Examples Of Moral Decay In The Great Gatsby

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Authors often use moral decay to express that when an individual’s sole focus is how they are perceived in society, they lose all awareness of the distance between right and wrong. This notion is embodied in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, where characters from relatively different social classes all strive to achieve one thing: a wealthy status and to feel accepted. The Great Gatsby took place in the Roaring ‘20s, an era in which old and new wealth alike acted careless due to having so much money. Wealthy people lost sight of morals in their attempts to further enhance wealth and status, and refused to acknowledge the consequences of their actions. Fitzgerald portrays Daisy Buchanan as the golden girl, but her cruel actions show how …show more content…

To begin, main character Daisy Buchanan may appear as though she is full of purity and innocence, but her careless actions prove the complete opposite. She could have had a great future with the one man who Authors often use moral decay to express that when an individual’s sole focus is how they are perceived in society, they lose all awareness of the distance between right and wrong. This notion is embodied in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, where characters from relatively different social classes all strive to achieve one thing: a wealthy status and to feel accepted. The Great Gatsby took place in the Roaring ‘20s, an era in which old and new wealth alike acted careless due to having so much money. Wealthy people lost sight of morals in their attempts to further enhance wealth and status, and refused to acknowledge the consequences of their actions. Fitzgerald portrays Daisy Buchanan as the golden girl, but her cruel actions show how careless she really is. Tom Buchanan is a representation of the loss of human decency and morality that comes with wealth and power. Lastly, Myrtle Wilson shamelessly ruins her relationship with husband George Wilson after being exposed to the exciting world of wealth. Throughout the novel, Scott Fitzgerald uses seemingly selfish characters to suggest the loss of all morals when it comes to pursuing their desired place in

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