Significance Of Corruption Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This novel is set in the context of the early 1920s, in New York City and on Long Island. In the novel, Fitzgerald explores the corruption of the American Dream due to the superficial and immoral actions that characterise his generation. The decline of the American Dream is portrayed by Fitzgerald through his characterisation of the superficial personalities in the novel. This shallow nature of the upper class reflects the importance of having dreams. Moreover, these characters’ selfishness is portrayed to display their manipulation of the lower class’ hope in achieving their dreams. Nevertheless, the author also uses characterisation to criticise the immoral pursuit of dreams by examining the characters’ pursuit of wealth through illegal means. Therefore, Fitzgerald explores the corruption of the American Dream through the technique of characterisation.
Characterisation is utilised by Fitzgerald to illustrate the superficial nature of his …show more content…
The characterisation of Tom presents his corrupt nature of restlessness and shallowness through his physical attributes and moral actions. His character symbolises the moral decay and meaningless lifestyle of the upper class, which is utilised by Fitzgerald to explore the corrupted American Dream. Similarly, Fitzgerald conveys the importance of dreams and the corruption of dreams through his characterisation of Daisy due to her superficiality and carelessness. To examine the immoral pursuit of dream, Fitzgerald utilises characterisation by portraying Gatsby’s corrupted means of pursuing wealth and social status, hence his superficiality to hide beneath his facade. In conclusion, characterisation is powerfully utilised by Fitzgerald to explore the corruption of the American Dream in The Great