F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby

Zelda Fitzgerald is the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald 's wife, but she is also an American novelist. She was born in Montgomery, Alabama and was considered a “Southern belle”. She had the means and the desire to become a ballet dancer, but she was too

Since American literature’s emergence, the American dream has become a conceptual ideal for many people throughout history. Although the dream has its own distinct aspects throughout different time periods, it predominantly focuses on the foundations of wealth, success and a desire for something greater. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fiction novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, is primarily known for the numerous lavish parties he throws each weekend at his ostentatious mansion in West Egg in an attempt to reunite with Daisy Buchanan, a woman he falls in love with prior to entering the war before the Roaring Twenties. However, he is seized with an impotent realization on the fact that his wealth cannot afford him the same privileges as others that are born into the upper echelon. Gatsby is completely blinded from his opulent possessions until he becomes oblivious of the fact that money cannot buy love or happiness. Throughout the story, the predilection for materialistic features causes many characters to lose sight of their aspirations, demonstrating how a dream can become easily corrupt by one’s focus on acquiring wealth and power.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the tragic story of two star-crossed lovers. Fitzgerald uses the Roaring Twenties as the setting of this novel. The twenties were a time of promiscuity, new money, and a significant amount of illegal alcohol. Fitzgerald was a master of his craft and there was often more to the story than just the basic plot. He could intertwine political messages and a gripping story flawlessly. In the case of The Great Gatsby, he not only chronicles a love story, but also uses the opportunity to express his opinion on topics such as moral decay, crass materialism, individual ethics, and the American dream.

When writing this book, Fitzgerald uses his own surroundings and even attacks the idea of love throughout the novel. Fitzgerald is similar to Gatsby and it is evident, because of how they both are hopeless romantics. He was in a relationship with a woman named Zelda and deeply loves her. They both live normal lives and even, “led wild lives filled with parties and intrigue. [However] The drama in their lives ended badly: Fitzgerald became an alcoholic and suffered mental collapses, while Zelda

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the compelling story of the lengths one man goes to in order to try and win back the love of his youth. In order to do so, the titular figure of the novel, Jay Gatsby, reinvents himself from the hardscrabble soldier of his younger years into an enigma of a millionaire; during his time living at West Egg, Gatsby is revered by all, but known by none. Despite the lavish lifestyle which has made him ever so well known, Gatsby is never able to win back Daisy, the girl who has for so long represented the culmination of all of his desires. To convey the complex themes of the novel, Fitzgerald makes use of the literary techniques discussed in How To Read Literature Like A Professor by Thomas C. Foster, especially in his portrayal of the geography of the Eggs and in Gatsby’s quest to win Daisy’s affection. In his novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s desperate struggle to ingratiate himself into Daisy’s life to illustrate how one can never overcome the socio-economic barriers placed upon them at birth.

The American dream is a tacit promise given to all citizens in this country, which states that regardless of social class, any individual can aspire to new heights based upon the ideology of meritocracy. The American dream is a “recurring theme in American literature”(Pearson) and in American society. However, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s critically acclaimed novel, presents the American dream as an illusion which can never be achieved, and according to recent events in America, Fitzgerald is evidently correct. The personification of Daisy as the American Dream, the issue of meritocracy, Myrtle’s death, the image of the green light, as well as the manner in which Gatsby is denied entry into the

F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Nick in The Great Gatsby to develop a new view of the American dream by exploring the illusion of unending pleasure that it seems to provide. At first glance the American dream promised success and wealth that was almost limitless. An era characterized by extravagant parties and displays of wealth was built on an illusion that it would continue without end. Soon, people lost track of the work that got them there and began to be concerned more about the display of wealth than actually having it. This began to lead to an illusion of wealth built upon a materialistic view of society. The materialistic illusion began to be eroded upon despite attempts to stifle the advances of nature (“PROSPERITY”). This controversy

F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, depicts the characters Gatsby and Daisy as symbols of the American Dream. Those who long to be at the top of the social ladder are evidence of the greedy scramble of wealth. Although Gatsby falsifies the original story of his climb to the top, this rags to riches endeavor is the pillar on which the American dream stands which gives him a mysterious yet interesting persona. Gatsby embodies Jack Solomon’s premise, in “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising”, through his empty pursuit of materialism. Solomon argues that the American dream is an ideology that measures individual success based on how much wealth and property one owns. This idea of the American Dream dictates that a person’s outward appearance gives the illusion that if one attained wealth and property, happiness would suffice. By applying Solomon’s thesis to an analysis of Gatsby, we see that this idea of the American dream is an empty pursuit of pleasure that ultimately leaves him in a whirlwind of depression.

