Great Gatsby Destruction of Morals

A detailed Summary of Great Gatsby Destruction of Morals

The Great Gatsby: The Destruction of Morals

In The Great Gatsby, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald shows the destruction of morals in society. The characters in this novel, all lose their morals in attempt to find their desired place in the social world. They trade their beliefs for the hope of being acceptance. Myrtle believes she can scorn her true social class in an attempt to be accepted into Ton's, Jay Gatsby who bases his whole life on buying love with wealth, and Daisy, who instead of marrying the man she truly loves, marries someone with wealth. The romance of money lures the characters in The Great Gatsby into surrendering their values, but in the end, "the streets paved with gold led to a dead end" (Vogue, December 1999).

The first example of a character whose morals are destroyed is Myrtle. Myrtle's attempt to enter into the group to which the Buchanans belong is doomed to fail. She enters the affair with Tom, hoping to adopt his way of life and be accepted into his class to escape from her own. Her class is that of the middle class. Her husband, Wilson, owns a gas station, making an honest living and trying his best to succeed in a world where everything revolves around material possessions. With her involvement i

"In June she married Tom Buchanan of Chicago with more pomp and circumstance then 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." (Fitzgerald, 80)

Gatsby makes it his life's mission to become rich, thinking this will be sure to win Daisy over. Daisy is married though, and his life's ambition of having Daisy fails. Gatsby surrenders his morals by breaking the law to earn the riches he thinks will buy her love but it is done for nothing, Daisy was not won over with his new wealth.

n Tom's class, she only becomes vulgar and corrupt like the rich. She loses all sense of morality by hurting others in her futile attempt to join the ranks of Tom's social class. In doing so, she is leaving behind her husband who loves her. Myrtle believes he is no longer good enough for her. "'I married him because I thought he was a gentleman.' She said finally. 'I thought he knew something about breeding but he wasn't fit enough to lick my shoe.'" (Fitzgerald, 39). With the hope of being accepted into an upper social class, Myrtle's morals and prior beliefs are gone, being replaced by the false impression that by betraying her loving h

Some common words found in the essay are:
Myrtle Myrtle's, Gatsby Gatsby, Daisy Daisy, Jay Gatsby, Seelbach Hotel, Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby Fitzgerald, Finally Daisy, Buchanan Chicago, Vogue December, social class, jay gatsby, destruction morals, upper social class, upper social, love daisy, lost love, truly loves, middle class, daisy daisy, buy love,

Approximate Word count = 889
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

join now Save Paper

Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

"Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
Jack M.
"With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
Brian P.
"I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
Sara J.
"I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
Rachel W.
"I love this site!!!"
Marie N.

Great Gatsby Destruction of Morals

Related Essays

Saved Paper

Newest Essays

Testimonials