Reasons Between The Great Gatsby And The American Dream

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.

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 American Dream, something we all dream to prosper, however differs from each one of us. Whether it be to obtain riches or love, or simply live happy, we all aspire to cross that finish line at the end of day. The universal theme of the American Dream is presented throughout The Great Gatsby, and is shown throughout many of the characters in which many are emptied, because of their lust for money. For instance, in the novel The Great Gatsby the main character Gatsby shows downfall for the American Dream, because of his ambition, and corruption. The character expresses his downfall through his traits of ambition, and resilience in obtaining his materialistic riches, and most important living happy ever after with his “nice” girl Daisy, the one who got away.

How do we define this ideology of the American Dream? Society has formulated this idea over time. We as people have chosen to base our lives around it and make it our goal to try and achieve something that in all honesty is just this abstract idea that we as have chosen to believe and chase over time. Due to society following this ideology, people have grown to believe that happiness can only be achieved after they have reached the American Dream. You see these advertisements for products that make you think if you don’t own that specific product than you are not going to achieve the American Dream. Media has managed to turn people into these materialistic beings that are just sitting there waiting to be told what to buy next. For my paper I will be analyzing the film The Great and focus primarily on this idea of materialism and more specifically how this American Dream myth and ideology plays into it. Why does the media want us to believe that happiness is derived from the “stuff” we buy and not the things we already have?

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.

Popular culture has taught us that dreams do come true if you believe and work hard

In the United States' Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers "…held certain truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." This sentiment can be considered the foundation of the American Dream, the dream that everyone has the ability to become what he or she desires to be. While many people work to attain their American dream, others believe that the dream is seemingly impossible to reach, like F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby examines the "Jazz-Age" generation's search for the elusive American Dream of wealth and happiness and scrutinizes the consequences of that

The lyrics “ Will you still love me when I’m not longer beautiful? ”(11). To me is the theme of The Great Gatsby novel. Everyone lives in such a grand life with all the riches, the perfect American Dream. The American Dream is one of the main themes in The Great Gatsby. No one actually truly loves each other for personality just off of looks and wealth. Daisy being the main character, this quote describes her the most. The quote shows that she does not actually care about love, more about her looks as she gets older. In the Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald, the song played “ Young and Beautiful” has taken an extremely romantic and passionate depressed tone towards the idea of love and beauty. Lana Del Ray sings in very low tones, quietly and passionate to display how seriously Daisy feels about how she looks rather than her personality or love itself. Since she is very insecure about how she looks, she spends a lot of the time being self conscious about her personality and covers her ability to socialize with her good looks.

Symbolism is a big part in how people express certain feelings or represent important items. The American Dream is a huge achievement that everyone wants to reach. Whether people want to admit it or not, it is a symbol all it’s self. It can be anything really, a great job, a family, white picket fence, even music or attending concerts of your favorite band. The American Dream is something that makes you so happy and what you can achieve or want achieve in your lifetime. The main AMerican Dream is money, a family, and happiness. In The Great Gatsby the american dream is a green light.There are several different colors for the different symbols in the book which are portrayed throughout the book often, and in the right context. Each character is put with that color and in different scenes for different reasons. Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Nick Carraway all portrayed the same color symbol; yellow which stands for death and or/ corruption.

The American dream is the idea that an individual can become successful through hard work, determination, and initiative. While it does take individual initiative to accomplish the American dream, American dreams also take a collective group to accomplish and protect it. Groups have worked together to protect the American dream in many circumstances. For example, in Reagan’s speech, he talks about how people were willing to risk their lives to sign the declaration of independence. One of these men said “If my hands were freezing in death, I would sign that parchment with my last ounce of strength.

What is the American Dream? Everyone has a different definition for their own American Dream. For example, the similarities between my American Dream, and Gatsby’s American Dream is that we both seek happiness, and the difference is that we seek happiness in different ways. I seek happiness in education and Gatsby seeks happiness in love.

Money is not the only thing that determines how successful someone may be in their lifetime. During the roaring twenties becoming rich was a new fascination. Being wealthy showed that the “American Dream” was attained. The American Dream is the ideal that every United States citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Money and power is used to acquire respect, and without it many social connections would be affected.

In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. If you have a dream in America, you can achieve it with old fashioned hard work. Whether it’s going from rags to riches or finding love, the American Dream can offer it. But the ever-popular American dream is easily corrupted. This is greatly shown in the novel The Great Gatsby as it explores both the beauty and the corruption of the American Dream in the 1920’s. In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald includes many aspects in the story which show how the pursuit for the American Dream affected

The Great Gatsby is a love story but it also talks about the American dream. The American Dream is the belief that anyone can be successful in America irrespective of their race, class, nationality or gender if they work hard enough. This dream ignores the problems in the society saying that everyone has the same opportunity and can succeed in life whereas everyone does not have the same opportunity as class and race do play a role in what comes in your life. It was dream that anyone could strike it rich but this bubble soon popped.

Why would someone have a dream? For most people, that dream is the light at the end of their dark tunnel. The narrator, Nick Carraway, tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a crook, a mystery, and a man consumed by his love for a girl. Carraway is not completely involved with the book’s dram, but he does become one of Gatsby’s closest friends. In the novel The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald defines the American Dream as the pursuit of wealth and the pursuit of love, which happens to be what drives a majority of his characters. This dream, like many others, is filled with risk and reward, and is worth pursuing, because any personal goal is the motivation a person needs to get through life.