The Great Gatsby Corruption Analysis

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. The novel’s setting plays part in the nature of the corruption explored. Despite almost all of the characters having Midwest hometowns, they all meet in New York, a state famous for its bright, bustling island cities, like the setting of the novel, Long Island and New York City. Wolfsheim is a mysterious man, the reader learns little about him outside of his seedy underground connections, and that he is a …show more content…
Tom and Daisy live in the elite East Egg, populated by established families of old money. Gatsby buys an extravagant mansion across from them, in the garish and flashy West Egg, in an attempt to become closer to Daisy. He is obsessed with deconstructing their lives; near the end of the novel, after a fight between the three, he tries to goad Daisy to confess she never loved Tom. She is unable to commit and makes up with Tom after running over Myrtle. The corruption of the Buchanan’s is internal; even before the Myrtle incident, the Buchanan home is in mild and constant turmoil. Domestic violence is hinted on Tom’s part, and an explicitly violent revealed when he attacks Myrtle during their affair. The multiple affairs Tom has with other women have caused the couple to move many times. However, Tom and Daisy stick together, inconsiderate of the lives they had ruined in the