F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby

War is seen as nothing but bloodshed. However, for many this allows them to shine in a way that they could not back at home. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is placed in the post war era. Gatsby, one of the main protagonists, is a war hero that fought in World War I. World War I is important to The Great Gatsby due to how integrated it is to the past of Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

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.

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

Money, commonly associated with happiness and success, is deceiving because it doesn 't necessarily breed enjoyment at all. Lorraine Hansberry 's A Raisin in the Sun and F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby examine the difference between wealth and appreciation of life. Lorraine Hansberry explains this with Walter, a negro father in a poor family who seeks more money than is realistic to bring happiness into the family. Fitzgerald uses the character Jay Gatsby to show that wealth doesn 't imply success or happiness. Both characters occupy strikingly different roles in their stories, yet decently portray money 's impact on life. In The Great Gatsby and Raisin in the Sun, wealth is made to seem as the key to happiness, but, in essence,

It only takes a spark to start a fire. That spark could be a dream or a passion that has the possibility of growing into something larger than life. To transform that dream into a reality, goals must be set and plans must be made. The goal that many people were pursuing during the Roaring Twenties was the American Dream. It enticed people with the promise of prosperity and success all with a little hard work and elbow grease. Yet somewhere along the way, the goal was lost in the midst of affluence and illegal alcohol. F. Scott Fitzgerald used The Great Gatsby to portray how fulfilling the American Dream became impossible due to the growing desire of wealth and pleasure and the disappearance of social and moral values.

To certain people, Gatsby’s death was a cruel and surprising conclusion to The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. But there is still some mystery around the cause of Gatsby’s death. Upon meeting Gatsby for the first time, one can tell that he has an obsession centered around Daisy Buchanan, his old love, and was dead set on getting her back. Gatsby’s obsession with repeating the past is responsible for his death and Gatsby’s greed put him in a grave. Further into the novel, it is revealed that Gatsby made his abundant fortune on illegal business and trades that were outlawed in the 1920’s. Gatsby’s death could be caused by either his love for Daisy or from his inner need for more. Roger Lewis makes the

Achieving the American Dream means reaching a level of material wealth and social status to almost everyone. Although most people think they would pursue the American Dream with integrity and sincerity, the allure of material wealth often leads people to compromise.Their moral compass often becomes relative and their relational pursuits often become predatory. Throughout The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the morality of society and the pursuit of the American dream through his characters’ actions and worldviews.

The American Dream in simple terms is the essence of Americanism; it is the belief that social mobility, prosperity, and financial success are attainable by hard work regardless of social class and nationality. The American Dream exemplifies what every immigrant imagines as they walk through Ellis Island or cross the border from Mexico. It is the ethos of America, the defining image of the average upper-middle class family man. This idea of prosperity begins as far back as the founders of the United States. Benjamin Franklin, one of the most famous Framers in American history, built himself from the ground up. Franklin’s The Autobiography is both his personal regimen for prosperity, but also the

Ever since the formation of America, cultural values and ideals have been strongly centered on the belief that any man, no matter his initial station in life, can achieve greatness and prosperity, should he be willing to work hard and have initiative. Americans had trust in the idea that they would find a certain level of success, as long as the aforementioned traits were put into practice; no prerequisites were required to obtain these goals, and all people had a chance to better their situation. However, this long held belief was put into question in the aftermath of the First World War; millions of soldiers and civilians were killed, advanced methods of warfare destroyed homes and cities, and the

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 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.

Humans continually search for success. This success surfaces in forms such as fortune, fame, glory, et cetera. The American Dream encapsulates the ideals of the “New World,” bringing together not only the idea of limitless success, but also its newfound availability and encouragement for embracing the promise land. The Great Gatsby explores the American Dream and “the actual nature of this dream... the manner in which people try to achieve it, as well as the moral implications their actions bring” (Smiljanić, 2). Through The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals the truth of the American Dream by showing that it incorporates the drive for prosperity as well as the actual prosperity itself, but ultimately, the class distinctions amongst Americans, and the never ending search for fulfillment, prevent the dream from being achieved.

What does the word disillusion really mean? The word illusion can have several different meanings, within the same category. The main definition is to be in a deceived state or to see an optical illusion from a faulty perception (of reality). The prefix “dis” means “opposite of,” “apart,” or something negative. So if one is disillusive, does that mean one will always see reality through a clear leans? According to dictionary.com, the word disillusion means, “to free from or deprive of illusion.” Another definition is that one’s largest dream could be shattered into a million pieces, and is broken beyond repair. Integrating this meaning, one may ask, “is it good to be disillusive? Or is it bad?” F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the astonishing book called The Great Gatsby in the 1920s, it maybe perhaps one of the greatest American novels ever written today. When reading this wonderful book, in class and on my own, I found that each character had confronted disillusion at some point. Their individual disillusion kept them in a fantasy world until the truth was revealed and they were left with a choice to continue the fantasy in their own mind or face reality. Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, Jordan Baker, and of course Jay Gatsby, all experience disillusion in different ways through out the book.

In the story of The Great Gatsby, there are many characters and those characters have significant roles in both of the film versions. Gatsby is rich; lives in West Egg and throws big parties every weekend. He had been in a relationship with a woman named Daisy before he entered the war. Nick is poor; lives next door to Gatsby. Daisy is Nick’s cousin; she is married to a guy named Tom. They have a daughter together; She knows that Nick likes her friend Jordan. Tom is a rich guy who lives in East Eggs; he is married to Daisy; he has an affair with a woman named Myrtle. He is racist towards Black people. Jordan is the best friend of Daisy; she cheated during a golf tournament and is a liar. Myrtle is Tom’s mistress; she is cheating