Digital Phoenix
03-26-2010, 02:50 AM
I have a borderline grade. Here was my assignment:
"Corruption of people and society is one of the themes in The Great Gatsby. Choose three characters whom you think are corrupt and explain how they are corrupt (Be sure to use quotations from the novel). How does corruption tie-in to the idea of the American Dream?"
Here's my paper:
Corruption of people and society is a major theme in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Throughout the novel, we are introduced to a large sum of characters that have crooked takes on morals and ideals. Daisy Buchanan is a pompous women who places all her worth into money and other materialistic products. Tom Buchanan is a hypocritical women abuser that lacks proper judgment and cheats on his wife. Jay Gatsby becomes delusional by his love for Daisy and exaggerates just how incredible she actually is. All these characters represent how the American Dream became corrupt in the 1920s.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
Daisy Buchanan exhibits a sense of superiority given her economic stature. She sacrifices her beloved partner for someone with more wealth. In this sense, she successfully manages to capture the corruption of the American Dream; people sacrificing what they love for materialist desires.<o:p></o:p>
Tom Buchanan is a cruel being with double standards. He feels that he can cheat on Daisy whenever he wants, but he still is angered when he realizes that she is cheating on him. This shows the corrupt side of things because he is not giving the same respect he thinks he deserves. He also abuses women, which shows us his superiority complex.<o:p></o:p>
Jay Gatsby becomes obsessed with the idea of Daisy, rather than who she actually is. He becomes nostalgic with what he thinks is a better time, and in turn has a skewed mindset of who Daisy actually is. His entire life is focused around Daisy; his idea of the best life he can live. However, when he is finally reunited with her, he realizes that she isn’t as fantastic as he remembers and no longer has any kind of American Dream to long after. He now has everything, and while there’s nothing more he could possibly want, he still feels empty inside.<o:p></o:p>
All three of these characters display the corrupt side of the American dream. Daisy forgets what’s important in her life and throws away the greatest gift one can have for fortune. Tom thinks it’s okay to boss around women as if they are below him. Gatsby is unsatisfied with what he has and no longer knows what he wants.<o:p></o:p>
I'm a Junior in High School, by the way. Any pointers? I'll get to the citations soon enough.
"Corruption of people and society is one of the themes in The Great Gatsby. Choose three characters whom you think are corrupt and explain how they are corrupt (Be sure to use quotations from the novel). How does corruption tie-in to the idea of the American Dream?"
Here's my paper:
Corruption of people and society is a major theme in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Throughout the novel, we are introduced to a large sum of characters that have crooked takes on morals and ideals. Daisy Buchanan is a pompous women who places all her worth into money and other materialistic products. Tom Buchanan is a hypocritical women abuser that lacks proper judgment and cheats on his wife. Jay Gatsby becomes delusional by his love for Daisy and exaggerates just how incredible she actually is. All these characters represent how the American Dream became corrupt in the 1920s.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
Daisy Buchanan exhibits a sense of superiority given her economic stature. She sacrifices her beloved partner for someone with more wealth. In this sense, she successfully manages to capture the corruption of the American Dream; people sacrificing what they love for materialist desires.<o:p></o:p>
Tom Buchanan is a cruel being with double standards. He feels that he can cheat on Daisy whenever he wants, but he still is angered when he realizes that she is cheating on him. This shows the corrupt side of things because he is not giving the same respect he thinks he deserves. He also abuses women, which shows us his superiority complex.<o:p></o:p>
Jay Gatsby becomes obsessed with the idea of Daisy, rather than who she actually is. He becomes nostalgic with what he thinks is a better time, and in turn has a skewed mindset of who Daisy actually is. His entire life is focused around Daisy; his idea of the best life he can live. However, when he is finally reunited with her, he realizes that she isn’t as fantastic as he remembers and no longer has any kind of American Dream to long after. He now has everything, and while there’s nothing more he could possibly want, he still feels empty inside.<o:p></o:p>
All three of these characters display the corrupt side of the American dream. Daisy forgets what’s important in her life and throws away the greatest gift one can have for fortune. Tom thinks it’s okay to boss around women as if they are below him. Gatsby is unsatisfied with what he has and no longer knows what he wants.<o:p></o:p>
I'm a Junior in High School, by the way. Any pointers? I'll get to the citations soon enough.