Preview

Theme Of Corruption Of Men In The Great Gatsby

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
104 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Theme Of Corruption Of Men In The Great Gatsby
For a time of such fabulous excess, the 1920s were also a decade of disillusionment in America. The youth returning home from the Great War were as lost as the upper echelons of American society: in having ‘everything’, the rich were equally without anything to strive for. Men need hope—and thus a dream—to reach for as they live; otherwise, they lead an aimless, spiritually wasteful existence. However, if men do not hold the idea of the dream at bay, it will poison them. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores the corruption wrought upon a man who lives entirely within the idea of his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The American Dream is dead. This is one of the main themes, if not the main theme in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby. In the novel Fitzgerald gives us a glimpse into the life of the high class during the 1920’s through the eyes of the narrator, a moralistic young man named Nick Carraway. It is through his dealings with high society that readers are shown how modern values have transformed the American Dream's pure ideals into a scheme for materialistic power and self-betterment, how the new world of high society lacks any sense of morals or consequence. In order to support this message, Fitzgerald presents the original aspects of the American Dream along with its modern face to show that the once impervious dream is now lost forever to the American people.…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Great Gatsby, there are a variety of themes. Of all the themes the book has to offer, the film captures best, the lack of morals and the corruption of the American Dream. Towards the beginning of the film when Nick first meets Myrtle she is immediately showing her lack of morals by the way she interacts with Tom, giving Nick a sense of their secret affair. In addition, the party she hosts at the apartment is over the top inappropriate compared to the one in the novel as Nick is exposed to sex, drugs, and destruction. But it can be more relatable to the viewers with today’s parties and the modernized music playing in the background. A final example would be Daisy giving Tom a pen to write down any numbers of random women he’d toy with,…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, pictures the wasted American Dream as it depicts the 1920s in America. The novel paints a vivid picture of the ‘roaring’ twenties, a time when values of the old generation were being rejected. Skirts became shorter and women cut their hair into bobbed styles; a lifestyle with little moral or religious restraint began to appear. It was a time of extravagance and high living. On the other hand, the 1920s was also a time of extreme loneliness and non-identity as people longed for life as it used to be. The war had promised so much and for many the results were disappointing. The number of cars on the road during this decade went from 9 million up to 26 million and this allowed young people to ‘escape’ from the supervision of their parents, which contributed to a more carefree set of morals. From a modern reader’s perspective, this novel demonstrates the superficiality of the lives of the wealthy, such…

    • 1445 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Gatsby captures the story of a man motivated by his passion to find love. The novel encapsulates the agony Jay Gatsby experiences throughout his journey to acquire the affection and devotion he so greatly desires from the woman of his dreams. The book portrays the corruption of the 1920s and the collateral damage it has upon society. As unfortunate as the occurrences within the plot seem, there is a shocking reality that lies beneath them. The story of The Great Gatsby strongly parallels to the life of the author, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, reflecting upon the tragedies that he encountered along his pursuit for love due to the lack of morality that existed in the 1920s.…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ridge Scholarship Essay

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages

    On the surface, The Great Gatsby reads as a story of thwarted love between a man and a woman. The real theme of the novel, however, encompasses a highly symbolic meditation on 1920’s America as a whole, and, in particular, the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. Fitzgerald portrays the 1920’s as an era of decaying social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music—epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby himself hosts every Saturday night—resulted ultimately in the corruption of the…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 102 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, illustrates how the desire for money and materialism compels the American dream to decay. Fitzgerald uses Tom and Daisy’s daughter, Gatsby’s bootlegging, and the sin of adultery to show the downfall of ideals during this time period. The Great Gatsby examines the collapse of society’s morals and values in their attempt to try and pursue the American dream.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How human beings behave in society is dictated by moral standards of conduct that are generally accepted as right or proper. This sense of morality can become perverse such that the lines between right and wrong are blurred. The person becomes depraved and their behavior eschews what is generally considered to be right. In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald the characters are portrayed in an immoral manner. F. Scott Fitzgerald displays the destruction of morals in society during the era of the “Jazz Age.” The main characters: Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby are categorized as morally corrupt; they lose their values in attempt to find their place in the social world. These…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Later on, while he is trying to get Daisy from Tom, Gatsby is so overly consumed by his want of her he cannot see her immoral character, which creates a strange scene especially after the argument that happened in New York and accident in the Valley of Ashes when Gatsby sits outside and watches Daisy’s home, exclaiming to Nick “I’m just going to wait here and see if he tries to bother her about that unpleasantness this afternoon” (145). This helps establish that Gatsby is blind to her by sitting outside watching over her even when it is clear from Nick’s point of view that nothing will happen yet Gatsby is just paranoid about Tom hurting Daisy. However, it also shows how consumed he is by her, since he just sits calmly waiting to make sure…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald continuously reiterates his belief that what we view as “The American Dream” is dead, and has been corrupted by wealth, rather than standing for its original ideals of freedom and equality. Fitzgerald brings this nightmarish world of reality to life using imagery, diction, and symbolism in order to prove to his audience that what was once perceived as an attainable goal, is held just out of grasp by the people that did not have to fight to reach it.…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    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…

    • 1749 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about trying to find the American Dream, but no one is able to find it because the world is too corrupt. In the book there are three major places East Egg, West Egg, and The Valley of Ashes. All three places in the book are corrupt in their own way. The places all thrive for their American Dream, but it cannot be reached. The American Dream is corrupt just like the towns in The Great Gatsby; this is because people take too much pride in the things they own and the things that they strive for.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    american dream

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The 1920s were new times for Americans. Wealth, leisure, and social events replaced the frugality and hard work that had defined America for decades before. A country built on the backbone of ingenuity and a “work before play” philosophy was transformed into a wasteful, carefree time. Gatsby fulfils the typical embodiment of the 1920s American dream; a man squandering his fortune on lavish parties, expensive clothes, and the best entertainment to ensure his popularity in the social rankings. Although he seemed fulfilled and pleased with his life, his soul was hollow and empty. No amount of money could fill the place where his one true love, Daisy, was meant to be. Many other Americans were like Gatsby in the 1920s, building a façade of happiness with money, lust, and social statuses, only to be shallow and hurt because of lack of morals, loss of true love, and a greed for more wealth. Though not all Americans were like this in the 1920s, we can see examples of these types of characters in the Great Gatsby through Daisy, Tom, and Jordan. Harshly, the 1920s compared to the 1930s can be associated with these characters; at first they are overwhelmed with prosperity, continually seeking the utmost means of wealth, which they believe will buy them love and true happiness. After the shine of success becomes dull, they are left with no morals, fabricated love, and no sense of true belonging. Parallel to the 1930s, victims of this time of greed are sent into a downward spiral of moral poverty.…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gatsby American Dream

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Fitzgerald depicts the 1920s as a time of rotted social and good values, confirm in its overall criticism, eagerness, and void quest for delight. The neglectful jubilance that prompted wanton gatherings and wild jazz music—encapsulated in The Great Gatsby by the rich gatherings that Gatsby tosses each Saturday night—came about eventually in the debasement of the American dream, as the over the top craving for cash and delight surpassed more honorable objectives. At the point when World War I finished in 1918, the era of youthful Americans who had battled the war turned out to be strongly baffled, as the severe gore that they had recently confronted made the Victorian social profound quality of mid twentieth-century America appear like stuffy,…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays