Topic > Corruption of dreams and self-destruction in "The Great Gatsby"

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the main themes of the book and a topic that is discussed a lot are dreams. From reading the novel we learn about the corruption of dreams and the effect it has. We learn about corruption in the novel through dreams of luxury, happiness, and love. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay We learn about the corruption of dreams through the aspect of luxury from the character Myrtle as the dream of a luxurious life is what attracts Myrtle to have a relationship with Tom. As a result, Myrtle has the hope and desire for a perfect, rich and famous life, Myrtle sleeps with Tom to achieve upper class status as people who belong to the upper class are those who have money, fancy and nice cars , big houses. Myrtle is not one of those people, but she wishes she were one of them. This later causes havoc and destroys Myrtle. This shows how the dream of a luxurious life only caused destruction in this novel and destroyed someone's life. The corruption of the dream of happiness is shown through Daisy by her thought of having everything, such as wealth and love, which gives her happiness. She discovers that she has nothing and that she has been corrupted by this specific dream. Daisy thought she had love when she married Tom, but in the end she only had money. When Daisy reunites with Gatsby, whom she hasn't seen in about five years, Daisy breaks down and begins to cry. "These are such beautiful shirts, it makes me sad because I've never seen shirts that are so... so beautiful before." (Fitzgerald, 89 years old) At this moment Daisy realizes that she married for money and not for love and understands that she could have married for money with Gatsby but she would also have had love. The search for her dream and the perfect man to be with has destroyed Daisy's happiness. Gatsby's love for Daisy has taken over his entire life and has thrown Gatsby over the edge which ultimately corrupts his dream. While Gatsby was at war, Daisy met Tom and married him. Daisy has always been rich and Gatsby thought that to get Daisy back he needed money so he could give Daisy everything she wanted and more. “We both looked at the grass: there was a clear line where my uneven lawn ended and the darker, more well-kept expanse of his began. I suspected he was referring to my weed. (Fitzgerald, 80 years old) This shows how Gatsby wants everything to be okay and presentable by when he meets Daisy for the first time in five years. Gatsby becomes corrupt because his main goal is to have Daisy. He needs a huge mansion in order to feel safe enough to try to capture Daisy. Gatsby was blinded by his dream and, as a result, caused the destruction of himself. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald one of the main themes of the book and the topic discussed immensely in the book is dreams. From reading the novel we learn about the corruption of dreams and the effect it has. We learn about the corruption of dreams through Myrtle's dream of luxury, Daisy's dream of happiness, and Gatsby's dream of love. All effects of dream corruption have led to total self-destruction. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Works Cited: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "The Great Gatsby." Scribner, 1925.