Essay Topic:

The evaluation of the ways the American society faces moral poverty and degradation.

Essay Questions:

What are the main peculiarities of the society depicted in “The Great Gatsby”?

Why is the issue of moral poverty so important in terms of describing the society of the Great Gatsby?

What is the primary reason the characters of the novel are so selfish and material oriented?

Thesis Statement:

F. Scott Fitzgerald throughout his novel and characters tells a story of the degradation of the society and its moral poverty vs. their financial wealth.

Introduction:  F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” is a novel depicting the tragic love story of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan which leads to a tragedy not only for them but to many other people around. Nevertheless, their story itself is a way that is chosen by F. Scott Fitzgerald to tell another story – the story of the degradation of the society and its moral poverty vs. their financial wealth.

As the novel describes the life of the upper society of the 1920’s he tells the story about America living only for material prosperity losing its moral orienteer.  Fitzgerald portrays the era of financial prosperity and the moral decay. The characters of the novel did once have noble aims in the lives and have truly loved once but wealth and constant physical pleasures changed them irreversibly. Money suppressed everything “good” in their minds and gave life to more and more physical and material whims.  The society of the 20’s described in the novel has lost its moral values during the parties, polo games, fast car drives and marital infidelities. All these newly rich social representatives lack values and origin and result being primitive and instinctive. All the money in the world cannot save them from moral poverty and degradation. This moral poverty shows how people have lost their American “the pursuit of happiness” dream and changed it to “the pursuit of money”.

Conclusion: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” shows the true face of the 1920’s newly formed upper class. The moral  poverty lead way to selfishness and frivolity.