ipl-logo

Corruption In The Great Gatsby Essay

1831 Words8 Pages

3.1. The American Dream The American Dream is the most prominent theme of the novel. A considerable amount of literature has been published discussing the American Dream during the 20th century. A highly influential book that treats the theme of the American Dream and its corruption, has been “The Great Gatsby”. “The Great Gatsby” portrays the American Dream as a symbol of economic success, representing a prosperous dream of unlimited possibilities. It is believed that hard work and determination are two most important aspects of the American Dream. Those two aspects are considered the stepping-stones to success and prosperity. It is also believed that every American citizen is capable of becoming successful regardless of class, ethnicity, …show more content…

Tom and Daisy Buchanan are the representatives of Old Money. Tom Buchanan fits into the category of the leisure class, a class that consists of a group of individuals who live on the fruits of the industrial community rather than within it. Their main features are consumption and their prominent leisure. He wastes his money and time in unproductive amusements and useless goods, where the rest of the industrial population has to perform hard work in order to survive. The superiority of the leisure represents a symbol of social decay, and in this light Buchanan’s aggressive manners, racist ideas, deception, and obsession with sport, prove not only his degeneration but also highlight his place as an obstacle to the progress of society. According to H. Bloom (2010), “He is afraid of both the power of the newly rich, such as Gatsby, and the political transformations which may emerge from the proliferation of new races in society.” (p. 53). “For him, it is Jay Gatsby who represents a mode of racial indeterminacy or vanishing that threatens to violate not only the immediate community of East Egg but also the very concept of Americanism itself.” (Bloom, 2010, p.

Show More
Related
910 Words | 4 Pages

Prompt: The Great Gatsby concerns the corruption of the American Dream. Write a character analysis of Jay Gatsby’s life. Where and how did his dreams “go wrong”? In each of your three main body paragraphs, discuss his character traits and the social influences that contributed to his downfall. Also explain what message Fitgerald conveys about the values of the modern American Dream American Dream and Unfulfilling Reality The American Dream, one that is overly perceived and hardly achieved.

Read More
661 Words | 3 Pages

Tom is a strong example of the corruption that comes with wealth. Tom is described in Deceitful Traces of Power as, “In many ways Tom Buchanan embodies the decadence of the upper class” (Lena 98). Fitzgerald uses Tom to express the ways of an old money consumer (Lena 99). Toms comes from old money, meaning that the majority of his money is from his family, not from himself. Because of this Tom does what he wants to, abusing Myrtle, cheating on Daisy, going about as he wishes.

Read More
1240 Words | 5 Pages

Within the novella, the aristocracy is represented by Daisy and Tom Buchanan, who have both “assented [themselves] to a rather distinguished secret society” (pg. 13), which exclusively rules over society. The attitude of the aristocracy towards the bourgeoise is marred by the growth of new money, as the newly acquired wealth of the bourgeoise threatens the power of the aristocracy, leading to deep social divisions, symbolised by the explosive conflict between Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. The attitude of the aristocracy towards the proletariat is one of literal exploitation, as the residents of the Valley of the Ashes are forced to feed the growing riches of the aristocracy. Socially superior, the aristocracy remain either unconcerned with the plight of the poor, “and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor” (pg. 115), or exploit the working class, as demonstrated by Tom’s manipulation of Wilson. The further below Tom’s social status a character is, the worse he treats them, with Wilson being the most manipulated character, as Tom not only sleeps with Wilson’s wife without his knowledge, but also uses him to dispose of Gatsby.

Read More
241 Words | 1 Pages

In his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald communicates the American dream has the power to destroy. Throughout the end of the novel, there were many meaningful and momentous moments that showed the American dream leading to corruption and unideal aspirations. In chapter 8 Gatsby was murdered, due to George Wilson thinking Gatsby killed his wife, Myrtle. Soon after George Wilson killed himself and was described as “Wilson’s body a little way off into the grass, and the holocaust was complete”(Fitzgerald 161). With the mistaken information, all of these deaths occurred because their virtues lied in seeking revenge, while also showing corruption.

Read More
1161 Words | 5 Pages

Leonardo DiCaprio once said, “The truth is that I’ve always been fascinated with wealth in America. To me, it’s been about the American dream and the corruption of that dream.” In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a young millionaire named Jay Gatsby seeks the affection of Daisy Buchanan, a married woman he courted briefly in his youth. He purchases an extravagant mansion and throws lavish parties in the hopes of gaining her attention, but she never notices. When her cousin, Nick Carraway, becomes Gatsby’s next-door neighbor, however, Gatsby uses Nick to reignite their old flame.

