Happiness In The Great Gatsby

The Pursuit of Satisfaction: An Analysis of How Chasing the Ideas of the American Dream Leads to the Characterization of Prominent Figures in The Great Gatsby.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby contains a vast array of colorful characters who are in different situations in their life. Many of them, however, have achieved wealth, luxury, and seemingly everything they ever dreamed of; however, they all live a rather shallow life. The American Dream proclaims that anybody should be able to achieve wealth and prosperity, and Gatsby in particular appears to be a living personification of the American Dream. He went from being poor to incredibly affluent, yet everything he yearns for, and achieves, fails to meet his expectations. In many instances, despite the actualization of their dreams, the characters in the story often appear unsatisfied and unfulfilled; Fitzgerald uses these moments of dissatisfaction

In the song “Can’t Buy Me Love” written by the Beatles, they claim that they can buy anything there friend desires but it sure can not buy them love (Genius, 1964). In the story, Fitzgerald shows us many examples of Jay Gatsby’s way of living in having a lot of money and he constantly tries to use that money to win Daisy away from Tom, her husband. Just like in the song Gatsby does not achieve the love of his old friend Daisy with money. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby” a wealthy man, Gatsby makes strong efforts to win back the heart of his lover, Daisy Buchanan. F. Scott Fitzgerald also demonstrates through the characters of “The Great Gatsby” that money cannot buy one's happiness.

On the other hand Tom and Daisy’s relationship was incredibly flawed, however they suited each other in terms of social class. They both had the same shallow views, as Nick states in the end, “they were careless people, Tom and Daisy, they smashed things up and creatures and retreated back into their money and vast carelessness.” The ending of the novel reinforces the idea that in such a morally corrupt society only relationships concerning those of the same social standing could work even in the slightest, and even so those relationships were doomed to a certain extent.

Loneliness is oftentimes considered one of the greatest plights of human existence. It is a feeling that when felt, any living creature looks to shed. It is perhaps for this reason that loneliness is such a powerful theme throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby. The plot itself follows that of a lonesome man looking for love, and each and every character reflect an aspect of loneliness within their core. The book even sets up a certain setting despite its grandiosity, and sets the place for this loneliness to flourish. The loneliness felt by each of the characters causes them all to commit terrible acts that might not necessarily have happened if their minds were not muddled by their feelings. At times they almost appear drunk upon this bleak

The American Dream: Is is fact or fiction? In the United States’ Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers set forth the idea of an American Dream by providing us with the recognizable phrase “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”. The green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock symbolizes Jay Gatsby’s “Pursuit of Happiness” in the novel, The Great Gatsby, set in the 1920s on Long Island, New York. The American Dream can be defined as “the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American Dream is achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, not by chance” (Fontinelle, Amy). At the birth of our country in 1776, our founding fathers introduced the American Dream as a personal desire to pursue happiness; however, the pursuit of happiness was not intended to promote self-indulgence, rather to act as a catalyst to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit. As our country has changed, the idea of the American Dream, in some cases, has evolved into the pursuit of one’s own indulgences such as material gain regardless of the consequences.

Happiness is the best and the worst, it is pleasing and painful. Is happiness the state of being happy? Shouldn’t money bring the state of being happy? In the book The Great Gatsby money cannot buy you happiness. Gatsby had to find out the hard way.

Imagine winning the lottery and being a multimillionaire. Now think, would having all of this money cure personal problems and provide endless happiness? F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, demonstrates how wealth cannot buy happiness. Keeping in mind the early 20th century setting, people and social status were usually distinguished by wealth. Throughout the novel, several instances occur where wealthy people become involved in serious conflicts related to money. The greed for wealth in present time, and in the 1920’s, conquers nothing in the search for happiness.

In “The Great Gatsby” money was a trend that he wanted. In the novel money was an end to Gatsby. He let money get the best of him thinking that money could buy him happiness. Gatsby thought just because of him having money he could pull the girl of his dream (Daisy).

Aristotle once said that “Happiness is a state of activity”. In other words, pursuing happiness is an activity. The protagonist in the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby emphasis this quotation. Initially Gatsby acquired wealth in order to win daisy over, However Gatsby is still stuck in the past which becomes an obstacle on winning Daisy, in the end he is murdered based on false accusations. In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The author is suggesting that we often try to alter our life, In order to pursue the materialistic happiness.

“The Noblest Art is that of making others happy” is a quote by P.T. Barnum from the new movie The Greatest Showman that reflects my idea of The American Dream; that making others happy will ultimately be rewarded with your own happiness. By pursuing a career that will involve making others happy, I can live a full happy life. Across my Junior year of high school, I have learned about the value of happiness by reading many differing texts. Novels like The Great Gatsby, as well as articles focusing on happiness, have provided me with a new idea of what happiness truly is, and have challenged me to make decisions on what I want to do as a career. By reading multiple sources connected to the American Dream, I have discovered that happiness is

The overall mood of these two or three pages is gloomy and rainy, even though it should be happier than that; it describes the first meeting after so long between Daisy and Jay Gatsby. They once loved each other and even wanted to get married; this meeting is supposed to be a happy one, so one chould think that Fitzgerald would have been better to write that it was a sunny day, with birds singing and with warmth that represents the happiness between Jay Gatsby and Daisy.

The Great Gatsby is a novel that illustrates the society in the 1920's and the associated beliefs, values and dreams of the American population at that time. These beliefs, values and dreams can be summed up be what is termed the "American Dream", a dream of money, wealth, prosperity and the happiness that supposedly came with the booming economy and get-rich-quick schemes that formed the essential underworld of American upper-class society. This underworld infiltrated the upper echelons and created such a moral decay within general society that paved the way for the ruining of dreams and dashing of hopes as they were placed confidently in the chance for opportunities that could be seized by one and all. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the

In the novel Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald asserts the idea of Pursuit of Happiness and modernism through the American Dream, alcohol, and wealth in a tremendously complex love story between Jay Gatsby who falls in love with Daisy Buchanan. Coming from a poor family, he creates success, with love as his motivation. In a society where money conquers all, Gatsby strives towards getting Daisy back. The American dream has changed as time moves on focusing on wealth rather than pursuing one’s happiness.

In the novel, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author establishes materialism and wealth as a corruption to the American dream. The American dream embodies the idea of self-sufficient, honest and intelligent individual with a happy successful life. It is also the idea of the pursuit of happiness but Daisy Buchanan a wealthy aristocrat goes after the empty pursuit of pleasure, portraying her character as a disillusionment of the American dream and how much it lost its good values. The wealthy are blinded by all their money, such as the Buchanan’s who forget the real idea of the American dream leading them to having no morals or values. The money gives them the ability to walk all over others, careless of whom they hurt and