How The American Dream Corrupted In The Great Gatsby

The American Dream is what we all aspire to achieve. The idea of starting off with nothing and to become something has caused millions of people from all corners of the world to immigrate to this country for over 300 years. However, what exactly is the American Dream? F Scott Fitzgerald answers this question within his novel The Great Gatsby. Through the eyes of Nick Carraway, Fitzgerald analyses the high class of the 1920s and reveals that the American Dream has been distorted from a pure ideal of security into a convoluted scheme of materialistic power. Fitzgerald incorporates the aspects of both the Òold dreamÓ & the Ònew dreamÓ in his tragic story to depicts how the inflexible dream has been corrupted and lost forever.

The American Dream is a worldwide known idiom and it emphasizes an ideal of a successful and happy lifestyle which is oftentimes symbolized by the phrase “from rags-to-riches”. It originated out of the ideal of equality, freedom and opportunity that is held to every American. In the last couple of decades the main idea of the American Dream has shifted to becoming a dream in which materialistic values are of a higher importance and status. The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925 during the “Jazz Age”. Jay Gatsby is a parvenu who worked himself his way up. He is the main character and he has a quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan and he has a need for

The American Dream, is an idea that all Americans are familiar with, no matter what age they are. It is the dream that everyone has an equal opportunity, to use hard work and integrity to achieve success. The American Dream is an integral aspect of Jay Gatsby’s life in the novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The novel follows Jay Gatsby, as told by Nick Carraway, through the trials and tribulations that correspond with newfound wealth and the quest to find true happiness in a cynical and testing environment. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream has the power to corrupt individuals, through his depictions of wealth, materialism, and the consequences they inflict in the character’s lives.

The American dream is the belief that all Americans can achieve personal happiness and success through hard work, initiative, and determination. It says that all people should and do have the opportunity to achieve this. It was meant to encourage Americans to strive for their dreams and make an attempt to turn dreams into reality. The Great Gatsby shows how the American dream is represented by the American people. Fitzgerald, however, uses symbolism to show that the American dream is corrupted due to Americans’ view of it and how they strive to achieve it.

The definition of the American Dream is something that is defined by a person, and in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s case the American Dream is defined as unreal. Fitzgerald’s lived in the roaring twenties and the time of the party and fun, and the time that caused the stock market crash and depression. The pessimistic thought process of Fitzgerald rubs off on his novel, The Great Gatsby, a story entangled with love triangles, drama, and death. In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald’s poor life leads to his belief that the American Dream is not achievable, as seen through the literary devices of Characterization of Jay Gatsby, Nick carraway, and Myrtle Wilson.

F. Scott Fitzgerald proposes that the American Dream is corrupt and also a mediocrity that anyone in America can rise from rags to riches as in the real

The American Dream is like a beautiful yet poisonous mushroom. Its colorful appearance lures humans and animals to consume it, but the outcome results in death if left untreated. The American Dream lures people into thinking that their dream and their social class can be changed with hard work and determination. However, the results are deadly in The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald with all that tried. Through the use of imagery, Fitzgerald characterizes Jay Gatsby as ambitious, naive, and selfish, demonstrating how time and a corrupt, rigid and selfish society contributes to the non-existence of the American Dream.

Through the decades, individuals have created a representation of how the American Dream should be. This dream as historian James Adams referred to as “That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” However, during the time of Fitzgerald, the writer of The Great Gatsby, the American Dream was about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. Furthermore, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a variety of literary devices to portray the American Dream. He introduces Gatsby, a poor man who hopes and dreams to spend a life together with Daisy, extending arms to reach the green light.

“That locality is always vaguely disquieting, even in the broad glare of afternoon, and now I turned my head as though I had been warned of something behind. Over the ashheaps the giant eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleberg kept their vigil, but I perceived, after a moment, that someone’s eyes were regarding us with peculiar intensity from less than twenty feet away”(Fitzgerald 124). The eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleberg watches over all the characters while they live in what they consider the “American dream”. The Great Gatsby, a historical fiction novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, speaks to the readers about the illusion of the American dream. Gatsby’s life and death is a product of an illusion because of Gatsby’s determination for wealth in his youth, the unlawful money he receives, and Gatsby’s love for “old money”.

American politician Marco Rubio once said,“The American dream is a term that is often misunderstood. It isn’t really about becoming rich or famous. It is about things much simpler and more fundamental than that” (brainyquote.com). This concept is true in the novels The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald. In both novels, the protagonists (Holden and Gatsby) are pushed by society to live up to the stereotypical ‘American dream’. Both Holden and Gatsby have high and unrealistic expectations of themselves. They both share fond memories and their different ideas of the American dream; but in the end, they realize their ideas of them are just fantasies. After realising the truth behind the American dream, it leads them to their tragic end. The American dream is not beneficial because it pushes people in society to be something they are not. Both stories are tragic because the pursuit of the dream, and Holden’s individuality.

One of the most influential writers of the early 20th century was a man named F. Scott Fitzgerald. The biggest topic that he wrote about was the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses many different aspects of writing to get his opinion across, such as the outcome of stories like The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams”. He also uses the setting and to explain his beliefs. Based of his work, Fitzgerald believes the American dream is not only unrealistic, but also unattainable.

Illness… American Dream… Corruption. In this book “The Great Gatsby” by Fitzgerald has much symbolism that relates to the American Dream. Specifically, Fitzgerald points out the difference between corruption of an America dream and the causes of illness. “The Great Gatsby” by Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald sees the magic in the American Dream, and wants to achieve it, but the American Dream has a possibility of making you constantly want more than you have, and that is what his novels strive to

"The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream." -Azar Nafisi. In Scott Fitzgerald's critically admired novel, The Great Gatsby, a young man by the name of Nick moves to New York during the roaring 20's to chase the 'American dream' along with thousands of others chasing the same dream. While he's there, he eventually meets his intriguing and well-known neighbor, Jay Gatsby. The two men form a friendship after Gatsby is aware that is long lost love is cousins to Nick Carraway.

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.