Comparing F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby And The American Dream

The Great Gatsby is a book that is centered around the American dream.I believe the American dream represents that all people no matter of who they are or where they come from can become successful through their hard work and reach all of their goals and dreams.It is believed that the book’s main theme is the pursuit of the American dream. I think this novel also suggests the American dream is just an unrealistic standard. Nick emphasized how Gatsby's dream with daisy was too high and he idealized her so much that there really was not any way that his expectations could be filled. This is shown through Gatsby's life as he tries to fulfill his hopes and dreams by having a life with Daisy. Most people would have thought that Gatsby had achieved the American dream through his economic success but it was rumored he achieved it illegally and achieving things by going against the law should not go along with what the American dream represents.

At the beginning of the book Nick sees Gatsby as a mysterious shady man. In the beginning of the chapter Nick somewhat resents Gatsby. In Nick’s opinion Gatsby was the representation of “…everything for

   Webster's dictionary describes the American dream as the widespread aspiration of Americans to live better than their parents did.  F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby is a literary masterpiece that takes a fascinating look at the nature of the American dream that made its fiery inception during the American War of Independence 1776-83 when it became the central theme of the American Declaration of Independence.   In short, it stated, "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by God, Creator, with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" (Dream 1).  Through the voice of the

Happiness is overpriced. During the 1920s, wealth is the only concern that’s relevant or that’s worth achieving. though we seek prosperity and contentment, Americans confuse that utopian thought with what they sincerely desire. Desire is a recurring element that appears in The Great Gatsby, it’s a “need” that never ceases to be wanted. Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom confuse the obtainment of desire with wholeness . When these characters continually attain this aspiration that would make them happier, they are left with mistaken fulfilment. Through the depictions of Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom, Fitzgerald shows us that sometimes we corrupt the American Dream with a distorted vision of pure happiness.

What is your American Dream? The American Dream is the belief that anyone, in spite of where they were born or what class they were born into, can accomplish their own form of accomplishment in a society where upward success is imaginable for everyone. The 1920s was a time period of thrilling changes to America’s culture and way of life, but come the 1930’s American took punch and crashed into a great depression. The Author of The great Gastby, F. Scott Fitzgerald show what life is like during the 1920’s and the author of, Of mice and men, John Steinbeck's shows a whole different life when the Great Depression hits. The two authors both show how no matter how rich or how poor everyone has an American dream. In everyone’s eyes there’s a different dream, some dream big while others dream small, not one American dream is the same, but they all have a goal of becoming happy.

He spent all this time building up the external part of himself and his inner personality was put to the side. He lost the other part of the American dream which is the part where you have a strong moral character. This attitude is essential to the true American dream but no one including Gatsby saw this and therefore they ended up as rich, immoral people. This causes him to forgo his moral compass and follow Wolfshiem down a dark path that leads straight to his death.

The elements of distortion in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, shows how the American dream should be or what is actually expected. In the 1920’s the over exaggerations for having an amazing American Life were “in”. The life of lavish and being known was what everyone wanted. Many people though did not have nearly anything and were looked down upon. The distortion creates illusions of the life that a person should be able to bare, but no one is that lucky, nor works hard enough. The distorted views contribute to his works to show the miserable realities of how those people live and a possibility of how they can turn out.

The American dream is “an American social ideal that stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity; also: the prosperity or life that is the realization of this ideal”(Webster). Gatsby lives out a version of the American Dream, Gatsby has many expensive possessions and likes to flaunt them“He had just bought a hydroplane and was going to try it out in the morning”. Nick Carraway, his neighbor thought of Gatsby as, “a self-made millionaire who pursues a corrupted version of the American dream”(Sherwood). However, the America Dream of Gatsby’s life is not what it should be and creates problems.

One expression to describe the chaos of 1920’s would be the grand “American dream”. Everyone during this time period had an image of a grand life and everyone believed in it. The rich dreamed of being wealthier and gaining more superiority while the poor simply dreamed of having a better life for themselves and their families. To the people of the 20’s the American Dream was just another part of their day to day lives. The issue with this is that the so called dream was never actually attainable. The poor dreamt of becoming rich and being respected by the wealthy associations. The problem with this is if they were to become rich they would become “New money” scheme meaning you are newly added to the list of wealthy people the problem being that all of the “Old Money” people or the families that have gotten money passed down by generations never respected new money. Thus lacking part of the dream of being respected meaning that the American Dream was never really fully attainable . Fitzgerald shows this American dream through Old Money and New Money by using Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby through Nick’s eyes to show the different realities between the three characters and the different but similar, their dreams may be.

The author remarked that “If it was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream” (161). By taking the blame for Daisy’s mistake, Gatsby was hoping Daisy would choose him. Gatsby gets killed for taking the blame and ends his hopes of the “American Dream.” The author noted, “I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation” (164). Gatsby does not get to marry Daisy because Gatsby gets killed by Wilson. Not getting to marry Daisy kills Gatsby “American Dream” and it never comes true for Gatsby. Gatsby tried to get Daisy to marry him and in the end Gatsby dies and she never chooses to be with

The American Dream is the dream of being rich and being really successful. Scott fitzgerald tried to do that in the great gatsby and he did.In tthe 1920 the causes in america were very fatal to a lot of americans. Alcohol was illegel an Fitzgerald’s attitude about the american dream is represented by the characters in the novel the great gatsby.

In fact someone might say that it was as if he never existed in her life. Even though before Gatsby left for was Daisy’s love for him seemed to be real. People change and unfortunately Daisy moved on and found her a man while Gatsby still remained hopeful that she would come back to him one day as the woman he loved.

American Dream, the dream that everyone once aspired to obtain. It came with wealth, power and love. To successfully obtain it would mean that you started off with nothing and you worked your way to the top. The dream was first a very innocent one, it was perceived as you would use the money to buy the necessities such as a house and needs for your family, but later on it slowly transformed into having a mentality of buying luxuries to feel good and show off. The American Dream is a major theme in the book The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Gatsby did not realize the American Dream could not buy happiness, wealth, power or love which further lead himself to be corrupted by his own dream.

Everyone has an ideal vision of what he or she wants out of life. In a perfect world, everyone would die happy having achieved every goal ever set. A perfect world does not exist. Fitzgerald knows this, and he chronicles the life of Gatsby. Gatsby deeply desires to live out the “American dream.” He wants fame, riches, parties, mansions, but most of all love. Gatsby succeeds in every area except the most important. Gatsby still feels a desire to fulfill his final dream of finding a true love. Not willing to settle for an arbitrary love, Gatsby sets his sights on a young woman named Daisy. The problem is that Gatsby can never have Daisy because she is already in a relationship with another man. Gatsby, still wanting Daisy’s love but

Gatsby himself is someone who has some bitterness toward his past.  He longs for something far more significant than what should have initially been his.  Gatsby tries to move forward and overcome his past; however, he is still shackled by what his past ultimately represents; his life, original wealth, image, and overall background.  This essentially keeps him from achieving his dream because in this world, trying to reach a goal, in this case, the American Dream, is only a fantasized world in which it does not indeed exist. F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, represents, through its primary character, Jay Gatsby, that people cannot escape their past even though the person tries so hard to rewrite their story. Therefore, making them unable to achieve their goal entirely through to the end because their very own past affects that possibility in some way.