Examples Of Moral Decay In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is told from the view of Nick Carraway. He is a graduate from Yale and moves east to New York to find a new job. Nick moves to West Egg in the summer of 1922 where he meets and befriends his neighbor, a peculiar man named Jay Gatsby. Nick’s wealthy cousin Daisy Buchanan lives across the sound in East Egg with her obnoxious husband Tom. It becomes evident that Fitzgerald aimed to portray the theme of moral decay as each of the characters develops and the story unfolds; Tom’s actions, Daisy’s self-obsession and carelessness, and Nick’s conformity to society all represent the prominent theme.
The morally corrupt society of the 1920s is best represented by the actions of Tom Buchanan. Tom is rich by inheritance and believes himself to be superior by blood. He comes from a long line of rich people placing him in East Egg, a community for those of “old money”. He proves to be not only a narcissist but to be a hypocrite as well. Tom Buchanan has several love affairs while being married to Daisy but after discovering her affair with Gatsby says, “By God, I

may be old-fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me. They meet all kinds of crazy fish” (Fitzgerald 103). This of course says that he believes women during this time cheat on their husbands too much, when Tom was absent for the birth of his only child because he was with one of his mistresses. Tom Buchanan is the epitome of moral decay through his self-righteous and hypocritical actions.
In The Great Gatsby, Daisy represents moral decay through her self-obsession and carelessness regarding the well-being of others. Daisy Buchanan is the wife of Tom Buchanan, lover of Jay Gatsby, and cousin of Nick Carraway. “Everybody thinks so — the most advanced people. And I know. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.” Her eyes flashed around her in a defiant way, rather like Tom’s, and she laughed with thrilling scorn. “Sophisticated — God, I’m sophisticated!” (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy is quite bored with her life and believes that she has done and seen all she needs to see, that she is far better and more sophisticated than everyone else around her. She does and says things with no regard to how it affects those around her; however, she does so unintentionally but when things begin to crumble around her she returns to the safety of her rich lifestyle. She represents the theme of moral decay throughout The Great Gatsby as a negligent and egotistical dame of the roaring twenties.
Nick Carraway begins the novel as an independent, honest man with his own standards.

He was unlike the Buchanans and their friends; however, he eventually gives in to the pressure to conform to the unscrupulous society portrayed by Fitzgerald. Nick becomes absorbed into the world he was simply looking in on and takes on the very characteristics he was condemning; he becomes judgmental, dishonest, and prideful. At the end of chapter three Nick says, “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people I have ever known” (Fitzgerald 59). He becomes as dishonest as those around him by the conclusion of the novel by withholding the truth that Gatsby was not driving the car that killed Myrtle Wilson. Nick Carraway serves as an example of how simple it can be to fall into the trap of immorality when surrounded by

it.
F. Scott Fitzgerald elaborates on the theme of moral decay through the unjust actions of Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan’s self-indulgent attitude, and Nick Carraway’s conformity to the society around him. The roaring twenties was a period of frivolous and carefree actions with no regard for the consequences, as shown in The Great Gatsby. The novel concludes with the death of Gatsby, the departure of Tom and Daisy, and Nick’s realization of the monster he has become. The absence of morality is emphasized at the conclusion of the novel when Daisy flees New York without admitting that she was driving the car that killed Myrtle Wilson; she allows Gatsby to take the blame and lets the case die with him. The Great Gatsby is an iconic novel with lessons to be taught each time it is read.