American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Gatsby has everything that he could wish for, except of love. Gatsby tried everything he could to achieve Daisy, but failed to do so. Gatsby always thought that Daisy actually loved him and that he was very close to achieving her. One time Gatsby showed Daisy all of his luxuries in the house. Daisy was impressed by how rich and wealthy Gatsby has become as time passed. Daisy says “never seen so many shirts like these” (87). This quote shows how Daisy likes materialistic things. Gatsby worked hard on his dream unlike Tom. Tom Buchanan who is the husband of Daisy has no purpose and goal in his life except his affair with Myrtle. He never really loved Daisy. On the other hand when Gatsby showed all of his English shirts Daisy begins to cry and they plan their future plans of meeting each other. We can see how Daisy is attracted to Gatsby simply because of his wealth. She loves Gatsby but she loves his money more then she actually loves him. This goes to show how people’s mentality worked in the 1920’s. Daisy, Gatsby, and all other characters live a very superficial life. Gatsby wants to achieve Daisy by the means of fortune and how Daisy is attracted to Gatsby because of his wealth.

shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel… Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. ‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds” (Fitzgerald 92). Daisy had married Tom and he was wealthy but when she went to Gatsby’s mansion, she realized the extent of his wealth. Gatsby and Daisy’s main focus in their lives was money. Money was all they really cared about. “Jay Gatsby’s quest, the wealthy Daisy, represents the emptiness of an American society focused on money, a sordid but accurate view of the American Dream” (Adamson 25). The American society is basically empty with a large focus on money rather than the significant things in life.

The American Dream is like a beautiful yet poisonous mushroom. Its colorful appearance lures humans and animals to consume it, but the outcome results in death if left untreated. The American Dream lures people into thinking that their dream and their social class can be changed with hard work and determination. However, the results are deadly in The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald with all that tried. Through the use of imagery, Fitzgerald characterizes Jay Gatsby as ambitious, naive, and selfish, demonstrating how time and a corrupt, rigid and selfish society contributes to the non-existence of the American Dream.

As humans, we crave love and affection from others, and in order to live the “American Dream” money is a necessity. It was the infectious love of money that brought Nick, a wealthy veteran who wanted more out of life, to the Eggs. More importantly, the love that Gatsby had for Daisy motivated him to live the life of the rich and prove it. The characters were influenced by the love of money, or money bringing love. Love and lust could be completely changed when money was thrown in, and for the characters in the book, there was never enough.

The greatness of an individual can be defined in terms far beyond tangible accomplishments. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic American novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby's greatness comes from his need to experience success and his will to achieve his dreams. Nick Carraway narrates the story, and his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, is Gatsby's love. Daisy, however, is married to Tom Buchanan, a wealthy, arrogant womanizer who despises Gatsby. Gatsby feels the need to be successful and wealthy, and his participation in a bootlegging operation allows him to acquire the wealth and social status needed to attract Daisy. In his narration, Nick focuses on Gatsby's fixation of Daisy and how he longs for her

The American dream: the idea that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work and determination. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, both Jay Gatsby and Myrtle try to reach their American dreams; however, their final state reflects a significant statement on such a dream. Tom and Daisy do not need to reach this dream since they have always been in possession of their American dream. This creates a stark contrast between the ideals of Gatsby and Daisy. In the final passage of the novel, the nature of the dream is further defined. Fitzgerald uses his novel to show a pessimistic and futile view of the American dream, yet he believes that striving for the dream is a large part of the American experience.

Scott Fitzgerald’s romantic-tragedy, The Great Gatsby. The main protagonist of the novel, Jay Gatsby, achieves a socio-economic status that most people at the time would die for. He had the big houses, lavish cars, and expensive clothes. Even with all this wealth, Gatsby was not happy because in his mind, the “dream” was not achieved until he had Daisy. Gatsby’s life goal had become Daisy and he would stop at nothing to accomplish this. “He hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes” (Fitzgerald 87). Gatsby’s whole world, everything he has worked for, seems to disappear when he thinks about Daisy. When he is with her he doesn’t think about anything else but her, which in result makes him happy. "Gatsby's inability to repeat the past is much more than the failure of an experience in romantic love, because for Gatsby that love is the essence of his powerful desire for a vaguely defined, self- fulfilling greatness" (Gross and Gross 11). His greed has become a disease which starts to literally kill him. Daisy is just another accolade he wants, a trophy wife to be exact. By making her his number one goal, he loses sight of what the real goal is, transcending social expectations. At the end of the novel, when Daisy kills Myrtle, Gatsby takes the blame for her mistake which results in George killing Gatsby. So the

“If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him,” Nick said. The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is about a wealthy man named Jay Gatsby and his unconditional love for Daisy Buchanan. They were once together, but unfortunately got separated because of the war. Five years have gone by and Gatsby is still in love with Daisy. Daisy couldn't wait for him (to come back from war), so she gets married to Tom Buchanan. Gatsby must go through so many obstacles to be with the one he truly loves.

