Examples Of Corruption In The Great Gatsby

F.Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, uses an array of elements to capture and display the reality of the 1920’s. The novel is based in New York during the Jazz Age. Fitzgerald shows the darker side of this era, the time of a changing world. The booming economy and easy wealth led to a world of materialism and corruption. Using various characters in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald expresses the power of wealth, how it corrupts and changes people.
Throughout the novel, the theme of wealth is present in Gatsby's life. Gatsby is driven by his dream of being reunited with Daisy, and he tries to achieve this by becoming someone he is not. Gatsby hosts massive overdone parties, with the hope of Daisy one day making an appearance, however she never

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. Fitzgerald expresses the corruption of old money through Tom, compared to Gatsby, who represents new money, making his living on his own in illegal

George Wilson is one of the only characters in the Great Gatsby, that is not corrupt. George and Myrtle Wilson are the only main characters that are poor. George is a hard working mechanic with very little money. He makes an honest living and genuinely loves his wife, Myrtle Wilson. After Myrtle’s death, George cries out and experiences intense emotions and love for his wife, even though she treated him with complete disrespect and was cheating on him. George is so devastated by Myrtle's death, he kills Gatsby, who he believes killed Myrtle, and then kills himself. Myrtle on the other hand is corrupted by the need for wealth. She is never able to love George, solely because he is low class, and poor. Thomas C Foster explains Myrtles corrupt reasoning, “She is coarse and unrealistic, not understanding how Tom is using her in the relationship and truly believing that he will leave Daisy for her” (Foster 140). Myrtle is blinded by the opportunity for a life of wealth and high class living, that she fails to appreciate her loving husband, and instead is delusional that Tom loves