Examples Of Gilded Age In The Great Gatsby

The Gilded Age was a time period between the late 1860s to 1896 where many things seemed perfect and flawless on the surface but were actually corrupt underneath. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was set in this time period. Therefore, there are many examples of how people and places can be gilded, or corrupt, in The Great Gatsby, including the West and East Eggs, New York City, the Valley of Ashes, Daisy, Gatsby, and Gatsby’s house. Two main themes in The Great Gatsby along with the Gilded Age are wealth and corruption. These two themes are often entangled with each other and one usually leads to the other.

To begin with, the time period of the book is an example of how The Great Gatsby was gilded. The Gilded Age was an era filled

His identity is completely made up. In the text it states, “James Gatz—that was really, or at least legally, his name. He had changed it at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career—when he saw Dan Cody’s yacht drop anchor over the most insidious flat on Lake Superior.” (Fitzgerald 98). Gatsby did not like his old life, so when he saw the opportunity to change it, he took it. He went from James Gatz, a very poor boy, to Jay Gatsby, an unbelievably rich man. He pretended to be a completely different person on the outside, but on the inside, he will always be James Gatz. All of Gatsby’s life since he became Jay Gatsby instead of James Gatz, he seemed to be a really happy man. He was always cheerful and calm even in the worst situations. On the inside, though, he was miserable and lost without Daisy. He tried to hide the fact that all he could think about was Daisy and how she was not his. Daisy was not the only thing that made him miserable, though. The illegal activities that he got caught up in brought him stress along with money. That is where Gatsby made all his money, not from owning a chain of drug stores. His job is another thing that he lied about. Again, this shows that money is a huge aspect in the Gilded Age and The Great Gatsby. To become a different person, Gatsby had to have a lot of money. Gatsby’s whole life was corrupt with fake facts and details about himself. Gatsby’s house is also corrupt. It is a massive, pretty mansion, but it is completely empty. Gatsby lives alone, yet he has a huge house. There is not much in his house apart from expensive, useless things. Gatsby’s house is beautiful on the outside, but empty on the inside, which is an example of how his house is gilded. The only time this luxurious mansion is filled is when Gatsby throws his famous parties. Even then, those