The American Dream In The Great Gatsby By Scott Fitzgerald

The American Dream in the 1920’s revolved around the accumulation of wealth. Jay Gatsby believes he can buy happiness, which to him, consists of having Daisy to himself. He believes he can do this by achieving a level of respect in East Egg; known for new money. His goal was to make fortune to please Daisy.

The author Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby as a novel that talks about and covers American issues in the 1920s. He shows in the novel the carelessness and selfishness of everybody at the same time by portraying all of them in the location of west and east egg. Fitzgerald talks about a couple different topics throughout the novel. One of those is," the Attainment of a dream may be less satisfying than the pursuit of it" and the second one is"the American Dream is corrupted by the desire for wealth". He uses those themes to show how americans lived at a different time.

Imagine living in a world where dreams that come to mind are highly reachable and come without a struggle, a place where fantasies come into play. Americans far and beyond believe the American Dream is something as simple as owning a home or starting a family, but for Jay Gatsby, that was simply not enough. As a man with implausible dreams, Gatsby thought differently when compared to others. His American Dream was not a job or a home, but rather a married woman who is known as Daisy Buchanan. As Gatsby placed the sole focus of his life on Daisy, he became obsessed. Through a passage in The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald employs personification and diction to convey the idea that Gatsby was lost in the unique distortion of his own reality with Daisy.

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.

Gatsby and the American Dream Have you ever wondered who could ever live the American dream? In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby is the main character and in love with something he does not have, but lives a dream to others. He has all the money he needs to throw parties and have fancy things. Gatsby is considered to be living the American Dream. In the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows how Gatsby represents and lives the American dream. In the book The Great Gatsby, it shows how Gatsby lives the American Dream.

In 1920s, people who lived in New York started to become richer and richer by buying and selling stocks, and became affordable to seek the American Dream. However, as the economic boom continues, some of them sensed that the bubble boom didn’t last long. The author of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald was probably one of them. The reason why The Great Gatsby caught attention of people lived after the World War is not simply because the story is emotionally touching and well depicted. Jay Gatsby’s strong character and his way to seek his faith definitely represent the magnificent grasp of the American Dream which people lived in the time had sought. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald has displayed not only a documentary on the Gatsby’s wealthy life but also the withering of the American Dream through the Gatsby’s death.

The idea of American Dream as presented by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Great Gatsby novel involves rising from poverty or rags to richness and wealthy. The American Dream exemplifies that elements such as race, gender, and ethnicity are valueless as they do not influence the ability of an individual to rise to power and richness. This American Dream makes the assumption that concepts such as xenophobia are non-existent in America a concept that is not true and shows vagueness of the American Dream. In his novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the Great Gatsby to demonstrate the overall idea of living the American dream. Gatsby leaves his small village of farmers and manages to work his way up the ladder although some of the money he uses to climb the ladder is associated with crime “He was a son of God and he must be about His Father's Business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty” (Fitzgerald 6.7). This phrase shows that Gatsby wasn’t meant for a life similar to that of his father but rather destined for greatness. However, his dream his short-lived and he doesn’t make it to the top as Daisy who is a symbol of his wealthy rejects her and a series of events transpire that result in his death before he could live his American Dream alongside everyone else who was working up the ladder to live the American Dream.

shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel… Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. ‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds” (Fitzgerald 92). Daisy had married Tom and he was wealthy but when she went to Gatsby’s mansion, she realized the extent of his wealth. Gatsby and Daisy’s main focus in their lives was money. Money was all they really cared about. “Jay Gatsby’s quest, the wealthy Daisy, represents the emptiness of an American society focused on money, a sordid but accurate view of the American Dream” (Adamson 25). The American society is basically empty with a large focus on money rather than the significant things in life.

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.

Seeing something beautiful that will make one’s life much better makes a person insane in trying to get that thing for himself. In the 1920s, poor people would do whatever it needs to achieve their American Dream even if it was something terrible. That’s because they want to end their misery of living poor and live the life that they always wished. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the author uses the fact of Daisy marrying Tom because of his money while she loves Gatsby, Myrtle cheating on her husband with Tom looking to be rich, and Wilson starting his own little business looking for wealth, to show how the American Dream is impossible because it is based off of greed.

Happiness is overpriced. During the 1920s, wealth is the only concern that’s relevant or that’s worth achieving. though we seek prosperity and contentment, Americans confuse that utopian thought with what they sincerely desire. Desire is a recurring element that appears in The Great Gatsby, it’s a “need” that never ceases to be wanted. Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom confuse the obtainment of desire with wholeness . When these characters continually attain this aspiration that would make them happier, they are left with mistaken fulfilment. Through the depictions of Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom, Fitzgerald shows us that sometimes we corrupt the American Dream with a distorted vision of pure happiness.

The American Dream is what pushes the characters in The Great Gatsby. It is the idea or belief that everybody has the opportunity to accomplish their goals and become wealthy and prosperous if they only work hard enough. There is or are some things about the American Dream that never seem to meet the expectations and needs of society. The characters in The Great Gatsby cannot grasp the concept that The American Dream is somewhat an illusion because not everybody can obtain what they would like if they work hard. Gatsby's inside look on the destroyed American Dream gives sarcasm to the novel because he is the only one that actually ‘works’ for his station. Gatsby was the only person who believed solely in the power of the American Dream. He honestly thought that his efforts and dreams would be effective in the end. Gatsby's one devastating flaw is that he believes in his ability to achieve the American Dream. His disgrace is the fact that he thinks that things can simply go back to the way they were previously.

In our society today, we are taught to achieve high levels of success in order to obtain wealth and power. Many individuals aspire to achieve the ideal American Dream. The American Dream is essentially completing society’s standards of a high-class lifestyle where individuals have a happy family, money, and a charming home. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby works to achieve the American Dream in hopes of finding his way back to Daisy. While in the poem “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, there is not much indication of what makes Richard Cory feel dispirited. In attempt of achieving the American Dream each title character loses his life. Neither of these stories fulfill the ultimate American Dream; happiness is not acquired by possessing money.

The American dream in The Great Gatsby written by Scott Fitzgerald, About fighting for what we want. American Dream makes us strong and brave to do things we would not do. American dream can be clothes, money, luxury, and love. In the novel the American Dream is what we picture but if we dig deep inside there are crushed dreams and conquered but failed. American dream is not what we all pictured in the Great Gatsby but they make us believe how great is life is. The Great Gatsby is about high class society where does not mean that all American Dreams come true but there are always a bad ending to their American Dreams.

      The American Dream is deeply rooted in American ideals.  It implies that an individual's determination is the deciding factor in the accumulation of wealth, freedom, and total happiness.  It creates an equal ground on which anyone and everyone can attain spiritual and material fulfillment.  "Although these ideals can be traced back to the original settlers, perhaps one of the earliest written manifestations of the Dream can be found in Jefferson's Declaration of Independence" (Spindler 41).  The Declaration of Independence promises the rights of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" to all American citizens.  Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" is both a qualification and a