How Does The Great Gatsby Relate To The American Dream

I really loved the idea of finding a song about Gatsby, because he is the main character and his life is so interesting. This song really represents what Gatsby is thinking about how he feels. In the song it says “You held me close against your heart” then it goes on to say “Then one day he took you away”. This explains to us what Gatsby feels about Daisy all his life then someone (Tom) took her away. It says, “My life has crumbled since you’ve gone, somehow I must carry on.” This is like Gatsby not knowing how to live life without Daisy and he does not know how to start life again without her. In this quote, it explains how much Gatsby truly wants Daisy but he knows he cannot meet her expectations (money). “Gatsby chased the future. He wanted

The term “The American Dream” was coined in 1931 by American writer James Truslow Adams and described America as a place of opportunity based on one’s ability and hard work. Although the term originated in 1931, the fundamental ideas of the American Dream debuted in 1920’s society and contrasted greatly with previous notions of a stagnant class structure. This was due to the booming post-WWI economy, which provided an increase in accessibility to leisure items and activities, allowing luxuries typically reserved for the upper class to be enjoyed by the masses. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, reflects these social and economic changes. The novel follows the rise and fall of Jay Gatsby, who achieved prosperity in spite of being born the son of a poor, North Dakota farmer. Though many believed in an emergence of class mobility in the 1920’s, the novel The Great Gatsby demonstrates the ultimate inaccessibility of the American Dream - a holistic realization of social and economic equality.

Daisy is a vain lady. She marries Tom for money and status, and turns her back on true love and happiness, which is represented by Gatsby. Her American Dream is to enjoy a luxurious and comfortable life given to her by, hopefully a man who truly loves her, and whom she also loves. The corruption of her human values begins when she decides not to wait anymore for Gatsby, her real love, but to take the opportunity that Tom Buchanan offers, which are money and status. Her choices reveal her vain and superficial nature hidden beneath her beautiful and innocent look. When Gatsby returns with wealth and status in order

Daisy shows this confusion by quoting, “The best thing a woman can be is a beautiful fool because it allows them to get whatever they want.” She has something of an insecurity claiming that girls must be stupid to gain any attention. The love triangle between Daisy, Gatsby, and Tom seems to cause trouble in Daisy since she is in love with both of them. Gatsby wants her to tell Tom she does not love him, but that is untrue. She has a hard time with the decision and is almost too stubborn to pick one of them. Lastly, when she is with Gatsby at his house she starts to cry when he gives her a shirt. She claims that her tears are for the shirts but in reality, it’s her realizing what she could have had if only she had waited for Gatsby to come back from the war. Daisy processes this as she clings onto the fabric of the shirt sobbing thinking about all that Gatsby could have given her since he has, even more, money than Tom.

Clare Boothe Luce once said, “Money can’t buy happiness, but it can make you awfully comfortable when you’re miserable.” Wealth is the American dream, a goal many strive for, but what are they willing to do for it and at what costs? In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the film Chicago directed by Rob Marshall, their yearning for wealth leads many to make demoralizing decisions in order to succeed. Jay Gatsby, one of the main characters in the novel, is a wealthy man who lives in a mansion on the rich side of the city. Gatsby was in love with a woman named Daisy who ,while he was at war, left him for a wealthy man. Hence the reason why Daisy became Gatsby’s American dream and so he worked his way up the social classes to win her back. In the film Chicago, Roxie, a married woman, had an affair with a man who had “connections” with those in the dancing/singing industry. He lied and, consequently, she ended up shooting him. In prison, Roxie’s case became the story of the century and aided her ‘fame’. Although these works demonstrate that the American dream is achievable, based on the character's success, after closer analysis it is clear that the American dream is only achievable through corruption.

