F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

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.

Instead of promoting the idea of hard work and decency, the American Dream now sprouts the want for wealth above anything else throughout the novel. This is most evident in Jay Gatsby, he truly believed that wealth and material items would be able to fix his problems and recreate his happiness from the past. Gatsby was not born into money, he came from a family of poor North Dakota famers. Therefore, he must go out and acquire wealth for himself. However, Gatsby did not make his fortune honestly, throughout the novel it is suggested that he made a profit off illegal and corrupt business deals. This is first suggested when Nick meets Wolfsheim, a business associate of Gatsby, curious of what Wolfsheim does for a living, Nick inquires. Gatsby then tells him, “He’s the man who fixed the World Series back in 1919.” (73) Fixing a World Series is not honest work and it shows that Wolfsheim is a corrupt individual. Furthermore, Gatsby does business with Wolfsheim which implies that he has not earned his money through honest means either. Nevertheless, the wealth alone does not bring Gatsby the happiness and satisfaction he desires. Towards the end of the novel, Nick discovers the reason that Gatsby went through all the trouble to acquire his massive fortune, it was to reconnect with the love of his life and recreate the happiness they once shared together. However, in chapter six, Nick reminds Gatsby that the past cannot be repeated. Gatsby, who is infinitely full of hope

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

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,

When scrolling through Twitter, Instagram and other social websites people see models and actors with a skinny waist, flawless skin, big butt, and large breasts. People are tricked by these photoshopped, unrealistic, and inhuman models. This is true for businessmen, politicians, and even people in our own communities. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, all the characters in the book portray themselves differently from their true selves because they are corrupted by greed, money, or love. Gatsby, in the beginning, had a sense of mystery and intrigue, about him but when we actually meet him and get to know him we discover that he is a lying, despicable man. Many people want to look better in other’s eyes and will distort their

Gatsby is not ‘great,’ as the title of Fitzgerald’s book might insinuate, and this becomes a metaphor for how the American dream is unrealistic as well. Gatsby made all of his money through illegal activities, including bootlegging (141). This portrays how Fitzgerald believed that the American dream is so unreachable that the only way to attain it is in a dishonest manner. Also, even after all of the illegal activities, Gatsby is still discontent with his dream, and begins throwing lavish parties in order to attract Daisy, with whom he had previously been in a relationship (83). In the end, however, Gatsby is murdered, but still is unable to become truly happy with his life, even after becoming wealthy and finding Daisy. Gatsby’s inability to ever find real happiness shows that not only

Gatsby, who is generally an unhappy person, this situation, and a feeling of emptiness in life, drowns himself in worthless people, doing worthless things. This relates to the idea of the American dream, everyone wants to achieve this in a sense “social/wealth greatness” and when they achieve this, they expect to live an amazing life and get whatever they want, whenever they want it. Gatsby 's whole life is taken over by one hopeless ideal, and he doesn’t even notice or acknowledge it until it 's too late. Gatsby has many great ideals within his heart, yet cannot use them to his advantage bease the only thing on his mind is to achieve a hopeless impossible goal. While he is the ideal gentleman, and he has in a way achieved idealism, his wealth and fortune is gained through illegal activities, and on top of that,  he is still in love with another man’s wife. Gatsby has ideals, and then he has reality, and he cannot seem to understand that they both don’t go hand in hand.

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.

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

"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,

This American dream was coined in the early years of the American settlement with the mostly poor immigrants searching for opportunities (The American Dream, n.d). Since the story is set in the 1920’s, the rules to attaining the American dream has slowly faded, the values have changed and instead of individuals striving for equality, they are instead concerned with trying to get rich as soon as they can. The author uses the main character Jay Gatsby to portray the American dream. In the novel Gatsby returned as a soldier from the war, was intent on winning back the love of his life Daisy and as such made an attempt to change his life and in doing so immediately went from having nothing to being very wealthy. “Gatsby appears to have risen from being a poor farm boy with no prospects to being rich, having a big house, servants, and a large social circle attending his numerous functions. He has achieved all this in only a few short years, having returned from the war penniless,” (Three Themes, 2016).