The Age of Moral Devolution In modern times, the common belief was that society was becoming corrupt and immoral because of the vast amounts of wealth that people had achieved over the time period. Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is about how the narrator, Nick’s, life is changed when he becomes the next-door neighbor to one wealthy enigma, Jay Gatsby. Throughout the novel, the reader discovers how money, a higher social class, and the mindless pursuit of these things creates immorality in one’s own life and in others around them. Even people who appear as paragons of society still use unethical means to achieve their greatness. One example is when Tom is trying to make Daisy understand that Gatsby is not the honest man she thinks he
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She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned …show more content…
The novel displays this when Jordan is explaining to Nick why she is trying to listening in on Tom’s phone call and she says, “I thought everybody knew… Tom’s got some woman in New York” (Fitzgerald 18). Jordan’s statement reveals that Tom is cheating on Daisy, and because of his vast amount of wealth, and exceptionally high social class, it allows him to get away with adultery. Jordan also mentions that seemingly everyone knows about the affair and that Tom does not even make a real effort to hide it because he knows that there is nothing Daisy or anyone else can do about it. Marriage is once again portrayed in a poor light when Myrtle is explaining to everyone at her party why she married George in the first place, she says it was because, “... I thought he[George] was a gentleman… I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (Fitzgerald 38). The only reason Myrtle married George was because she thought he was rich. When she found out he was not wealthy at all she wanted nothing to do with him and was upset with herself for being fooled by him. Marriage should be about making a promise to always be with one you love, but Myrtle only saw it as a way out of the poverty she was born into. Consequently, others might get dragged into one’s own debaucherous life despite their best
She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned …show more content…
The novel displays this when Jordan is explaining to Nick why she is trying to listening in on Tom’s phone call and she says, “I thought everybody knew… Tom’s got some woman in New York” (Fitzgerald 18). Jordan’s statement reveals that Tom is cheating on Daisy, and because of his vast amount of wealth, and exceptionally high social class, it allows him to get away with adultery. Jordan also mentions that seemingly everyone knows about the affair and that Tom does not even make a real effort to hide it because he knows that there is nothing Daisy or anyone else can do about it. Marriage is once again portrayed in a poor light when Myrtle is explaining to everyone at her party why she married George in the first place, she says it was because, “... I thought he[George] was a gentleman… I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (Fitzgerald 38). The only reason Myrtle married George was because she thought he was rich. When she found out he was not wealthy at all she wanted nothing to do with him and was upset with herself for being fooled by him. Marriage should be about making a promise to always be with one you love, but Myrtle only saw it as a way out of the poverty she was born into. Consequently, others might get dragged into one’s own debaucherous life despite their best