Examples Of Corruption In The Great Gatsby

Wealth, power, and material possessions are all the core ideas of achieving the American Dream. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald manages to define, praise and rebuke the concept of American dream quite successfully. Fitzgerald depicts the American Dream and its quietus through the corruption of major characters in the novel. The American Dream not only causes corruption but also causes demolition of major characters like Myrtle Wilson, Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby.

To begin with, having a strong desire for a luxurious life is what attracts Myrtle to have a love affair with Tom. Myrtle is portrayed as a selfish, greedy, and a shallow woman with no satisfaction for her identity. She desires to sell her body to the highest

For example, when Tom says “It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of everything” and Daisy agrees saying” We’ve got to beat them down” (13), this shows that Daisy has been brainwashed by Tom to change her perspective on these soft topics. Throughout the novel, it can be understood that Tom and Daisy do not have a strong and happy relationship but rather a fragile one. Moreover, Tom is quite abusive and violent towards Daisy, for example: - “Look, I hurt it. The knuckle was black and blue. You did it Tom, she said accusingly. That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man” (12). Besides unhappiness, Daisy seems to think that she has everything- love, wealth, fame which all fit into an ideal American Dream, but later she realizes that nothing is true and she has been corrupted by this false dream. Daisy has a child, who seems as she is not at all important to Daisy. Daisy does not have any idea how her child is growing up and does not even care. After Daisy’s child was born, she said “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful fool"(17). Daisy made this statement because she thinks if a girl is a fool, she will never be hurt like Daisy is by Tom’s affair. When Daisy is reunited with Gatsby five years later, she breaks down and starts to weep. After meeting Gatsby, Daisy realizes that she married for money and this is why she cries. She could have married Gatsby, who was poor then, but would at least keep her happy unlike Tom. In the end, Daisy has a destructed America Dream which is corrupted but also destroys her happiness