Similarities Between The American Dream And The Great Gatsby

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.

“... it is a story about failure and death, an idealistic quest for unworthy goals, and the almost total collapse of the aspirations of nearly all of the principal characters” (Nagel 113). The Great Gatsby is a story that represents people’s unachieved aspirations that lead to a sad existence and ultimately death. They are all trying to attain one thing, the American Dream. The American Dream is almost impossible to attain and that is why a lot of people failed when it came to living out the American Dream. In Fitzgerald’s, “The Great Gatsby”, Gatsby tries to attain the American Dream through Daisy throughout the whole novel but fails and is left heartbroken.

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.

It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it” (George Carlin). George Carlin, criticizes the dream of prosperity, a promise to any individual for happiness and material success, if they try hard enough, Carlin realizes the reality of the unobtainable dream. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald offers an insight to the lavish life of the 1920’s, or as he coined, The Jazz Age. The novel follows the character of Nick Carraway as he learns the tragedy of an excessive lifestyle that is lived by Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald is able to see past all the luxury and grandeur to expose the unhappiness and misery that tells the reader that money does not bring true joy. The novel describes

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.

The 1920’s was a decade of striving for prosperity and the American dream. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s historical fiction novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby builds his way up to wealth and does everything he can to attain his goal, but is ultimately unable to attain it. Through his decision to set up The Great Gatsby as a frame story, Fitzgerald conveys the theme that the American dream is not necessary attainable, no matter how much one sacrifices or works towards it.

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.

At the very end of The Great Gatsby, Nick perceives the difference between the American Dream of the early explorers who stood in a new, green, flawless world abundant in its promise, spiritual in its beauty, and the illusionary and materialistic dream of the Jazz Age. Although Gatsby’s wealth shows that he achieved the American Dream. Ultimately, F.Scott Fitzgerald uses light and dark imagery and diction of defeat in order to suggest that Gatsby’s obsession with the past has built his dream, while conveying Gatsby’s battle with his past is what made him lose.

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.

When it came to Gatsby, he was interested in Nick’s simplicity but he was also intrigued at Nick’s relation to Daisy, his long-lost lover. In the novel it states, “had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.” (Fitzgerald, 97). This quote shows how Gatsby had reconnected with Daisy through Nick and how Nick admired Gatsby’s passion when he finally meet up with Daisy once again. Lastly, the tragic death of Gatsby opens up a new realm of things for Nick. In the novel, it states, “After Gatsby’s death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes’ power of correction.” (Fitzgerald, 176). He now reflected on how Gatsby’s passion and drive to live allowed Nick to view life in the real world differently. Nick, who was directly inspired by Gatsby, now was left confused as he wanted to learn all that one needs for success, though the death made it impossible. The last page of the novel, it ends with, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eludes us then, but that’s no matter - to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arm farther.” (Fitzgerald, 180). This quote shows how much of a deep impact Gatsby’s death had on Nick. Now

In the 1920’s the United States was rapidly changing. World war 1 was great for American businesses, and the economy grew immensely. Americans, of all races and gender, were living the high life, and the American dream was born. The idea of this dream was that everyone should be rich, happy, loving, and can be if they work hard enough. The American dream was very diverse and looked different for everyone; women were completely new people, African Americans were free, and immigrants were flooding into America. In the story, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald does a poor job of portraying the American dream for most of the country.

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.

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

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