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Examples Of Moral Decay In The Great Gatsby

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Authors often use moral decay to express that when an individual’s sole focus is how they are perceived in society, they lose all awareness of the distance between right and wrong. This notion is embodied in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, where characters from relatively different social classes all strive to achieve one thing: a wealthy status and to feel accepted. The Great Gatsby took place in the Roaring ‘20s, an era in which old and new wealth alike acted careless due to having so much money. Wealthy people lost sight of morals in their attempts to further enhance wealth and status, and refused to acknowledge the consequences of their actions. Fitzgerald portrays Daisy Buchanan as the golden girl, but her cruel actions show how …show more content…

To begin, main character Daisy Buchanan may appear as though she is full of purity and innocence, but her careless actions prove the complete opposite. She could have had a great future with the one man who Authors often use moral decay to express that when an individual’s sole focus is how they are perceived in society, they lose all awareness of the distance between right and wrong. This notion is embodied in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, where characters from relatively different social classes all strive to achieve one thing: a wealthy status and to feel accepted. The Great Gatsby took place in the Roaring ‘20s, an era in which old and new wealth alike acted careless due to having so much money. Wealthy people lost sight of morals in their attempts to further enhance wealth and status, and refused to acknowledge the consequences of their actions. Fitzgerald portrays Daisy Buchanan as the golden girl, but her cruel actions show how careless she really is. Tom Buchanan is a representation of the loss of human decency and morality that comes with wealth and power. Lastly, Myrtle Wilson shamelessly ruins her relationship with husband George Wilson after being exposed to the exciting world of wealth. Throughout the novel, Scott Fitzgerald uses seemingly selfish characters to suggest the loss of all morals when it comes to pursuing their desired place in

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Rhetorical Precis: The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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The Moral Decay of the Materialistic Although F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby debuted in 1925– before the Great Depression– it serves as a prophetic exemplification of the the material excess of the 1920s that drowned out signs of the coming Great Depression. The book’s plot follows the bootlegger Jay Gatsby as he pursues his old love Daisy Buchanan through flaunting his new extravagant lifestyle, mainly by throwing ostentatious parties. Yet, in the end, Daisy chooses her unfaithful husband Tom over Gatsby. Through Fitzgerald’s use of wealthy, materialistic characters, he comments on the effect of the material excess of the roaring twenties: moral corruption.

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In the early stages of the 20th Century, much of the United States began to see the country’s culture and history start to take form and adapt to the rest of the world. A large part of this transformation rooted from themes of dishonesty, immorality, and infidelity that came from the upper class. Known for hosting lavish parties, illegal activity and frequent affairs, many began to see how skewed this morality had come to be. While this had become the norm of the upper class at the time, it is attributed to having shaped part of the nation’s culture and formed what the time period is known for today. In the book, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates how the morals of the upper class are skewed and the overall effect of this immorality to the country through Tom Buchanan’s hypocrisy and affairs as well as through

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The Roaring Lack of Morality in the 20s Morals were not thought of as a strict moral code during the roaring twenties, and many people found them rather irrelevant. Those whom threw parties, cheated, and lied, were those who were happiest during these times. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, paints a picture of the 1920s by expressing many themes: the need for wealth, the want for love, and the act of betrayal in marriage through the Modern Era.

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In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald characterizes the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values. One of the major themes explored in this novel is the Hollowness of the Upper Class. The entire book revolves around money including power and little love. Coincidentally the three main characters of the novel belong to the upper class and throughout the novel Fitzgerald shows how this characters have become corrupted and have lost their morality due to excess money and success and this has led them to change their perspective towards other people and they have been portrayed as short-sighted to what is important in life. First of all, we have the main character of this novel, Gatsby who won’t stop at nothing to become rich overnight in illegal dealings with mobsters such as Wolfsheim in order to conquer Daisy’s heart.”

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In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the theme of moral decay is best displayed through lying, adultery, and manipulation. Throughout this piece of literature the characters morality is in constant question. The first introductions of the characters they give the impression to have morals with little fault. However throughout the novel the characters morality or ethics begin to decay and the true nature of the characters begin to arise. Fitzgerald uses lying, adultery, and manipulation to portray the decay of morality in the characters of the novel.

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