Essay On The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The American Dream is what we all aspire to achieve. The idea of starting off with nothing and to become something has caused millions of people from all corners of the world to immigrate to this country for over 300 years. However, what exactly is the American Dream? F Scott Fitzgerald answers this question within his novel The Great Gatsby. Through the eyes of Nick Carraway, Fitzgerald analyses the high class of the 1920s and reveals that the American Dream has been distorted from a pure ideal of security into a convoluted scheme of materialistic power. Fitzgerald incorporates the aspects of both the Òold dreamÓ & the Ònew dreamÓ in his tragic story to depicts how the inflexible dream has been corrupted and lost forever.

What is the American dream? The simplest version of the American dream is a nice house and family, with the white picket fence in the front yard. For many families this dream came true, but for others, it was not quite possible to achieve. In Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, Nick gives his thoughts on Gatsby after things between him and Daisy fall through. He says “He must have felt he had lost the old warm

American culture has been described as a “melting pot”. This means that everyone has incorporated their specific opinionated types of cultures and mixed it all into America. American culture was a slower-paced, slower communicating, and a better relationship filled culture. American culture has evolved into a faster communicating, better educated, and fast-paced culture. American culture is going to evolve into where we will barely talk in person and it will be less natural to talk face-to-face because of the many technological advances. As the future progresses, the “American Dream” begins to fade. In the “American Dream” it is stated that there should be “prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and

   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

Gatsby wanted more and more of Daisy and he will not rest until she tells Tom that she never loved him. Gatsby goes as far as to plan a dinner party so that Daisy can tell Tom in front of everyone and this dinner party ends up being his down bringing. At the party even Daisy goes as far as to say ““Oh, you want too much!"-"I love you now – isn't that enough? I can't help what's past."-"I did love him once – but I loved you too."” (Fitzgerald 261). Gatsby’s greed and obsession with wanting more and more sees to it that Gatsby will never fully achieve his dream. Fitzgerald also uses his character Tom, the husband of Daisy, to show that the American Dream cannot be achieved. Tom seems to have everything, a big house, a beautiful wife, lots of money from a successful sports career, and the freedom to spend it as he pleases. However, he too wants more, “[Tom] nodded sagely. “And what's more, I love Daisy too. Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time."” (Fitzgerald 251). Tom knows that what he is doing is wrong but he makes excuses for his affair and acts as if what he did was justified. Even though he has a beautiful wife he still wants more and this drives him to having an affair with Myrtle. Fitzgerald uses these characters to show the false reality that is the

The American dream back in the early 1900s was described as coming to America to have your freedom. Others described it as going from the common saying rags to riches and having a good job and starting a family all in America. Overall, the American dream is to gain some sort of success. It can be attaining a great job or having a great healthy family. In the novel The Great Gatsby, characters explore their goals and try to truly gain their success of the American dream.

The American Dream can mean multiple different things depending on who you ask. Some individuals will answer it as having freedom of religion, class or race others will say it is about the ability to choose where they want to work, what they want to wear, or what they are going to do tomorrow. For Jay Gatsby and many other, the American dream is about gaining wealth and material possessions in an attempt to find happiness. In the Novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, shows us that the American Dream is the concept of being perfect, something that can never be acquired but can always be reached for. "The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It shows us how dreaming can be tainted by reality, and that if you don’t compromise, you

In chapter four of The Great Gatsby, the character Gatsby takes the narrator Nick into Manhattan for some lunch. As they enter the city from the Queensboro Bridge, Nick remarks that, “Anything can happen now that we’ve slid over this bridge…. Even Gatsby can happen, without any particular wonder.” (69) By this point in the story we know that Gatsby is rich and that he throws elaborate parties at his home which is a “factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy.” (5) Later, in chapter six, we discover that Gatsby comes from humble beginnings in North Dakota and was actually named James Gatz; Jay Gatsby was a reinvention. This leads me to wonder why Nick would think that someone as complicated as Gatsby doesn’t carry any wonder in a

What is the American Dream? Everyone has a different definition for their own American Dream. For example, the similarities between my American Dream, and Gatsby’s American Dream is that we both seek happiness, and the difference is that we seek happiness in different ways. I seek happiness in education and Gatsby seeks happiness in love.

     The statement made by Marius Bewley’s critical essay “Scott Fitzgerald: The Apprentice Fiction”, “Fitzgerald’s ultimate subject is the character of the American Dream in which, in their respective ways, his principle heroes are all trapped.”, can be justified through Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby and his short story “Winter Dreams”. In both pieces of literature, Fitzgerald explores and comments upon Americans and their pursuit of the American Dream through Jay Gatsby and Dexter Green’s pursuit of their “golden girls”.

The American Dream is the idea of someone believing you have to have money, power, and respect to be successful. For example parents that have been through a lot to get money, power, and respect. In the novel, “The Great Gatsby” by, “F. Scott Fitzgerald”, the ultimate message about the American Dream is that you need money, power, and respect to be successful. Fitzgerald shows in many ways why he doesn’t believe in the American Dream by the way he uses literary devices like imagery and metaphors and by the way his characters act. The American Dream has not served Americans well because somewhere along the road something wrong happens to the person’s life or career.

The American dream is an ideology, a vision that’s form varies from individual to individual, based upon one’s own experiences. Although the one thing that remains constant in every single definition is that this ideology, just as the name states, is only a dream. It is meant to merely drive people to unlock their hidden potential and become their best self, for the sole purpose of living one’s out one’s own definition of success. In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is Jay Gatsby’s inspiration and his opportunity, however, as the book progresses it becomes more evident that not all people share the same opportunity.

After the world was left ravaged by a great war which brought previously unknown amounts of pain on a global scale the citizens sought after distractions. Soon after men and women both with newfound vigor and rights took to the streets to celebrate, but a wall named prohibition stood in its way. A wall that would be leaped over by the many who believed they earned their right to recline and drink to their hearts content. Although illegal, drinking was commonplace and happiness the name of the game. F. Scott Fitzgerald understood this and crafted a tale that reflects the freedom of choice and flexibility allowed by the United States. The novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the film Chicago directed by Rob Marshall

The American Dream today is the goal of the US nation; to have the opportunity for anyone of any race, religion, color, or creed to come to America and, if they work hard enough, become successful and live a prosperous life. This dream is obviously still a dream today with the oppression, racism, and many obstacles standing in the way of success. However the US has made progress in recent years. In the 1920s, there was an incredible amount of obstacles in the way of success. One of the biggest being that if one was not a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP), it was extremely hard for them to reach their goals of success. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald beautifully illustrates this concept with his main character Jay Gatsby whose

American dream is the ideal that every American should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. This idea has characterized Americans and America for centuries. Many hard working Americans have strived to fulfill this dream to achieve a better life. However, the idea of the American dream has also been criticized. In The Great Gatsby and in Of Mice and Men, F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck present the idea that seeking the American Dream is futile, only yielding disappointment and moral corruption.