Examples Of How Money Corrupts In The Great Gatsby

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Anna Head
Mrs. Tripp-Smith
11th Grade American Literature
19 December 2016
Corrupted by Wealth
In the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses characterization to show how money is an addiction, and when you get a little, you always want more. The characters show how money corrupts us and changes our true character. They are never satisfied with what they have and eventually it ends with a consequence that is unchangeable. The characters follow the same pattern by always wanting more than they have. There are three classes of money illustrated in this book. The old money is Tom. The new money is Gatsby. Finally, the no money is Myrtle. Each show us the struggle to move to the next class, and the end result is devastating.
Tom illustrates the old money class of people. He has got all he wants and can get anything he desires. Wealth permits Tom to walk away from his actions that have consequences. Tom is corrupt and shows us how he does not care. He goes from one woman to the next and eventually forgets them all. He is desperate to remain shielded from those below him and wants no interaction with …show more content…
She is addicted to becoming higher in class standings. She allows Tom to have an affair with her, because she hopes one day she will become the same level as Tom. She is willing to give anything to move into the next class of people. Myrtle pretends to be someone she is not. While Myrtle goes to Tom’s apartment for the party, she talks as if she is Tom’s equal. She says, “I told that boy about the ice. These people! You have to keep after them all the time”(32). She acts totally different around Tom. The want for money has made her corrupt inside and made her do things that will change her forever. The attention from Tom gives her a ray of hope that she may move up in class and become one of the new money people. Myrtle is desperate to leave her no money estate and accelerate herself into the world of money, no matter what it
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