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Depicting the Unattainable American Dream in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, depicts that the American Dream is unattainable. The novel portrays the ignorance of society after the war. The Great Gatsby was published in 1925 after World War I had ended. Americans, at the time, lived in an illusion to try to forget about the war, thus, the American Dream was very appealing to Americans. The American Dream set an illusion that allowed Americans to believe that one could change the past and “re-do” the mistakes all over again. The setting in the novel places a timeline that Fitzgerald has written to let the readers know that during the 1920s, many various objects were put into place such as bootlegging and women becoming “flappers”. Bootlegging appeared in the 1920s because of prohibition where one could not sell alcohol or drink alcohol. Women were also changing the way that they dressed as well as the type of hairstyle women wore, thus, some women became known as flappers. Fitzgerald also incorporates a bit of his life into the novel through Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway. Both Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway are parts of Fitzgerald. Jay Gatsby, a millionaire who showed up out of nowhere, is a part of who Fitzgerald wanted to become because of a woman he met during World War I and Nick Carraway, a laidback bonds salesman and the narrator of the story, is also a part of Fitzgerald wanting to be an author. Although both characters are a depiction of Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is a character that lives in

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