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Corruption In The Great Gatsby

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The American dream has always offered a myriad of people hopes of success, happiness and love. giving each person who wants hope, a wild imagination and the deterministic vision to pursue it. This fervent dream comes out to be the ability for anyone, regardless of race, class, gender or nationality, to achieve success through hard-work. However, the American dream fails to realize oppressions such as racism, gender inequality and class disparity, proving it nothing more than an ideal system to give people hope. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the corruption of the idealized American dream and what it has become. The antithetical comparisons Fitzgerald characterizes in the novel bring light to the fact that, although the American dream works for some, it is no more than an …show more content…

Gatsby is designed to be a character that embodies the elements of the American dream that most everyone finds hope in. From the impoverished upbringing to the ostentatious, flashing lights parties and massive wealth Gatsby acquires. Fueled by his love for Daisy Buchanan or, more distinctly the dream of Daisy that Gatsby had built for himself, he was driven to success. However, Fitzgerald inconspicuously reveals that the glamorous life Gatsby had built for himself left him with nothing more than an empty death. Furthermore, Gatsby is found to be guilty of bootlegging to make his fortune, rather than the “true, honest and dedicated” work that the American dream requires. As Gatsby’s life comes crashing down on him, Nick, a mere narrator, reflects on the death of the American dream “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter—tomorrow we will

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Through his profound commentary, Fitzgerald enhances the concept of the American dream by comparing how it has evolved and modern elements like classism that have affected its perception through the color green. It is often associated with greed, abundance, jealousy, envy, opportunity, and

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Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is a mysterious character that meticulously sculpts the way others think about him. Gatsby wants everyone to think he is living the American Dream, by having all the wealth one could possibly imagine. Gatsby earns enough money to build a house across the water from Daisy, where rumors of his fake personality are seeded. Brett Cohen’s charade in his famous video, “Fake Celebrity Pranks New York City,” sparks rumors as to who he is. Similarly, Gatsby throws massive parties full of strangers, where he utilizes rumors of his wealth and past as a way to gain attention hoping they will draw Daisy to him.

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Today, I’d like to explore the Field of Inquiry of Power, Politics, Justice. I would like to explore the idea of corruption with power, especially when power is abused by those who hold it. In my first English work ,The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and in my translated work, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi we see that power is abused and people often become corrupt due to the amount of power they hold. The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fizgerald shows mainly examples of corruption especially through this main character in the novel, the specific type of corruption used is that of many and the powers that it holds over people.

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The early 1900s was a time filled with legislative acts such as the Prohibition Act of 1919 that prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol, and the Immigration Acts that limited the number of immigrants coming into the United States. These spur major issues in the U.S. but, also came a prosperous time for the industrialists and businessmen of the country. F. Scott Fitzgerald crafts personificated symbolism, minute details, and biblical allusions in The Great Gatsby to exhibit the influx of wealth and social class, ultimately revealing an extensive commentary on the moral corruption in the 1920s. Without a doubt, the American dream changes Jay Gatsby's life, coinciding with Gatsby's changing narrative. His father proclaims, "If he'd of

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The corruption of people and society is one of the prominent themes in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby. The characters in the book are consumed by their own greed and desire for wealth, which leads them to indulge in corrupt practices. The society depicted in the novel is one that is superficial and materialistic, where people are judged based on their wealth and social status rather than their characters. The corruption of people and society is exemplified by the characters' immoral behavior, such as Tom's infidelity, Daisy's recklessness, and Gatsby's shady business dealings. Fitzgerald uses these characters and their actions to criticize the moral decadence of the American society of the 1920s.

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The American Dream was supposed to solve problems, yet somehow it managed to corrupt all that fell under its spell. While Jay Gatsby might not have been a bad man, he was corrupt and unrealistic, just as his friends, Daisy and Tom, were, and just as the American Dream itself is. The symbols Fitzgerald uses to supplement this idea make it difficult for the reader to deny that this is the point he was aiming to make. Fitzgerald managed to make a short, mediocre story and had infinite layers to make it just as, if not more complex, as many of the other great novels, which are 10 times it’s size. Fitzgerald’s portrayal of the American Dream is all in the details, which is what makes The Great Gatsby of the greatest novels of all

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Therefore, exposing the moral corruption of the American dream. Gatsby’s death is disregarded because his passing means the loss of his wealth, making him less important. As Gatsby's dream was based on his past desires, Nick Carraway, the novel's narrator, concludes that we must “ … beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaelessly into the past '' (180). This illustrates how the American dream is about difficulties and obstacles. Highlighting that to achieve anything and move on in life, the past should be left in the past, ultimately the obstacle to the American dream.

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A concept that has fascinated me since the beginning of this year this been the study of the American Dream in American Literature. There are many rag to riches stories in American history, but there is a discrepancy due to the fact that more Americans fail than succeed to achieve their dream. I found time and time again humans hindering other humans, the social hierarchy preventing the freedom of social mobility and social inclusion, and the inability to assimilate with the materialistic values imposed, accepted, and expected to attain success . From the beginning of the his novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald states that achieving the American Dream is an abortive effort: “What foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows

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The American Dream can be defined as the belief that every citizen of America should have an equal opportunity to achieve success through enough work and perseverance. This dream, however, is nothing more than an impossible concept. As residents of the United States know all too well, bills aren’t paid with the amount of ambition you have. No work of literature has ever scrutinized the American Dream as much as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. By using a great deal of symbols such as the Valley of Ashes, the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg, the books within Gatsby’s library and the green light, Fitzgerald is able to communicate the fictitious nature of the American Dream.

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Fitzgerald focused on the shift in the American Dream - from being the idea of self-fulfillment, dignity and comfort that is achieved through hard work, to being equated with the pursuit of wealth and power, and identifying happiness with having money. The novel depicts the rise and fall of the concept and describes the causes of its decay. The downfall of the American Dream is most accurately shown through the main protagonist of the story – Jay Gatsby. To reiterate, the American Dream is the concept that anyone can achieve a better life and become self-fulfilled, if they put enough effort to it and make the most of their abilities.

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