The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The protagonist in the novel, Jay Gatsby, is eager to charm his young love, Daisy Fay, in hopes for a future marriage and life together. Making the situation difficult to achieve, Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan primarily because of his inherited wealth. Throughout the novel, the reader understands Jay Gatsby's undying love for Daisy Buchanan and his appeal to win her over with his possessions. Gatsby's character plays an important role in order to convey a central message to the reader about materialism. In the novel, the author utilizes the theme of obsession of materialistic values over emotional depths to showcase Jay Gatsby through his prides, possessions, and desires.

The American dream for most people is having the opportunity to be successful. Nonetheless, there are many obstacles to overcome such as poverty, racial prejudices, lack of will power, and the unequal chances of opportunity. These obstacles are what prove that the American dream is more of a dream than a reality.

By writing The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald was able to let out all of his emotions that had been bottled up since he married Zelda. Gatsby realizes early on that to please a woman like Daisy, he was going to need money, and a whole lot of it. But when Gatsby went away to the war and did not return, Daisy needed to find someone that could afford her lavish lifestyle. Still in love with the poor soldier, Jay Gatsby, Daisy agrees to marry Tom Buchanan for his wealth. When Gatsby returns, he spends the next several years of his life building a financial empire for himself. When it was complete he buys a mansion right across the water from Daisy’s. He then begins hosting these spectacular parties at his home. Afte they reconnect through Nick, Daisy falls in love with Gatsby’s new life. At one point in time, Daisy possibly loved Gatsby, but just like with her marriage, money was the number one priority in her life. When Tom reveals that Gatsby is a dishonest man and is illegally making money, Daisy ends their affair and goes back to Tom who was still having an affair himself. Gatsby did everything in his power to win Daisy back since she was his American Dream. However, Daisy’s American Dream was her own lavish lifestyle. She would stop at nothing, including killing her husband’s mistress and allowing Gatsby to take the fall for it, if it meant keeping her husband and all his money. Gatsby’s dream was unattainable since Daisy, his dream, loved money more than she loved

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a novel about the chase for love and the American dream in which a man named Gatsby’s quest for a girl named Daisy turns out to be much like the pursuit of the American Dream. Both are made out to be better and more attainable than they are in reality and end up falling short of these expectations. Gatsby builds up his perception of Daisy much like the American dream is advocated for and supported by older generations. Instead of attaining what he thought was his ultimate conquest and realizing his ideal of true success, Gatsby ends up alone, dishonored and dead. If the American Dream is increasingly difficult to attain because it simply isn’t possible for the younger generation in the current economic,

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.

Throughout Fitzgerald's book, The Great Gatsby, it’s essentially about the American dream and if people had money, new or old, they could have the American dream, but when they have it all, what do they do with it? Money can turn people into very respectable, and polite people and they still work for what they have, or it can turn people into snobby rude people that expect everyone to do everything for them. Long story short, money affects the way people behave.

This passage, which is the last in the novel, is also the most significant. It focuses on the role of the past in the dreams of the future. It is a metaphor for Gatsby, his struggle, and the American Dream. Gatsby was a man forever moving forward, while remaining squarely focused on the past. He was an idealistic dreamer who reinvented himself, achieved financial wealth and social success, but failed to attain his overarching goal – Daisy’s love. He chased illusions and ignored reality, and ultimately it destroyed him. Gatsby’s optimism that he could transcend time and recreate the past in the present was shattered by Daisy’s rejection of him due to his dubious past. Gunned down for a crime he did not commit, and abandoned by his “friends” and business associates, the successful man who seemed to have everything, in reality, had nothing. Gatsby’s death exposed the ugly truth behind the glittering façade of the American Dream – it is a myth. The noble goals of equality, progress, and the pursuit of happiness have been corrupted by the emptiness and excesses of rampant materialism, hedonism, and moral decrepitude. The optimistic people who come to the new world with the hope of a better life and the belief that they can succeed if they try hard enough, are products of their past, and will continue to struggle in vain towards a goal that moves ever farther away.