How Does Fitzgerald Present The Destruction Of Society In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby represents Fitzgerald's criticism of American society. From looking at Fitzgerald's portrayal of different geographical aspects of New York, it is evident how the moral decay of society was prevalent at the time. For example, the depiction of New York City itself in the novel was largely based on Meyer Wolfsheim and his shady business dealings. The fact that Wolfsheim would take part in fixing the 1919 World Series which "played with the faith of fifty million people" using the selfishness of a "burglar blowing a safe" demonstrates the lack of morality that Fitzgerald wanted to show. Since Wolfsheim was able to get involved in many illegal activities such as the fixing of the 1919 World Series, it is clear how New York had corrupt people willing to engage

What frustrates Nick as well is how despite the fact Daisy was the one driving the car who ran over Myrtle, Daisy never told the truth of what happened. Nick's opinion of the Buchanans upon hearing about Tom's actions led him to come to the conclusion that Tom and Daisy were "careless people" who "smashed up things and people" because they were able to "[retreat] back to their money." Fitzgerald's portrayal of Tom and Daisy this way shows how people during the era, especially people who were rich, did not seem to care about what happened to the world around them. Hence, the immorality of people during this era was quite degrading as made noticeable by the unethical actions of the Buchanans. Finally, Fitzgerald towards the end of his novel began to mention a lot about the negativity of life in New York or the Eastern United States as whole. This is shed light upon when Nick talked about how he felt all the Westerners around him including Gatsby, Tom, Daisy, and Jordan as well as himself all "possessed a deficiency" which made them "unadaptable to Eastern