Examples Of Decay In The Great Gatsby

The 1920s in America is regarded as an exuberant era of prosperity, fast cars, jazz, speakeasies, and wild youth. This era is the setting for the novel The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald illustrates the 1920s as a period of decadence and decay as a quest for the American Dream and the inherent belief in work ethic were eroded by a new set of values. Fitzgerald suggests that the search for the American Dream can lead to emptiness, despair, and death. To begin, Fitzgerald demonstrates how the hunt for the American Dream can lead to emptiness when Jordan baker states “’He says he’s read a Chicago paper for years on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy’s name.’” (Fitzgerald 64). Jordan is referring to Gatsby in this

In addition, Fitzgerald also suggests how the American Dream can lead to emptiness by stating, “’Look here, old sport, you’ve got to get somebody for me. You’ve got to try hard. I can’t go through this alone.’” (Fitzgerald 165). This quote is from a passage in the book where Gatsby is talking to Nick in his head after Gatsby’s death, begging him to find someone to go to Gatsby’s funeral. This quote demonstrates the emptiness in Gatsby’s life as it displays his lack of people that cared for him in his life. Unfortunately, Gatsby’s chase for the American Dream and for his idealized version of Daisy left Gatsby with a sense of emptiness, and consequently, in the end no true personal connections to people that cared for

Moreover, Fitzgerald demonstrates the negative correlation to the American Dream and despair when he states, “’What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon,’ cried Daisy, ‘and the day after that, and the next thirty years?’” (Fitzgerald 118). Fitzgerald incorporates this quote in his novel because it gives the reader the information that even though Daisy has all the money she could ever want, behind her upbeat exterior there is a deep despair. In addition, the quote also exemplifies the fact that Daisy cannot find purpose in life. Fitzgerald also suggests that the chase of the American Dream leads to despair when he states, “She began to cry-she cried and cried. I rushed out and found her mother’s maid and we locked the door and got her into a cold bath. She wouldn’t let go of the letter. She took it into the tub with her and squeezed it up into a wet ball, and only let me leave it in the soap dish when she saw that it was coming to pieces like snow.” (Fitzgerald 76). This passage from the novel explains what happened before Daisy’s wedding when Gatsby wrote her a letter, and why she married Tom. Furthermore, this quote reveals a lot about Daisy’s character, indicating that she loved Gatsby deeply, but her comfort to her money and lifestyle and society’s opinion made her final decision. Consequently, this final decision led to Daisy’s despair for the rest of her