The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The American Dream, a long standing ideal embodies the hope that one can achieve financial success, political power, and everlasting love through dedication and hard work. During the Roaring 20s, people in America put up facades to mask who they truly were. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald conveys that the American Dream is simply an illusion, that is idealist and unreal. In the novel, Gatsby, a wealthy socialite pursues his dream, Daisy. In the process of pursuing Daisy, Gatsby betrays his morals and destroys himself. Through the eyes of the narrator, Nick,

The first dream that does not get fulfilled is the one of Gatsby. He starts off as an underprivileged boy and struggles his way to the top. We make his acquaintance when he is on the top of his life. He is enjoying his big house and his vast wealth. The one thing he cannot have is his lovely Daisy. Gatsby’s story reflects the “classical” American dream: Anyone can make anything of himself/herself with just elbow grease, spirit and a whole lot of confidence. Jay loves Daisy and, sadly, she is the one thing which he cannot procure to his “perfect life”.

Although the 1920s was known for its crazy and wild parties, a time for the American society to enjoy the luxurious life as a wealthy citizen, Fitzgerald doubts the benefits of wealth. This is shown through Gatsby’s guests at his

The American Dream is defined as: the belief that through hard work and thrift, all Americans can improve their social status and achieve success. The Great Gatsby is full of the loss and hope of the American Dream. Jay Gatsby is living in his own dream while reality is right around the corner. In the book The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is trying to live his “American Dream” but really he is not living for himself. Gatsby’s American Dream consists of; buying rich things, making people happy and making himself known to the world, and most of all getting the girl of his dreams which is Daisy.

     In perspective, The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald also has many examples of the American Dream. The main character, Gatsby, shows by far the most want for something better in his life. Gatsby often shows this yearning. For example, when he said “You should live in California,” he was inferring that a better life awaits in California.(Fitzgerald,18) Growing up, Gatsby had all that he needed, but from an early age he showed signs of wanting more in life. As he expressed this hi s father would remind him that he was very fortunate by saying “Just remember that all of the

Gatsby portrays the unattainability of the American Dream through his love for Daisy. As shown in Novels for Students, “[Daisy] becomes the embodiment of the American Dream for [Gatsby] instantly”(Telgen 70). Gatsby has held onto his fascination of

The American Dream is a dream about possibilities, and a desire for success. Sometimes you can interpret the dream for money, sometimes for love regardless of what the you think it is, the dreamer works hard to reach this goal. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is driven by his desire to achieve the American Dream. Unfortunately, Gatsby’s drive to achieve the dream also results in him falling victim to it. Essentially, Gatsby falls victim to the American Dream because he is forced to face the reality that his dream is just that, a dream that is out of reach and unrealistic. The novel also shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons.

The Great Gatsby is about the American Dream and the fall of those who attempt to reach the illusional goals. American Dream means that America is a land full of opportunities in which everyone has the possibility to succeed in his life. The dream of Gatsby is not material possession. He only wants to be the riches so that he can fulfill his true American Dream, Daisy.

In The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald depicts The American Dream as a positive meanwhile it gives hope those that want to follow it. The American Dream is something all Americans or incoming immigrants want to have. The Dream includes freedom, opportunities, and responsibility. The dream in its infancy starts when Gatsby relocated himself to West Egg, the dream changes for Gatsby changes when lives across the bay from Daisy, and result of the dream ends when Gatsby dies. Ultimately, Jay Gatsby’s dream was to be with the love of life Daisy, as soon as Gatsby died his life dream had ended. Daisy was the one that Jay kept on thinking about and was truly his soul mate.

The American dream is “an American social ideal that stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity; also: the prosperity or life that is the realization of this ideal”(Webster). Gatsby lives out a version of the American Dream, Gatsby has many expensive possessions and likes to flaunt them“He had just bought a hydroplane and was going to try it out in the morning”. Nick Carraway, his neighbor thought of Gatsby as, “a self-made millionaire who pursues a corrupted version of the American dream”(Sherwood). However, the America Dream of Gatsby’s life is not what it should be and creates problems.

We often hear people trying to define the American dream, but how can it be defined if the definition isn’t consistent? In today’s society the definition of the American dream varies from person to person. Some may say it’s based on getting an extravagant degree from a high ranked college, the amount of money in a bank account, or even something as simple as having a family. It may seem erratic but that’s the beauty of it, everyone’s definition is different, and that’s why it’s obtainable for everyone.

The moment Gatsby died you realise how sometimes no matter how hard you work for something; it still might not come to fruition and the same can be said about the American dream. Gatsby had made it his life purpose to win over Daisy and had sacrificed so much to achieve this goal and losing her was like losing the world. The man had waited many years, resorted to criminal activities and dedicated his life for the sole purpose of one day having Daisy at his side. Before his death, Gatsby put his

Throughout his novel The Great Gatsby, Francis Scott Fitzgerald depicts how, regardless of if someone is living The American Dream and looks happy from the outside, they may be deeply unhappy if they feel something is missing from their life. Main character Jay Gatsby exemplifies this idea because, as a man who has achieved The American Dream and lives a life of extreme wealth, he ultimately dies unhappy because he does not have the woman he loves and longs for from his past. Jay Gatsby lives a life of extreme wealth and fortune and often even throws extravagant parties. To an outsider, it looks like Gatsby is enjoying his life to the fullest. As a living success story of The American Dream, it seems like there is nothing in life that he doesn't have.

The American Dream is a dream about possibilities, and a desire for success. Sometimes you can interpret the dream for money, sometimes for love regardless of what the you think it is, the dreamer works hard to reach this goal. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is driven by his desire to achieve the American Dream. Unfortunately, Gatsby’s drive to achieve the dream also results in him falling victim to it. Essentially, Gatsby falls victim to the American Dream because he is forced to face the reality that his dream is just that, a dream that is out of reach and unrealistic. The novel also shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons. The American dream not only causes corruption but has caused destruction. In terms of the American dream, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals that to achieve anything in life one shouldn’t lose oneself in the process. The main elements of Gatsby’s American Dream is love, wealth and popularity/status. These concepts, Gatsby both attains and falls victim to them in his quest to fulfill his dream, the American Dream.

In the novel The Great Gatsby, the topic of the American Dream is weighted heavily. In fact, the whole novel is written around the American Dream. It is so involved in the foundation of The Great Gatsby, that most of the characters’ lives can be seen as the definition of it. Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby can be observed as the ideal people that everyone aspires to be just like. However, the American Dream is just as it sounds, a dream. One never really knows what is happening beyond what someone will let you see. The idea of the “american dream” is nothing but a phony. Sure, everything always looks shiny and perfect from afar, but just as the character Nick learns in the novel, the idea of perfection is nothing but a fallacy.