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Examples Of Corruption In The Great Gatsby

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The American Dream is an ideal, but it can be compared to an advertisement for a product. It appeals to society, tempting those with its colorful claims of prosperity, wealth and freedom. Through hard work, anyone can live a life of smiles and backyard barbecues. However, much like an advertisement, there is more than meets the eye. The dark side of humanity reveals that people are willing to do deplorable things in order to attain goals. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows the corruption of the American Dream through Gatsby, Myrtle and Tom’s actions. Gatsby’s attempts at trying to get Daisy to love him shows the corruption of the American Dream. One of the first things he does is lie to Nick, Daisy’s cousin. He claims: “I was brought up …show more content…

One of the first depictions of his temper was when he hits Myrtle. “Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 37). Because Myrtle purposely kept saying Daisy to aggravate him, he punched her in the face. A normal person in this sort of situation would have remained calm; consequently, this shows that his petulance is one of his major flaws. The American Dream idealizes morality; punching someone in the face does not go along with that. Moreover, he is not loyal to his wife. It is said in the book that “Tom’s got some woman in New York” (15). In the American Dream, the average man is faithful to his wife; Tom is the exact opposite of this. He is cheating on Daisy with a mistress named Myrtle, and even worse, Daisy is aware of it. Despite being in a relationship with a woman of a much lower class than him, he is still condescending towards others. “Tom does not think all men should have an equal shot at the American dream and looks down on those whom he deems undeserving” (Literary Themes for Students: The American Dream). Tom disregards nearly every character in The Great Gatsby, whether it be their feelings, opinions or success. For instance, he looks down upon Gatsby, even before he figures out his role as a bootlegger. By putting himself above everyone else and ignoring the consequences to his wrongdoings, he obtains the American

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He is very inconsiderate, who lacks compassion and morality. Even though he knows that cheating is wrong, “Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand” (41). This led from Myrtle enragedly yelling “Daisy” repeatedly, giving Buchanan a constant reminder of what he is doing is wrong; nonetheless, he continues to do it anyway. Clearly, this pageants his very immature personality who always stubbornly has one thing set to his mind, that he is always right and everyone else is simply wrong. Therefore, Buchanan could care less about what other people

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Throughout most of the story Tom Buchanan plays what some might consider to be the “bad guy”. He cheats on his wife in front of Nick, who happens to be Daisy’s cousin. This action could be considered as quite moronic. He is portrayed as this awful guy who can’t commit to one woman, his wife. Tom’s overall attitude towards women is disrespectful and uncaring.

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He even goes the distance to call George dumb because he believed in what his wife told him about going to see her sister in new york. George was being treated bad because he was poor and married a decent looking women (myrtle). He does not deserve what he was getting because he worked hard to make myrtle happy but she wanted more and tom offered her more without george knowing. On the other hand when Daisy was going to marry Tom she was treated like a princess. The day before Daisy's wedding Tom gave her a gift, “ He gave her a String of Pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars... found her laying on her bed as lovely as the June night in her flower dress” (Fitzgerald 76).

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Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, similar themes from A Raisin in the Sun are presented in the sense that each character has his or her own American Dream due to his or her varying socioeconomic status. Originally, Gatsby had a poor socioeconomic status, which motivated him to increase his status with a lavish, over-the-top American Dream in order to please Daisy. When Gatsby confronts Tom, promising that Daisy never truly loved Tom in the first place, Gatsby uses his wealth as a factor as to why she married Tom: “She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me” (Fitzgerald 130). This proves that Gatsby was motivated by Daisy’s desire for wealth to justify his lurid American Dream. Daisy, on the other hand, was quite the opposite.

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Well Loved Corruption What if, that well dressed man that lives in that huge mansion was really way different than he seems? Well, in the book “The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald has a character just like this. This story is about a man named Gatsby who makes a fortune just to get near a girl he loved. As the book goes on, Gatsby gets Daisy, the girl he loved, but wants more.

