American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The author Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby as a novel that talks about and covers American issues in the 1920s. He shows in the novel the carelessness and selfishness of everybody at the same time by portraying all of them in the location of west and east egg. Fitzgerald talks about a couple different topics throughout the novel. One of those is," the Attainment of a dream may be less satisfying than the pursuit of it" and the second one is"the American Dream is corrupted by the desire for wealth". He uses those themes to show how americans lived at a different time.

As the phenomenal politician Bernie Sanders once said, “For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.” In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by Scott Fitzgerald, the “American Dream” plays a crucial role in the plot. Gatsby devotes his life to accomplish his American Dream which consists of wealth and Daisy’s love. But is the American Dream actually what it seems to be? Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald utilizes the symbolic value of the Valley of Ashes, East Egg, and the significance of the color yellow to constantly establish that opulence and the American Dream is deceiving as it leads to moral and societal corruption.

The 1920’s was a decade of striving for prosperity and the American dream. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s historical fiction novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby builds his way up to wealth and does everything he can to attain his goal, but is ultimately unable to attain it. Through his decision to set up The Great Gatsby as a frame story, Fitzgerald conveys the theme that the American dream is not necessary attainable, no matter how much one sacrifices or works towards it.

The idea of American Dream as presented by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Great Gatsby novel involves rising from poverty or rags to richness and wealthy. The American Dream exemplifies that elements such as race, gender, and ethnicity are valueless as they do not influence the ability of an individual to rise to power and richness. This American Dream makes the assumption that concepts such as xenophobia are non-existent in America a concept that is not true and shows vagueness of the American Dream. In his novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the Great Gatsby to demonstrate the overall idea of living the American dream. Gatsby leaves his small village of farmers and manages to work his way up the ladder although some of the money he uses to climb the ladder is associated with crime “He was a son of God and he must be about His Father's Business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty” (Fitzgerald 6.7). This phrase shows that Gatsby wasn’t meant for a life similar to that of his father but rather destined for greatness. However, his dream his short-lived and he doesn’t make it to the top as Daisy who is a symbol of his wealthy rejects her and a series of events transpire that result in his death before he could live his American Dream alongside everyone else who was working up the ladder to live the American Dream.

When Myrtle put on her “mask” she “was now attired in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream colored chiffon” (Fitzgerald 34). Not only did her clothes change, but “with the influence of the dress, her personality had also undergone a change” (Fitzgerald 34). When Myrtle put on the cream dress she was trying to imitate Daisy and her “purity”. In addition, she her entire attitude changes. She tries to talk about the “lower order” as if she is not one of them. When Myrtle was in New York with Tom and his friend Nick, they were having a party and Tom ordered Myrtle to “get some more ice and mineral water before everybody goes to sleep”(Fitzgerald 35). Tom is putting Myrtle in her place and reassuring her that she is nothing more than a servant. Myrtle, however, replied by saying she “told that boy about the ice. [she] raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. These people! You have to keep after them all the time” (Fitzgerald 35). She believes that just because she is with a wealthy man that she is anatomically high class and had the means to order anyone around. Ultimately, her craving for an opulence life led her to her death when she jumped in front of a car thinking it was Tom. Which proves that one can not move up the social ladder.

She is said to kind of resemble a sorority girl or prom queen. When described by Gatsby he puts her on a pedestal making her out to be an angel. Throughout the story this ends up not being the case at all. Daisy, in fact, turns into a selfish shallow person who is careless of how her actions end up affecting people. She is completely aware of Tom having affairs the whole time they are married yet still stays with him. She knows she would have to give up the money and power being wealthy gives you. We are made to think Daisy and Gatsby completely hit it off once reunited again but if you look closer Gatsby is truly the only one feeling this way. Daisy is more in the love with the attention from Gatsby than actually Gatsby himself. She is also in love with the idea of his wealth. “Suddenly with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. They’re such beautiful shirts she sobbed”(Fitzgerald 70). Daisy is more worried about materialistic items than Gatsby. While Gatsby is doing all he can to impress Daisy his heart is focused on winning her back. Daisy is distracted by all his wealth and seems to pretty much forget about Gatsby himself. In the end when she should be there for Gatsby she blows him off and decides suddenly she is happy with Tom and is going to work things out with

The American Dream is fundamentally the idea that anyone in America can accomplish through hard work and can achieve success and happiness. It has been expanded on through the years and now incorporates ideas of attaining freedom, wealth and power. In the 1920s when 'The Great Gatsby' was written the Jazz Age was taking hold and the American Dream became more about material possessions being used to show a person's wealth and status and to indicate that they have been successful in life. The materialism of this period of time in America corrupted the American Dream by the intense focus on gaining wealth and power and

Ever wonder what it is like being one of the most rich socialites living The American Dream? We learn through Jay Gatsby’s life that it does not guarantee happiness, as happiness cannot be bought. In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Jay Gatsby learns through many events that occur in his life that money cannot buy you happiness, a relationship that is based off materialistic things is never going to work, and The American Dream is a fallacy. Throughout the novel, Jay Gatsby pursues the appearance of having achieved the American Dream with him plenty of money, but Jay Gatsby’s life proves this dream is a fallacy. It cannot bring him the one thing that gives him true happiness, his love Daisy.