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald effectively portrays 1920’s America and its twisted, unsavory values. The novel has been called “the American masterwork,” by Jonathan Yardley of The Washington Post, because of the novel’s characterization of the Jazz Age and all of it’s unsatisfactory glory. One critic has written, “The theme of Gatsby is the withering of the American dream.” Fitzgerald’s work validates this statement. The Great Gatsby wonderfully depicts the death of the American Dream through the loss of humility and rectitude. The American Dream is the ideal that anyone, regardless of race, class, or gender should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. The death of this dream is demonstrated in the novel through rich symbolism as Fitzgerald uses extended metaphors and personification to portray the corruption of the Jazz Age. The American Dream is demonstrated through the color yellow, which symbolizes not only wealth but death. The American Dream is also demonstrated through characters Myrtle Wilson, George Wilson, and Jay Gatsby, as well as their tragic endings while trying to achieve the dream. Tom and Daisy Buchanan achieve money without having to work and the carelessness that results from it.

“I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” (P. 17). This quote shows how she feels about life. This quote came from when she was asked about her child’s potential knowledge. Daisy claimed that the only way to live a spectacular life is to be pretty enough to marry a rich man.

To begin with, in the beginning of the novel the reader discovers just how rich Gatsby his, and how luxurious his life is. However, the audience later finds out that this his image of wealth all aspires to win back his true love Daisy. The beginning is important for it’s the reader’s first insight into Gatsby’s dream, and for awhile many believe that it would come true as well as Gatsby did. For instance, Nick illustrates Gatsby’s emotions, when Daisy is turning his house “I think he [Gatsby] revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her [Daisy] well-loved eyes” (Fitzgerald 91). Thus, this demonstrates Gatsby dream of making Daisy happy with his materialistic items, and luxurious lifestyle. It also relates to his hopes of making Daisy happier than her husband ever would, and making her see that as well. In addition, while at Gatsby’s house, Gatsby shows Daisy his shirts from england, Daisy confesses, “They’re such beautiful shirts (...) she sobbed (...) I’ve never seen such beautiful shirts before” (92). In reference, the real reason why Daisy is so sad and emotional is because she is such a materialistic person, that she becomes overwhelmed by Gatsby’s wealth, and also wishes she could live with Gatsby, and his lifestyle. Because of this, Gatsby begins to believe his hard work has payed off. To put all points forward, Gatsby uses his wealth to pull Daisy back into his life, and hopes that by showing her his

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.

For centuries in this country people have believed that through hard work, talent and ambition anyone can acquire great wealth and success regardless of their social class and background, a concept later named “The American Dream” in 1931. However, people have been questioning whether this idea of rags to riches really is attainable to all who work for it, or if it is merely a fantasy and a myth. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism to illustrate the death of the American Dream.

Daisy sees how much Gatsby adores her and likes feeling beautiful and wanted. Daisy describes to Nick the being alone in the hospital after the birth of her daughter: “She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. ‘All right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool--that’s the best thing a girl can be in the world, a beautiful little fool,’” (21). Daisy contemplates her life and realizes that she was simply a prize Tom won. She is not and never will be the only woman in his life, which leaves her feeling unappreciated and insignificant. Daisy wishes her daughter will

Throughout all of time, white men have seen themselves as superior to other races, genders, sexualities and cultures. One way that this statement is supported is through the American Dream. The American Dream is set out to be the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” per the Declaration of Independence. This idea is completely achievable for white, rich men, on the other hand, it is not as easily achievable for a few other groups. The American Dream is a complex set up to try to keep minorities from becoming truly happy and equal.

The American dream is an ideology, a vision that’s form varies from individual to individual, based upon one’s own experiences. Although the one thing that remains constant in every single definition is that this ideology, just as the name states, is only a dream. It is meant to merely drive people to unlock their hidden potential and become their best self, for the sole purpose of living one’s out one’s own definition of success. In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is Jay Gatsby’s inspiration and his opportunity, however, as the book progresses it becomes more evident that not all people share the same opportunity.

“Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey, a modern day song, was best chosen for the love scenes and can be a song that tells about Daisy’s perspective. Every single line of this song can be interpreted in a way into the story. In the verses of the song, it’s talking about how Daisy would describe her experiences especially with Gatsby and how she’s full of riches. Daisy has “seen the world, done it all… seen the world, lit it up as her stage now”, describing her

As Daisy becomes older, society pressures her to think a certain way. Eventually the pressure to become perfect makes her fickle and uncaring for everything but money and status. When Daisy and Gatsby reunite, it is awkward up until he shows her everything he owns now. When Gatsby shows her his expensive English shirts, Daisy begins to cry. She