The Great Gatsby

             Scott Fitzgerald wrote what was considered to be his greatest work. The Great Gatsby is considered to be the "great American novel" by many because the main character of the story is said to "embody the innocence of the American dream." (Shute 3.) The novel ultimately manifests the failure of this American dream, as Gatsby is unsuccessful and his ultimate goal of gaining love becomes unattainable. "America's origins are based in the political ideals of freedom and democracy, but Fitzgerald demonstrates how this ideal has failed because it is incompatible with social reality." (Donaldson) In a way, it seems that American idealism has been trumped by social discrimination. The novel takes place throughout the twenties, when society experienced a corruption of values and a decline in spirituality. Critics say that Fitzgerald tells of this corruption in many of his novels, The Great Gatsby included. In order to show this corruption, he uses many symbols to support his cause. In the case of Gatsby, he uses light as a symbol to show our society's "movement into darkness." (Sutton 3).
             Most critics and reviews of the novel agree that the work shows corruption of some sort, whether it be social, moral or ethical. Some even go as far as to say that it shows society's "failure of faith in God." Often in the novel, it seems the socially elite characters often forget about their morals in order to get ahead in life. Fitzgerald does a good job, however, in showing that while forgetting these things leads to material possessions; it more often than not leads to unhappiness and corruption. The Great Gatsby has been an enduring work because the similarity of the characters can easily be compared to the socially elite of today and how things have changed since the 19th century.
             In order to examine the similarities between the corruption of the Roaring Twenties and the corruption of today, the plot of the story must be examined.