The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald is an American writer who was living his late 20's and early 30's during the 1920's. He was married to his wife Zelda and together they got caught up in the parties, drinking and dancing. By the mid 1920`s he realized and convinced himself that there had to be more to life. At this time his writing was influenced by what was going on around him and this is very present in his most famous piece of writing. F. Scott Fitzgerald's greatest work, The Great Gatsby is not only a great story, but an insight into the flaws of real life during the "Roaring Twenties." His book has been considered by many a symbol for the "Jazz Age," a time of extraordinary wealth and promise, but Fitzgerald's novel is much more than that, presenting the truth behind the twenties and creating an atmosphere which has earned a permanent place in American literature. The 1920's were a time of corruption in every aspect- from people's morals, behaviour, attitudes and activities. His novel proves that the cause of corruption is through all of the behaviours and actions that occurred and that they had a devastating effect on people. All of the characters on the Great Gatsby are corrupt, even if it doesn't seem like they are. A prime example of this is Nick.

Nick Carraway seems like an innocent character who acts as the voice for the reader, but that isn`t always the case. As the character that sees everything that happens during the novel, he is able to see both sides of every situation. This is what makes him a very sly individual. Nick is able to keep secrets very well and this is what causes him to become corrupt. Nicks morals are corrupted because he keeps the secret that Tom is having an affair on Daisy with Myrtle Wilson.

His behaviour is also very immoral because he chooses to play along in Gatsby`s game. He is willing to do anything that Gatsby asks him. An example of this is when Gatsby asks Nick to invite over Daisy and then Gatsby will just happen to be visiting at the same time. Nick gets caught in the middle of Gatsby and Daisy`s love relationship. Although Nick really doesn't drink a whole lot or get drunk, he still attends many of Gatsby`s parties. Gatsby`s parties are technically against the law because there was lots of alcohol being served even though it was the time of prohibition.

Daisy is the total opposite of Nick because everything that she does is corrupted.

Daisy is seen as the `golden girl` of the novel and she knows that everyone likes her. She loves that attention that she gets from everyone, especially that from Jay Gatsby. Daisy is a very corrupt individual. Every situation that she puts herself in is morally wrong in every way. Some people would feel bad for her because she doesn't know that she is being cheated on by the husband, but she`s not any better because she is