Corruption In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1925.

In Scott F. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, men fight over a woman. To stay financially secure, they go into illegal business. Dreams are crushed and lives are lost.

It is a story that relates to the corruption of the American Dream. The story takes place in an area near New York called "Long Island." It is in a shape of an egg. They focus in on places on there named "East Egg", "West Egg", and "The Valley of Ashes." West egg is for people who have recently made their fortunes. The characters Nick and Gatsby live there. The Valley of Ashes is for people who are not wealthy. The Wilson family lives there. The East Egg is for people who inherit their

He frequently has parties. It is from the parties that he meets Nick. He used to be an officer and that is when he met Daisy. He fell in love with her and lied to her telling her that he came from a rich family. She promised that she would wait for him when he went to fight in World War I. In 1919 there was a law passed that disallowed the sale of alcohol. After the war, Gatsby studied at Oxford. He partnered up with Meyer Wolfshiem and starts a grain alcohol dealing business to get money quick so that when he goes back to Daisy, he would be able to secure her financially. He did not know that Daisy become impatient and married another man

“I’m five years too old to lie to myself and call in honor.”

She didn’t answer. Angry and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.- The Great Gatsby, 177

I believe that one of the messages in this book is to move forward and do not get stuck in the past. The following quote expresses that:

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then but that’s no matter----to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And one fine morning----

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.- The Great Gatsby, 180

Gatsby was stuck in the past trying to recover what was lost from him. His life was based on that purpose and he failed. The quote is also saying that tomorrow is bright. The future holds more than the past but moving forward is hard. It is like boats going against the current.

I find this book suitable for teenagers and older people. This book has a lot of meaning and depending on one’s perspective of things, one may interpret it differently. It also has words that the reader may be confused about in which case they should have a dictionary close at