The American Doom
In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald critiques the idea that America is a meritocracy and that anyone can achieve the American Dream and become rich and successful if they just work hard enough. Moreover, Fitzgerald represents the American Dream with a pessimistic perspective such as it being a doomed journey to wealth, prosperity, and a high social status as opposed to the conventional: it being an act of settling down, having a family, and providing for them. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald uses the socioeconomic status of his characters, their actions, and the settings in which they live in to justify the illusory nature of the American Dream.
The novel’s protagonist, Jay Gatsby, is the perfect representation of Fitzgerald’s viewpoint of the American Dream because he is this young man who goes from rags-to-riches. However, Gatsby attains his wealth through crime, whereas the traditional way was to do honest, hard work. Furthermore his shady methods and his actions prove the faultiness of Fitzgerald’s version of the American Dream by
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For example, when we first see Gatsby, we see him stretching his hand out towards the green light at the end of the Buchanan's dock, which is a symbol for Gatsby’s hopes and desires of reuniting with Daisy, who is the paragon of money and materialism. In fact, Daisy is Gatsby’s American Dream but in reality she is just a fantasy because she is only human and cannot possibly embody the expectations that Gatsby projects onto her - such as running away from Tom and coming to live with him in his mansion. Likewise, the American Dream is just a fantasy and a concept much too superficial to hold any actual matter. Ultimately, Gatsby’s pursuit of money, status, and Daisy lead him to ruin, which is synonymous of Fitzgerald’s representation of the American
The idea of American Dream as presented by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Great Gatsby novel involves rising from poverty or rags to richness and wealthy. The American Dream exemplifies that elements such as race, gender, and ethnicity are valueless as they do not influence the ability of an individual to rise to power and richness. This American Dream makes the assumption that concepts such as xenophobia are non-existent in America a concept that is not true and shows vagueness of the American Dream. In his novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the Great Gatsby to demonstrate the overall idea of living the American dream. Gatsby leaves his small village of farmers and manages to work his way up the ladder although some of the money he uses to climb the ladder is associated with crime “He was a son of God and he must be about His Father's Business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty” (Fitzgerald 6.7). This phrase shows that Gatsby wasn’t meant for a life similar to that of his father but rather destined for greatness. However, his dream his short-lived and he doesn’t make it to the top as Daisy who is a symbol of his wealthy rejects her and a series of events transpire that result in his death before he could live his American Dream alongside everyone else who was working up the ladder to live the American Dream.
For generations many have immigrated to this great nation know, as the United states of America, all seeking for their share of the American dream. The American dream is the philosophy that anyone can become successful through hard work and perseverance. The 1920’s embodies this concept like no other decade in American history. It is also during this time frame that one sees the perversion of this dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests in his novel, The Great Gatsby that there is a right and wrong way to obtain the American dream. Throughout the novel, Gatsby is symbolic for the materialistic nature of the American dream and its corruption in the 20th century.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, he demonstrates the actions of society and by doing, so he ridicules the high class and lower class, which ended up critiquing the American Dream. The American dream is an idea to give people hope that through hard work one will achieve wealth, fame, and prosperity. This dream symbolizes the desire to attain a luxurious house, car and even a perfect marriage if one is diligent enough. It is represented by the idea of a self-sufficient man or woman who is determined to achieve a goal to become more successful. However, the American Dream is an illusion that only leads to corruption in the pursuit of social mobility.
The Jazz Age, in which The Great Gatsby is set, was an era when the American economy boomed and materialism predominated. Stories of people who had won immense wealth were common in the media at that time. Undoubtedly, in the 1920's many Americans adopted a corrupted and materialistic version of the American Dream. Since Fitzgerald did not directly address the specific issue of the American Dream within The Great Gatsby, we must assume some aspects of Fitzgerald's feelings on the issue from his writing. Within The Great Gatsby, it appears as if Fitzgerald
While there are numerous themes throughout the text of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the most prominent is that of the American Dream. The American Dream is the idea that any person, no matter what he or she is, or from where he or she has come, can become successful in life by his or her hard work; it is the idea that a self-sufficient person, an entrepreneur, can be a success. In this novel, however, it is the quest for this ‘dream’ (along with the pursuit of a romantic dream) that causes the ultimate downfall of Jay Gatsby.