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In The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald shows how society gets corrupted trying to achieve the American Dream through the characterization of many characters like Gatsby. Jay Gatsby was a man who rose from nothing to being extremely wealthy, many would consider him as someone who has reached the American Dream. However after so much work he never really got the one thing that made him happy. Many critiques like Fussel argues that Gatsby is corrupted by the values and attitudes he holds in common with the society that destroys him. Others like Callahan and Gunn believe that the Great Gatsby tries to convince people that money and success is everything but they failed in the end by showing how miserable Gatsby is without Daisy.

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The American Dream suggests that every American citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work. One of the major ways that Fitzgerald portrays this is by alluding to outside events or works of literature specifically from that time period. Another major relationship that develops in The Great Gatsby is between Tom and Daisy. F. Scott Fitzgerald alludes to things such as the World’s Fair and “The Love Nest” to display the eventual dismantling of Tom and Daisy’s relationship. Both of these separate plots consolidate under the idea of Gatsby trying to become the epitome of the American Dream, as seen through his strive for a “perfect life.”

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The Great Gatsby presents its characters as having living the American Dream. However, it is only a belief; the behaviors they have and decisions they take only leave them with a false perception of life and lifestyle. The Great Gatsby relates to the corruption of the American Dream for those materialistic people who were after money. Fitzgerald reveals the idea of corruption in the American Dream through conditions such as wealth and materialism, power and social status, and relationships involving family and affairs. He uses examples of this corruption to show the reader that people are willing to lie, betray others, and commit crime to be able to live a ‘better and fuller’ life.

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The corruption and decadence of the wealthy elite in "The Great Gatsby" also suggests the emptiness of the American Dream. The wealthy characters in the novel, such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan, are corrupt and selfish, and their

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The Corruption of The American Dream in The Great Gatsby In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald illustrates society in the 1920’s and the desire for the people with in it to achieve the American Dream, which embodies the hope that one can achieve power, love and a higher economic/social status through one’s commitment and effort. The novel develops the story of a man named Jay Gatsby and his dream of marrying what he describes as his “golden girl”, also known as, Daisy Buchanan, his former lover. Fitzgerald explores the corruption of the American dream through the Characters; Myrtle, Gatsby and Daisy.

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The novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitz Gerald embodies many themes. A major in the story is the pursuit of can be labelled the American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes and a happy family symbolizes the American dream. The Great Gatsby shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons.

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The Facade of the American Dream The American Dream is the opportunity for all Americans to live a life of personal happiness and material comfort, but is it actually achievable? F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is a story of characters working hard to achieve the American Dream, but ultimately they are unable to ever realize their perfect life. The novel makes a strong naturalism argument about the rigid class system in society and the disillusionment of the American Dream.

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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that depicts the American Dream; however, the American Dream cannot be established without running over a few people in the process. Gatsby the protagonist of the novel is known to deceive others and himself; however, his lies are not meant to hurt anyone. Gatsby is lost in his desire to be rich and have Daisy’s love, and in his desire forgets about how his actions may harm others. In addition, Gatsby only wanted to be more than his parents who were “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” (98). Gatsby’s deception goes as far as fabricating who he is, his financial standing in the past; including how he makes his money, lying to Daisy, and allowing others to tell rumors about himself.

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The Great Gatsby is not simply a story of Jay Gatsby’s undying and misguided love for a Daisy Buchanan. The novel, The Great Gatsby, encompasses a number of themes, the most significant one is the disillusionment and corruption of the American dream. The ability to obtain prosperity such as happiness, or a car is what comprises of the American dream. It is a belief that anyone who is self-sufficient, or who is a hard worker can obtain this dream regardless of their social standing. In the book, the facade of a dream appears to be at the tips of Gatsby and Myrtle’s fingers but this “pursuit of happiness” sentiment is in actuality impossible.

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