The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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.

. . . And one fine morning- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald 180). Furthermore, Fitzgerald illustrates that no matter how much effort a person gives, the world will ultimately oppose them. As in Gatsby’s case, he died an unknown figure and nobody dared to attend his funeral to commiserate him. Another instance of Fitzgerald’s opinion regarding the American dream was prevalent through the actions of Myrtle Wilson. Throughout the novel, Myrtle was engrossed in the lavish lifestyle she attained through a surreptitious affair with Tom Buchanan. Myrtle’s personality transformed as she took advantage of Tom’s money by using it to live out her fantasy. Although Myrtle’s American dream occured sparsely, she displayed how materialistic she was by stating, “I married him (George) because I thought he was a gentleman. . . . I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never even told me about it .

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.

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 definition of the American Dream is something that is defined by a person, and in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s case the American Dream is defined as unreal. Fitzgerald’s lived in the roaring twenties and the time of the party and fun, and the time that caused the stock market crash and depression. The pessimistic thought process of Fitzgerald rubs off on his novel, The Great Gatsby, a story entangled with love triangles, drama, and death. In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald’s poor life leads to his belief that the American Dream is not achievable, as seen through the literary devices of Characterization of Jay Gatsby, Nick carraway, and Myrtle Wilson.

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 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.

The American Dream is a recurring theme in Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. The American Dream is all about starting with nothing and making your way to achieve millions of dollars and “happiness.” In The Great Gatsby, by showing Gatsby’s tragic flaw, his belief that money will buy Daisy’s love, Fitzgerald in a way criticizes the American dream. Fitzgerald exudes this image of corruption in the American Dream through aspects of wealth, relationships, and social class.

Fitzgerald's shows Myrtle cheating on her husband with Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s extremely rich husband, and even flaunting it in public so she can up her social status. Myrtle is willing to sacrifice his marriage and dignity to glow up her social status and you can see this when Myrtle was slapped by Tom in the second chapter, it shows how submissive she is willing to put herself to be accepted in the high-class world. “ Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand”(2.37). The American people are willing to go to the lowest point and be humiliated to fit in and achieve their goals. Not only will people be submissive to rich high-class people for their own benefit but they will also change their personality and act a certain way to appeal to the group the want to be in.”” I told that boy about the ice.”Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. "These people! You have to keep after them all the time.”She looked at me and laughed pointlessly””(2.32). This shows Myrtle is trying to act boujee but she ends up looking dumb and exposes her true self even more. You cannot try to escape your true self to fit in with a higher class of people. A person must be born with these mannerisms and lifestyle and that's why Fitzgerald makes the characters not born into the American dream

Myrtle is chasing her American dream by having an affair with Tom Buchanan.Tom is a very wealthy man who is married to Daisy.Myrtle is unhappy with her husband George who is not a very wealthy man.Her image of living the dream was to go with Tom.She felt that her life would be complete and live the life that she was meant to

One of the most influential writers of the early 20th century was a man named F. Scott Fitzgerald. The biggest topic that he wrote about was the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses many different aspects of writing to get his opinion across, such as the outcome of stories like The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams”. He also uses the setting and to explain his beliefs. Based of his work, Fitzgerald believes the American dream is not only unrealistic, but also unattainable.

This attempt to regain Daisy’s love is later destroyed when Myrtle’s husband kills Gatsby at his mansion; “… he [Gatsby] had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream," (Fitzgerald, 172). Gatsby spends his whole life trying to achieve the American Dream in order to win Daisy’s love, and in the end, she decides to stay with Tom. The last piece of his puzzle has vanished and his world of beautiful and luxurious possessions have lost their romantic glitz. In addition, Daisy has love for Tom out of greed, which indicates that she desires someone with wealth, class, and someone who is recognized for their name. In an attempt to notify Daisy of Gatsby’s death, Nick says, “I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them,” (Fitzgerald, 166). This quote represents Daisy's ignorance and although she loves Gatsby, she refuses to leave Tom so she can continue to latch on to his wealth and status. Daisy is obsessed with the American Dream to such a degree that she lets Gatsby die for her sins and leaves with Tom to blow more of their enormous sum of money, and act like Gatsby was never a part of her life. Finally, Myrtle’s affair with Tom shows her desire to live luxuriously, even though she may be living a double life. When discussing her marriage with

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.