The Great Gatsby American Dream Failure Essay

The failure of the American Dream The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream. The American Dream is the ideal that every U.S. citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success through hard work. The failure of the American Dream is represented by Myrtle Wilson, Daisy Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby. Myrtle Wilson's dream is to have an opulent, happy life.

Fitzgerald’s novel, the Great Gatsby is one of the most meticulously written story of all time. This book incorporates different themes, yet the shadiness of the American Dream is the most significant one. The American Dream designates that one starting very low on their economic or social status and getting success and wealth trough their arduous work. Having a big house, a nice car and a happy family show the success of the American Dream. This dream is also shown by the concept of a self-made man, who struggles through life to get successful and wealthy. This dream does not only cause corruption but also destruction.

Dreams are a compelling force in people’s lives. They are what propel them forward each and every day in an effort to reach something better. The American Dream has been sought after by millions all over the world for hundreds of years. This country was founded on the belief that anyone could achieve their dreams. However, in the 1920s these hopes and aspirations began to splinter until they ultimately shattered. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism, setting, and theme to depict the unattainability of the American Dream.

The American Dream is dead. This is the main theme in F. Scott Fitzgerald 's novel The Great Gatsby. In the novel Fitzgerald gives us a glimpse into the life of the high class during the roaring twenties through the eyes of a moralistic young man named Nick Carraway. It is through the narrator 's dealings with high society that readers are shown how modern values have transformed the American Dream 's pure ideals into a scheme for materialistic power and further, how the world of high society lacks any sense of morals or consequence. In order to support this message, Fitzgerald presents the original aspects of the American Dream along with its modern face to show that the once impervious dream is now lost forever to the American people.

In the past the American Dream was an inspiration to many, young and old. To live out the American Dream was what once was on the minds of many Americans. In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream was presented as a corrupted version of what used to be a pure and honest ideal way to live. The idea that the American Dream was about the wealth and the possessions one had been ingrained, somehow, into the minds of Americans during the 1920’s. As a result of the distortion of the American Dream, the characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby along with many others, lived life fully believing in the American Dream, becoming completely immersed in it and in the end suffered great tragedies.

The American Dream is where anyone can rise to the top with hard work and make it a reality. However, a rich and wealthy man named Jay Gatsby, who known for throwing lavish parties attempts to rekindle an unrequited love. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby states “Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men”( Fitzgerald 6). Although Gatsby reaches wealth and fortunate along with the American dream, holding on to the past becomes his downfall.

The American dream is the idea that was presented through American literature. The Dreamer aspires to rise from rags to riches, while engrossing in such things as wealth, love on his way to the top and to West Egg. In 1920’s early settler’s rooted to the United States Declaration of Independence who demonstrates that “All men are equal”. The dream of a land that life can be better place that is richer and fuller for every man that gives themself the opportunity for others through his ability or achievements. The American Dream was not started for the fact of motor cars and high wages but dream of social order for every man to attain the fullest stature. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is a self-made man who started out with no money to a proposal to achieve his dream. He is so eyeless by his cars and love for Daisy that he does not see that money cannot buy love or happiness. Fitzgerald demonstrates how a dream can become depraved by one’s focus on wealth, love and hatred.

The idea of the universal American Dream expressed in the essays, “Paradox and Dream”, by Nobel prize winning author John Steinbeck, Time’s Jon Mechon’s 2012 article, “Keeping the Dream Alive”, and sociology professor, Ruth Sidel’s essay, “The New American Dreamers”, from her book On Her Own: Growing Up in the Shadow of American Dreams, is that if Americans work hard enough, they will reach a point of total security and comfort. All authors seem to also agree that this dream is a myth. (EXPAND) The American Dream is no longer realistically achievable for the majority of Americans because of the ever growing gap between classes and the illusion of equal opportunity.

In the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates what exactly the American dream meant in the 1920s. Luxury, money, cars and parties symbolize the “American Dream” at this time period. Everyone’s ambition was to accumulate enough wealth to afford themselves comfortable lifestyles. As a matter of fact, these variables were all achieved by Jay Gatsby, a poor boy full of hopes and dreams. However, this novel shows how reality will always end up shattering any expectancy, including the American dream. All in all, Gatsby represents the reason people move to America, to aspire either for wealth, education, or any other goals.

The American Dream in the 1920s was presumed to be a time that anyone, no matter what gender or what social class you are born into, has the capability to gain wealth and climb your way up the social ladder. It was a time where riches and wealth became the priority of everyone, and your name in society meant whether you would have a journey to success or failure. Materialism was key in this time period. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses theme to show that the great American Dream has been corrupted by the desire for wealth.

The American Dream means that the ideal American achieves success though hard work and determination. It alludes to the idea that anyone who tries in America can become successful. That all it takes to make the American Dream come true is to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. This is exactly what Gatsby is describing in his quote on page 73.

What is the American Dream? Sure, we’ve heard of it in movies or maybe a song, and maybe even read about it in a book. The American dream is the ideal life; the fact that fame can be achievable no matter race, gender, sexual orientation, or age is ideal. This is what makes the American dream just that, a dream. Yet some characters are able to achieve this dream, some character like Jay Gatsby. For the others, for those who voyaged off to America to achieve greatness, well, they were just met with failure. The failure of the American dream as well as Gatsby's dream are very prominent aspects in the novel The Great Gatsby. Both Gatsby’s dream of having Daisy once more, and the dream of going to America, working hard, and having guaranteed success,

F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, relates and connects to the themes that are prominent in Gatsby through his life history and experiences. Fitzgerald’s father failed to be a successful business man, so the family had to rely on Fitzgerald 's mother’s family for support. Additionally, Fitzgerald is similar to the narrator of Gatsby, Nick Carraway, because he too grew up with wealthy friends despite only being middle class. The Great Gatsby was placed in the nineteen-twenties; the decade after the war. The decade is known as the roaring twenties and is a time where people are starting to build a life for themselves. The American dream became a significant ideal as many Americans began to start their lives. Unfortunately, a great number of people strived for wealth, but it is the wealthy that are discontent and live unfulfilling lives. It is according to the American dream that anyone should be able to have their dream; except, it is the poor and lower class that struggle to attain their goals through honest means. Finally, no amount of hard work can change the social class barriers that exist to divide the lower class and the upper class. The American dream is an ideal created to instill Americans with the idea that with hard work, determination, and initiative they can achieve success and prosperity; however, this is unrealistic and unachievable. After the war, many people started to build a life for themselves whether it be by starting a business or

For generations many have immigrated to this great nation know, as the United states of America, all seeking for their share of the American dream. The American dream is the philosophy that anyone can become successful through hard work and perseverance. The 1920’s embodies this concept like no other decade in American history. It is also during this time frame that one sees the perversion of this dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests in his novel, The Great Gatsby that there is a right and wrong way to obtain the American dream. Throughout the novel, Gatsby is symbolic for the materialistic nature of the American dream and its corruption in the 20th century.

The Death of the American Dream F. Scott Fitzgerald was an American novelist who wrote books during the Jazz Age. One of his famous writings was The Great Gatsby. When America was first founded, people around the world believed in a philosophy called “The American Dream”. That dream was a belief to be able to have a perfect home, spouse, children, a successful job, and achieving wealth. But Fitzgerald wrote this book to show that the American Dream does not exist, as it is just a myth.