Read More
529 Words | 3 Pages

Between West Egg and Manhattan lies ‘a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat’. Home to the lower end of society, The Valley of Ashes in the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald effectively conveys the ideas that the American Dream has being corrupted by people’s greed for excessive luxuries and that the illusory nature of social mobility is limiting those in the lower classes. Perceived by Nick to be ‘a fantastic farm where ash grows like wheat’, the juxtaposition between The Valley of Ashes and ‘a fantastic farm’ is effective in the way that it conveys to the reader the effects of consumerism has on the environment. Not only are the ‘ash grey men crumbling’, their dreams can also be seen as ‘crumbling’ in the sense that they are stuck and cannot achieve any success. While those who are privileged live glamorously on the West and East Egg, those stuck in the valley have become victims of a corrupt American Dream and have little hope of rising up the classes.

Read More
854 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Gatsby is the novel of American author F. Scott Fitzgerald written in 1925. One of the main subjects of The Great Gatsby is representation of American Dream. This theme is the most significant because it relates on corruption of The American Dream. But, the first of all, it is necessary to understand: what is The American Dream?

Read More
487 Words | 2 Pages

The Great Gatsby portrays the rapid decay of the American Dream where “the pursuit of a...higher quality of life [is defined] through hard work, determination, and devotion” (Benjamin Franklin). The gap between the rich and the poor, can be seen when comparing West Egg and the Valley of the Ashes or Gatsby and the Wilsons. The 1920's were a time of moral corruption and by extension, caused the deterioration of the American Dream. The society of the roaring twenties judged a person’s success by their material possessions, wealth and social status. By placing materialist values on the character's lives, the book positions the audience to interpret money as the cause of the American Dream’s corruption.

Read More
1173 Words | 5 Pages

The American Dream The American dream is usually depicted as “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative”. Many people work their whole life, yet don’t attain their dream… and other people, work efficiently and timely from a young age to secure their wishes. Of course there are those wealthy thav t are often born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Characters of the Book, “The Great Gatsby” by F.Scott Fitzgerald highlight multiple outcomes of the major characters of the book, All of which come from different backgrounds and homes. Through the various occurrences in the book, Fitzgerald conveys the message of the rarity of the american dream,

Read More
313 Words | 2 Pages

The symbolism of the known phrase 'American Dream' is perceived within 'The Great Gatsby', one of F. Scott Fitzgeralds' famous novels. This book contains many memorable symbols including idealism and prosperity. Explaining the hampering wealth in society and social stigma reveals a deep and darker look into the 'American Dream.' The infamous character Gatsby symbolizes the American Dream. He's proven to be Self-made.

Read More
915 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel, The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, the theme of the American dream is very significant. Throughout the novel, it is demonstrated that this dream is driven by corruption, ambition, and hope for happiness. Sometimes a craving for something can cause others to try to be someone who they are not. The American Dream is defined as an equal opportunity for Americans to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.

Read More
1865 Words | 8 Pages

One of the many ways The Great Gatsby references the American Dream is through its many interesting

Read More
844 Words | 4 Pages

“The American Dream” is one of the underlying themes in The Great Gatsby. It might not be obvious that this this fictional story has any connection to one of the foundations of American society. However, when conducting further analysis the resemblances are striking. The American dream was first used by an author named James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America.

Read More
481 Words | 2 Pages

The American Dream, many strive to get it, some people come close, but not everyone truly reaches it. The novel Great Gatsby focuses on many aspects of the American Dream, what was achieved, how it affected people, and how lives were changed because of the dream. In the novel, the narrator portrays his experiences hanging out with old money and new money. Old money were people born into wealth, or who earned their way into being successful.

Read More
1341 Words | 6 Pages

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel written in 1925. The novel is about Jay Gatsby, a man who displays the immoral and corrupt society of America, as viewed upon by Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, who was at one time Jay Gatsby’s neighbor. Nick tells the story about many of the people living in a non-existent town in East and West Egg of Long Island in the summer of ‘22. Jay Gatsby, the main protagonist of the novel, is a rich man who made a fortune by selling illegal alcohol. With that money, he uses it to in multiple attempts to show Daisy, the love of his love, what he can provide for her.

Read More

More about Corruption In The Great Gatsby Essay

Open Document