The American classic by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, portrays through evident scenes and character backgrounds how corrupt the American Dream has become, and these similar ideas are also accentuated in David Callahan’s article, The Cheating Culture. Both sources effectively emphasize how cheating is increasingly being used to get an expeditious advantage over those who spend their days working hard. Fitzgerald uses the character of Gatsby as an illustration for how prevalent deception is in American society, while in the Cheating Culture, many different examples are used to show how these attributes are becoming more and more common. The idea that the materialistic American Dream can be more easily attained for those who seize every
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Upper class citizens, like Tom and Daisy, cheat on each other, as they are stuck in a cycle of finding new thrills to momentarily entertain them, in order to find some sense of purpose. Theses citizens though never cheated to attain their money, which is why Tom believes “women run around too much these days to suit [his liking].” (Fitzgerald 103) Even though Tom was also running around with a girl, the smallest kind of cheating still feels very wrong to him. On the other hand, as shown with Gatsby, the American Dream that was attained through corruption was not sustainable. Gatsby was never happy with all of his riches and isolated himself because he was not able to achieve his real dream of being with Daisy. When she discovered his shady business, “with every word [that he said,] she was drawing further and further into herself.” (Fitzgerald 134) No one wants to be with someone who had to cheat to get to where they are. Fitzgerald’s characters were in an era where “the most powerful people in society were focused on money and cheated to get ahead.” (Callahan 16) Even though they were referred to as powerful and successful, in the end these people were the unhappiest with their lives because they had completely lost who they were to get to this place of empowerment and all they had were material items to be with. Everybody may cheat in one way or another, but if that is what you use to get to a point of success, you really have succeeded at
Upper class citizens, like Tom and Daisy, cheat on each other, as they are stuck in a cycle of finding new thrills to momentarily entertain them, in order to find some sense of purpose. Theses citizens though never cheated to attain their money, which is why Tom believes “women run around too much these days to suit [his liking].” (Fitzgerald 103) Even though Tom was also running around with a girl, the smallest kind of cheating still feels very wrong to him. On the other hand, as shown with Gatsby, the American Dream that was attained through corruption was not sustainable. Gatsby was never happy with all of his riches and isolated himself because he was not able to achieve his real dream of being with Daisy. When she discovered his shady business, “with every word [that he said,] she was drawing further and further into herself.” (Fitzgerald 134) No one wants to be with someone who had to cheat to get to where they are. Fitzgerald’s characters were in an era where “the most powerful people in society were focused on money and cheated to get ahead.” (Callahan 16) Even though they were referred to as powerful and successful, in the end these people were the unhappiest with their lives because they had completely lost who they were to get to this place of empowerment and all they had were material items to be with. Everybody may cheat in one way or another, but if that is what you use to get to a point of success, you really have succeeded at