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The American Dream in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerlad

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Everyone in America has their own American Dream. These dreams may vary from having a family or becoming a rich business person. The American dream was strongest in our country during the start of the 1920's. America was just beginning to triumph over poverty. People were becoming more successful as a country. Carrie Latet once said, "May I never wake up from the American dream." Along with Carrie, this was the wish of the vast majority of America. In 1929, the Great Depression hit and many Americans did have to wake up from their dream of success. The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerlad, took place during the Roaring Twenties. The main character of this novel was a man named Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald used Gatsby's life …show more content…

Daisy and Gatsby were in love but it did not last long. She told Gatsby that they were from two different classes of society and he could not provide her with the luxuries she was accustomed to. When Gatsby returned home, he learned that Daisy had married a rich man named Tom Buchanan. This just gave Gatsby another reason to want to become wealthy. Gatsby's story parallels itself with America during the 1920's. Like Gatsby, America grew up in poverty. Both Gatsby and America made promises of someday becoming wealthy. At the start of the 1920's, America had just emerged as the hero of World War l.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower told America that it was his dream for every American to have two cars in every garage and two chickens in every pot. This was similar to Gatsby's dream. During the 1920's, America was submerged in success and affluence. Eat, drink and be merry was the theme of American life in the 20's. They were too enveloped in this fast lifestyle to worry about what was important for the continuing success of the country. In 1929, the Great Depression hit, and America was back where it started. Just as America's success crashed, Gatsby himself crashed. His head was too tightly wrapped around Daisy that he did not have a clear mind. Carelessly, he allowed Daisy to drive his yellow cream colored car. Daisy ran over Myrtle Wilson, killing her. This began Gatsby’s demise. Myrtle's husband saw the car that had hit

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