Moral Corruption Through Excessive Wealth.
The Great Gatsby is set in the United States of America, during the Roaring Twenties. The 1920's were a time of prosperity and free-spiritedness for many Americans. The economy, powered by World War I, was thriving, as the value of stock and real estate steadily increased. Cities represented booming centers of commerce, where people drank bootleg liquor, drove Model-T's, went to sporting events, and attended live jazz concerts. This rebellious time in our country's history bred change in the literary world. Writers such as Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Henry James brought a realist revolution upon American literature. Authors, experimenting with realism, freed up their language and wrote about themes, such as life in the city and sex. .
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the lavish lifestyles of some of America's aristocrats during the affluent 1920's. The story is set around a New York social circle, whose livelihood revolves primarily around excessive partying and unhappy home lives. Through out the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates that it is excessive wealth, which is leading these characters towards moral corruption and vain desires and needs. .
One main character, in which we see the vanity of wealth manifest itself, is Daisy Buchanan. Daisy is attractive and wealthy, but holds a rather shallow perspective of life. Daisy, born to a prominent family in Louisville, Kentucky, met Jay Gatsby, while he was stationed there and they had a brief fling together. When Gatsby went off to fight in the war in Europe, Daisy imagined herself in love with Gatsby and decided to wait for him to return. But soon, Daisy grew restless and began to date other men in upper class. She met Tom Buchanan, who is a wealthy acquaintance of hers. Daisy and Tom get married and after a honeymoon in Europe, move to East Egg, where they blindly go through the motions of a meaningless existences.
