The Great Gatsby
The Corrupt American Dream
"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald demonstrates how the corrupt society of the 1920's view the American Dream. In the book, wealthy people get whatever they want and do whatever they want and it doesn't matter the mess that they make or the people they hurt in the process. The characters of The Great Gatsby illustrate all the is corrupt about the American Dream, especially through the mind set and actions of Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby.
In the 1920's, the American Dream for a typical male was to have enough money and social respect to last a lifetime and also win the love of the most beautiful woman in town. Tom Buchanan was the spitting image of the American Dream, but for Tom, having Daisy wasn't enough. In the beginning of the story Jordan Baker reveals something about Tom Buchanan in this quote; "'You mean to say you don't know?' said Miss Baker, honestly surprised. 'I thought everyone knew.' 'I don't.' 'Why-' she said hesitantly, 'Tom's got some woman in New York (Fitzgerald 19)." In this scene, Jordan exposes Tom's affair with another woman and later she reveals that this in fact wasn't the first time Tom was unfaithful. "A week after I left Santa Barbara Tom ran into a wagon on the Ventura road one night and ripped a front wheel off his car. The girl who was with him got into the papers too because her arm was broken- she was on of the chambermaids in the Santa Barbara Hotel (Fitzgerald 82)." Tom also thought because he had so much money, he could treat his wife how he wanted and she would never leave him. This assumption was demonstrated in this quote; "'She's not leaving me!' Tom's words suddenly leaned down over Gatsby. 'Certainly not for a...
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