Corruption is a common topic in our society today, as it can be seen everywhere from police to politicians and even everyday people. Around third of all elected representatives, police, and business executives are considered corrupt in some way. In the story of The Great Gatsby, many aspects and causes of corruption are brought to light throughout the novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald attempts to vaguely help cleanse this corruption by highlighting the moral decay, bad consequences, and emptiness associated with power and wealth. By using the examples and causes of corruption within The Great Gatsby, along with real life situations and examples of corruption, we can see how Fitzgerald is trying to send a bigger message about corruption and how to …show more content…
A great real life example of this type of behavior is with popular movie star Linday Lohan. The actress has been on a downward spiral ever since she started these habits back in 2007. In a CNN article, it states that “The actress’ struggle with drugs and alcohol sent her to five rehab facilities for a total of 250 days since January 2007” (Duke). It is also stated within the article that she has been called to court 20 times for violating her probation and was sentenced to 6 months in jail. Lohan’s actions truly show the bad side of being wealthy and powerful. It allowed her to get all the drugs she wanted and be able to do them, along with multiple crimes, with little to no punishment. This type of status can make people lose track of themselves and become very …show more content…
In The Great Gatsby, Nick states “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life” (Fitzgerald 35). This quote from Nick shows how the glamorous life he has been living with the other characters in The Great Gatsby is not all as it seems. He does not feel that having all of these things in his life has made it much better, and is constantly repelled from some of the things he loved by living this way. Another example of this emptiness is with Gatsby and his parties. Gastsby throws huge parties every weekend and lots of the city comes to them, yet they lack any true meaning for Gatsby and the rest of the people. They are just a huge show of privilege that has no meaningful effect on anyone. This truly highlights part of Gatsby’s personality and an ongoing emptiness inside of him without Daisy by his