Examples Of Corruption In The Great Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, he shows the moral corruption of people in the 1920’s by showing how people are only concerned about wealth and social status rather than the morality of people. Fitzgerald demonstrates the different types of corruption such as cheating, abuse, insincerity, etc. by incorporating these traits into the characters. Some of the traits are even incorporated into Jay Gatsby’s character, however he is also depicted to have a genuine heart. Before Gatsby’s death, Gatsby confided in Nick about his past with Daisy and Nick realizes that Gatsby is more pure than the rest of the crowd. Nick then tells Gatsby, “‘You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together,’” (8.154) after finally getting a sense of everyone’s

However, Gatsby soon confesses that he throws the parties in hope that one day Daisy, his longtime love, would attend one of the parties. Gatsby forms a relationship with Nick in hopes that he will be able to see Daisy again, which does happen, however she is now married to Tom Buchanan. Daisy and Gatsby soon get reacquainted with the help of Nick and throughout the story, Gatsby’s morals and character are revealed. His morals are truly revealed during the accidental death of Myrtle, Tom’s mistress, he truly felt guilty about the whole situation, as seen in his conversation with Nick: “‘It ripped her

Throughout the book, Fitzgerald clearly expresses how important money is to everyone in the book, especially the women in the book. Daisy is described as a gold-digger, and it is apparent after she marries Tom Buchanan, “By the next autumn she was gay again, gay as ever. She had a debut after the Armistice, and in February she was presumably engaged to a man from New Orleans. In June she married Tom Buchanan of Chicago, with more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before. He came down with a hundred people in four private cars, and hired a whole floor of the Seelbach Hotel, and the day before the wedding he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” (4.75) she is described as gay to express her happiness after getting married. All her happiness is found in money which is morally corrupt because Daisy, unconsciously loves Tom’s money more than she loves Tom. Of course with wealth, people must keep up a reputation, so Jordan Baker keeps her reputation of being a golf champion by cheating. She is seen to be cheating by moving the ball out of the sand hole for a better shot, which gives one a sense of what is truly important to this group: wealth and society’s thoughts on them. Gatsby is “worth the whole damn bunch put together,’” (8.154) because even though he was not born into wealth, unlike Tom and Daisy, he