Most define the American Dream as an equal opportunity for all to achieve success through handwork and determination. Many define success as having or gaining wealth and power. This isn 't true for the novel The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald. Instead Fitzgerald represents the withering of the American Dream, in the novel the American Dream is presented more as a overpowering idea of aspirations far from reach, making it less of a dream and more of a distant thought. Throughout the novel Fitzgerald slowly deconstructs the image of the American Dream and builds upon the corrupting nature of wealth. Due to the corrupting nature of wealth we are able to identify the theme of the withering American Dream, which is being represented through
-Throughout the novel, there is a constant reference to the “American Dream.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, even appears to mock the naivety and oblivion that comes with this false reality. Characters like Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby attempt to hold onto the idea of what a perfect and happy life is. They attempt to envision a better and brighter day. They attempt to “start over”, Tom with his mistress, Daisy with her affair with Gatsby, and Gatsby with his affair with Daisy. However, Fitzgerald proves that the notions of a “perfect” tomorrow are flawed, and he does so by having all of their lives (Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby) end with some type of tragedy.
Oftentimes society gets so caught up in achieving greatness that it is blinded to the obstacles of reality. The American Dream can sometimes be so unachievable yet so alluring that people cannot help but strive after it as if it were their destiny. Fitzgerald highlights this phenomenon in his novel The Great Gatsby through many characters and their pursuit of their own American Dreams. Fitzgerald uses figurative language and contrasting diction to show his cynical attitude about the pursuit of the American Dream and the blindness of those who believe in it.
In the past the American Dream was an inspiration to many, young and old. To live out the American Dream was what once was on the minds of many Americans. In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream was presented as a corrupted version of what used to be a pure and honest ideal way to live. The idea that the American Dream was about the wealth and the possessions one had been ingrained, somehow, into the minds of Americans during the 1920’s. As a result of the distortion of the American Dream, the characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby along with many others, lived life fully believing in the American Dream, becoming completely immersed in it and in the end suffered great tragedies.
Fitzgerald's dominant theme in The Great Gatsby focuses on the corruption of the American Dream. By analyzing high society during the 1920s through the eyes of narrator Nick Carraway, the author reveals that the American Dream has transformed from a pure ideal of security into a convoluted scheme of materialistic power. In support of this message, Fitzgerald highlights the original aspects as well as the new aspects of the American Dream in
As the phenomenal politician Bernie Sanders once said, “For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.” In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by Scott Fitzgerald, the “American Dream” plays a crucial role in the plot. Gatsby devotes his life to accomplish his American Dream which consists of wealth and Daisy’s love. But is the American Dream actually what it seems to be? Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald utilizes the symbolic value of the Valley of Ashes, East Egg, and the significance of the color yellow to constantly establish that opulence and the American Dream is deceiving as it leads to moral and societal corruption.
Fitzgerald’s novel, the Great Gatsby is one of the most meticulously written story of all time. This book incorporates different themes, yet the shadiness of the American Dream is the most significant one. The American Dream designates that one starting very low on their economic or social status and getting success and wealth trough their arduous work. Having a big house, a nice car and a happy family show the success of the American Dream. This dream is also shown by the concept of a self-made man, who struggles through life to get successful and wealthy. This dream does not only cause corruption but also destruction.
The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, embodies many themes as the story progresses. Some of these themes are social classes, wealth, and most importantly the American Dream. The American Dream is the idea that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American Dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. Through the use of characters and symbols, F. Scott Fitzgerald implies the American Dream may not really exist and that everyone in the U.S. aims for survival of the fittest, rather than equality.
Gatsby refuses to not meet his aspirations and will fulfill his dream by any means necessary. Although Gatsby’s intentions and motivation to become successful are pure, the way he obtains his status is extremely foul and criminal. Gatsby participates in organized crime, trades stolen securities, and bootlegs illegal alcohol. Instead of Gatsby using his wit and intelligence in an honest hard working way, he participates in corrupt acts, which will guarantee him his wealth and status. It is this aspect of Gatsby’s life where Fitzgerald expresses the decline of The American Dream. He tries to show his readers the demoralization of our society and how greed and power are a form of empty success that a lot of Americans buy in to.
The Death of the American Dream F. Scott Fitzgerald was an American novelist who wrote books during the Jazz Age. One of his famous writings was The Great Gatsby. When America was first founded, people around the world believed in a philosophy called “The American Dream”. That dream was a belief to be able to have a perfect home, spouse, children, a successful job, and achieving wealth. But Fitzgerald wrote this book to show that the American Dream does not exist, as it is just a myth.