy who lives in West Egg of New York city. He has a big mansion that he throws numerous of parties in. These Parties in particular, were used to draw someone in. Someone that caused him to become corrupt and value money to the point of only valuing her and the money. This Someone's name is Daisy and is Gatsby's love of her life. This love he had for though is what ultimately caused him to go down the road of immorality.

The Great Gatsby [book titles always get italicized, not underlined or quote marks] shows the tide turning east, as hordes flock to New York City seeking stock market fortunes. The Great Gatsby is a novel about what happened to the American dream in the 1920’s, a period when the old values that gave substance to the dream had been corrupted by the vulgar pursuit of wealth. Money doesn’t buy happiness. Gatsby wants Daisy and Daisy to Gatsby is like money. Gatsby lived on the West Egg which was new money. One of the central ideas of ‘The Great Gatsby’ is that Gatsby corrupted the American Dream by wanting power and pleasure, he wanted wealth to get Daisy, he got wealthy by selling illegal things, and he also is very showy but (wording is unclear) fundamentally empty form of success.

The novel, The Great Gatsby takes place in the nineteen twenties in an era of opulent wealth for the one percent. The story tells the tale of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is a wealthy man who owns many material possessions. Nick Carraway (Gatsby’s neighbor) meets him when he is invited to Gatsby’s home. He comes to find out Gatsby built all his wealth and success in order to achieve a life he always wanted.

Money can buy trinkets and comfort, but it can't fill a life with meaning. Wealth corrupts the soul, removing the remaining humanity and leaving a dry husk of the person they once were. "The Great Gatsby" aggrandized the barren chasm that luxury leaves in it's wake. Through Gatsby and Daisy's relationship, and the symbolism of The Valley of Ashes, Fitzgerald paints wealth's path of destruction.

The entire novel was based off the real 1920s. The whole entire society was about the individual. That thought process helped created a society in which one would attempt to outdo another. That in turn, spawned competition and people began to care less about the costs, and began only focusing on how they could get ahead. All of those factors led to corruption.