Analysis of ‘The Great Gatsby’ by Francis Scott Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald in his book ‘The Great Gatsby’ brings out the issue of corruption in two ways; there is criminal corruption and there is moral corruption. Moral corruption is brought out in the ways that the likes of Daisy were corrupted by their beliefs that money and wealth of material was the most important things in life. She was willing to live a miserable marriage life knowing that her husband was cheating, just so that she could be associated with wealth (Fitzgerald, 2016). Gatsby is the representation of criminal corruption; he acquired his wealth through illegal activities just so that he could try to win his lost loves Daisy (Fitzgerald, 2016). Fitzgerald use of corruption theme within the book is a message to the society that corruption is not a means that can be used to achieve the American dream. The American dream is all about living a fulfilling happy life where one’s life objectives have been achieved. This was not the case in the book; all the characters that were involved in corruption achieved their life objectives but did not really live a fulfilling life.

Naturalism is brought out in the book with reference to the imbalanced societies between the Old wealth in West Egg, the poor in Valley of Ashes as well as the new wealth in the East Egg. If one was born in poverty you remained in poverty all your life even after working hard and acquiring some wealth. A good case character is Gatsby who despite being born poor acquired some wealth but was still not recognized in the wealthy societies where new wealth is not given the same status as the old wealth (Fitzgerald, 2016). The rich dominate the society and they get to treat the poor the way that they want because they are deemed to be above the law.

Benjamin Franklin’s advice for Gatsby is in form of a quote ‘Fools make feats, and wise men eat them’ (Franklin, 2011). This quote would have helped Gatsby to understand that throwing the lavish parties was just a waste of wealth and it did not in way help him gain favour within the community. The party attenders just wanted to associate with him because he was at a good place but once he died no one came to his funeral, not even Daisy his long time love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Franklin, B. (2011). The way to wealth: Advice, hints, and tips on business, money, and

            finance. New York: Skyhorse Pub.

Fitzgerald, F. S. (2016). The Great Gatsby. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.