The idea of the American Dream is where individuality of hard work and enthusiasm are shown. The novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates many themes; however the most noteworthy one relates to the breach of the American dream. The American Dream is defined as someone who is preliminary on the economic rank, and sticking it out until they achieve full prosperity. By having money, cars, houses, nice clothes and a happy family this illustrates the American dream. This dream also stands for that public no matter who he or she is, can surface into someone thriving in life by his or her own commission. The desire to tackle for what one wants can be proficient if they work hard as much as necessary. The dream is corresponded by the ideas of an autonomous man or woman, who works hard to attain a goal to become triumphant. The Great Gatsby shows what The American Dream comes about to be in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dream becomes tarnished for countless reasons. The American dream not only causes corruption but has caused destruction. Myrtle, Gatsby and Daisy have all been tainted and damaged by the dream.

I believe the American Dream is the idea that everyone should have an equal opportunity to achieve the success that they want as long as they put in the effort and work hard to reach their goals. It is my understanding that the American Dream is the opposite of being handed things and not having to work for them, which within the book The Great Gatsby, refers to mostly all of the people that live in East Egg such as Tom and Daisy. These are all the people that inherited their money and therefore didn’t have to work for any of it. F Scott Fitzgerald touches on the idea of the American Dream quite subtly throughout the novel and in this essay I will give you some examples of where he does, while it in my opinion is most directly related to both Gatsby’s and Daisy’s lives.

History, rather than one’s financial status, is the deciding factor in determining one’s acceptance into the highest social classes. This idea is expressed in the song “All Falls Down” by Kanye West, “Even if you in a Benz, you still a n----- in a coupe” (“All Falls Down”). If a wealthy man has no impressive or notable background and is not considered “old money,” his achievement of the American dream, an ideal that every American has an equal opportunity to achieve prosperity, would be limited. Throughout American history, the “American dream” has been critiqued. While some authors support this idea by following the paths leading up to impressive successes of impoverished characters, others, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, negate it. In his novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald argues against the concept of the American dream by contrasting the financial successes of Jay Gatsby with the lack of achievement of Gatsby’s own aspirations of acceptance into the upper class. Despite being extremely wealthy, Gatsby lives in the shadow of his insignificant youth. Although throughout The Great Gatsby, wealth appears to be a mechanism in elevating Jay Gatsby’s social status, Gatsby’s unimpressive past disables him from fully achieving the American dream.

The American dream is a method of establishing and pursuing goals embraced by many people in America. It brings people together, provides a source of inspiration, and drives people to work hard. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, every character pursues his or her American dream, looking for success in their own way. While Gatsby, Myrtle, and Tom do not specifically state that they are pursuing an American dream, every character has a goal they wish to achieve; whether it be the pursuit of a specific person, lifestyle, or simply maintaining the dream society believes they have already achieved. Often times, however, this dream fails, leaving the person pursuing the dream unsatisfied. The American dream is so powerful

Whenever a person thinks of the American Dream, the initial thought that comes to mind is a luxurious and stress-free lifestyle accommodated with a hard-working, dedicated ethic. However, James Truslow Adams has another take on it, stating in his book, The Epic of America (1931), that anyone can achieve the American Dream and be recognized by others despite their position in life. F. Scott Fitzgerald contradicts this statement in his novel, The Great Gatsby, by demonstrating that the American Dream is an on-going dream that is unobtainable but within reach, for those who have advantages in life over others.

Enabling the American people to gather that the impossible is possible, American literature epitomizes the deceptive nature of the American dream. The American dream produces a skewed sense of reality within individuals, a running theme than can be seen through many pieces of American literature. Perfectly manifesting this idea most accurately, this theme is most prominent in American author F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning——”(Fitzgerald,193). Moreover,Fitzgerald relates the almost fanciful ideals of Gatsby regarding his relationship with Daisy to the false sense of the unimaginable being attainable, generated by the American dream. The belief that Americans had about the American dream led to beliefs that to the individuals seemed attainable, but in reality, were completely impossible. Applying the misleading disposition of the American dream according to Fitzgerald to immigrants (those who leave their country to live permanently in another country) of the country American piece Kaddish, by Allen Ginsberg encompasses the feelings of those coming to America. According to Ginsberg, individuals who vacate their country in hope for a better life in America are brutally disappointed when they arrive to the land where the American dream is only possible for

Among many other beloved works of literature F. Scott Fitzgerald had composed, The Great Gatsby (2016) manages to capture the very essence of the American Dream. This is done by acknowledging components such as the desire for equal opportunity, wealth, and living comfortably. Several elements in just the first four chapters explore this philosophy in unique varieties, emphasizing the innate desire that society has for equal opportunity.