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a story about the ultra-wealthy and their terrible morals. It delves into their world from the perspective of a newly rich and humble man. Fitzgerald undoubtedly based this book on his experiences with fame and money. Scott came from a middle class family and fell in love with a rich girl named Zelda. She loved him as well and they were engaged until she decided he would not be able to support her lavish lifestyle with his less than spectacular salary.

A life of luxury requires an arduous journey of dedication to achieve it. To embody the American Dream, one must strive to succeed. However, some may go too far in the process, and make irreversible decisions. This dream of copious amounts of wealth causes multiple characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s well-known novel The Great Gatsby to perish from selfishness. Based in the roaring twenties, also known as the jazz age, Fitzgerald sheds light on a major problem in society. Since a poor farm boy in North Dakota, to a rich gangster in New York, Jay Gatsby has been in pursuit of the American Dream. This dream lead Gatsby to believe that money and wealthy can buy anything, even happiness and love; ultimately leading to his downfall. Daisy Buchanan, who also believed in the American Dream, wished to marry Gatsby, however she could not due to the immense differences between economic and social class. By becoming a gangster, Gatsby achieved an equal wealth status; however this banished him to a life with a tainted past. The green light on Daisy’s dock was Gatsby’s only way to hang onto his goal. To clear his past and attain the ideal American Dream social status, Gatsby tried to woe Daisy into marrying him, believing his money alone would be enough to win her love. F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates how the American Dream causes destruction and corruption in society.

Nick Carraway is who narrates this story He is a very opened minded, nice, quite guy from Minnesota. Nick travels to New York and rents a house in the West Egg side of Long Island. West Egg is where all the people who have just made their fortune live. Although Nick lived in the West Egg side he had many connections with the people on the East Egg side. Nick had a wealthy and attractive neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lives in a mansion and has extravagant parties every Saturday. Gatsby’s real name is James Gatz and he was born at a farm in North Dakota. He went to St. Olaf’s University but dropped out two weeks later do to the humiliation of being a janitor. One day he was fishing at Lake Superior and he saw a yacht owned by Dan Cody. He

"The Great Gatsby" by Francis Scott Fitzgerald is about an aspiring young businessman named Nick Carraway who moved New York to experience the American Dream. Nick settled in a house located in the West Egg District of Long Island where he met the wealthy yet peculiar Jay Gatsby. Throughout the book, Nick and Gatsby become great friends as Gatsby teaches Nick about life as Nick helps Gatsby with the love of his life. Within the story, Nick and Gatsby experience the heartaches and the immoral struggles of life. The book exposes the American Dream to the reader through the eyes of Nick and Gatsby and how not every dream can result in a happy ending.

The Great Gatsby written in 1925 by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald follows a young man named Nick Carraway who has just moved to Long Island, New York. As the narrator of the novel, Nick recounts the summer he spent there in 1922 and the events that took place, especially his encounter with the young, rich, mysterious and extravagant Jay Gatsby. As Nick spends more time with Gatsby he learns that Gatsby has a romantically idealistic, yet unrealistic passion and infatuation for his beautiful cousin Daisy Buchanan. Widely regarded as Fitzgerald’s greatest work, the novel explores the ideas of blind idealism, excessive decadence and the moral decay of the 1920’s,

“Life is essentially a cheat, and its conditions are those of defeat; the redeeming features are not those of happiness and pleasure, but the deeper satisfactions that come out of a struggle.”

Zelda played a big role in Fitzgerald’s books. “She was a huge influence on his writing, providing much of the material for his novels and short stories throughout their engagement and marriage. Scott frequently quoted her and her letters directly, using her words as the voice for several of his female characters”(Willet). Scott Fitzgerald can be seen within and without of The Great Gatsby. Gatsby met Daisy at a party at her house, many of the officers from Camp Taylor were in attendance.