The Great Gatsby American Dream Analysis

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the ideals of wealth and dreams are exhibited through the lives and experiences of Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby. Specifically, Gatsby tends to waste his wealth rather than investing for the future. He uses the “green light” to serve as a constant reminder of his dreams and life goals he wishes to pursue. Nick Carraway’s friendship with Gatsby enables him to partake in the wealth and luxuries of Gatsby's lifestyle. The American Dream is brought to fruition through Gatsby’s lavish lifestyle and extravagant parties. Furthermore, the motifs of wealth and dreams are perpetually shaping and influencing the characters’ decisions, experiences and outcomes over the course of the story.

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.

The American dream is the idea of the perfect family and a house with a white picket fence; some people strive their whole life to achieve the dream, but the dream is unachievable—there is no such thing as perfect. The Balance’s article What Is the American Dream? The History That Made It Possible by Kimberly Amadeo says:

The American dream can mean many different things and can be interpreted in different ways. To some people, the American dream is the belief that if a person works hard enough, he or she can be successful in America no matter what race, gender, or nationality. In the 1920’s, the concept of the American dream was very much the same, that an individual can achieve success in life regardless of family history or social status if he or she works hard enough. By having money, a car, a big house, expensive clothes, and a loving family symbolizes the American dream. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the 1920’s is a time period in which the American dream becomes corrupt and dangerous. For Jay Gatsby, a main character in the novel, his American dream is about gaining wealth and material possessions in order to find happiness. Through his decision to symbolize wealth, superficiality, irresponsibility, and foreshadowing, Fitzgerald conveys the the theme that the American dream is a perfect concept and is something that can never be accomplished, but can always be reached for.

There's always a start and an end to a dream. From the start line to the finish line of living out the dream. Gatsby represents the American Dream, he had started near the start line. The start line represents that there's both an advantage & disadvantages, the certain kind that not everyone has the same opportunities for and they’re not in the same social status.

Through the decades, individuals have created a representation of how the American Dream should be. This dream as historian James Adams referred to as “That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” However, during the time of Fitzgerald, the writer of The Great Gatsby, the American Dream was about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. Furthermore, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a variety of literary devices to portray the American Dream. He introduces Gatsby, a poor man who hopes and dreams to spend a life together with Daisy, extending arms to reach the green light.

What is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s view of the American Dream? Did The American Dream destroy people happiness? How?

The American dream is an illusion, and one can never achieve true happiness when one is searching for it. This is what F. Scott Fitzgerald was thinking when, amongst his failing marriage and panicking country, he wrote one of America’s most beloved classics. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, a self-made, overly optimistic millionaire who throws lavish parties in search of his long-lost love, is eventually found to be not only a liar, but a failure as well. This failure portrays a different ideal for Fitzgerald: the American dream. In fact, within his novel, Fitzgerald metaphorically depicted the American dream as unachievable and impractical, using the very title itself.

This light is Gatsby’s motivation as well as his ambition-- his distant goal of being with Daisy. When Gatsby was younger, he was very poor which made Daisy not want to marry him. Gatsby worked hard throughout his life to achieve the core of the American Dream. Gatsby restored himself from absolutely nothing, Gatsby ended up making a lot of money, through an illegal process. He enclosed himself with many material belongings, which he thought that would make Daisy want to be with him. Nick says, “ He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it…” (pg 180). Nick is saying that Gatsby had tried for so long to grasp his dream of being with Daisy and now his dream is

Fitzgerald introduces the light as a symbol of undying longing that Gatsby uses to push him to his intentions of winning over daisy. The green light makes its first debut when Nick sees Gatsby standing outside of his mouth, admiring the green light in the distance. Nick says, “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light…”(24) For Gatsby to attain the green light he sees in the distance, which symbolizes Daisy. It would complete Gatsby's dream, and would serve as the culmination of the pursuit of happiness, but Gatsby’s quest for the green light is inevitably unattainable, and his drive eventually led to his demise. Nick says, “He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it .”(193). Fitzgerald uses the symbol of the green light to portray the idea of longing that Gatsby has for his dream, which ends in the downfall of Gatsby himself, and influencing the plot of The Great Gatsby by pushing and encouraging Gatsby to his impending

Doesn't everyone want to have the American Dream in our society today? One thing that stops someone is their motivation to achieve the American Dream, but that is not the case for Jay Gatsby. He is determined by never giving up on Daisy, the help of Nick, the reward of chasing after his dream, the knowledge of Dan Cody, and the getting to know Daisy. It is about the perseverance and the dedication of getting something done that someone has. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows throughout the story the American Dream and who represents it.

F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the American Dream in the character of Jay Gatsby throughout the novel The Great Gatsby. Gatsby succeeds in changing his life as he goes from having nothing to being very wealthy. His success, however, comes during a corrupt time. How Gatsby made his fortune is not clear but it is clear that he was involved in illegal business transactions. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows that the American Dream is achievable, but only by adding the illegal aspect to Gatsby’s success he also problematizes the American Dream throughout the plot. Throughout The Great Gatsby the character of Jay Gatsby depicts the American dream.

The Great Gatsby is about a couple of friends who have different meanings of each other and how they hide secrets from one another to keep each other safe.This novel was published in 1925 to show what it was thought of to live The American Dream and how it affected others. In the Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The American Dream is seen as people who were never satisfied even if they are wealthy because they just want more in life.

The American Dream is merely the idea that people are desiring something, however the deprivation of it is what makes us want it more than anything. This “something” can be defined as love, happiness, hope, wealth, fame, and the list goes on. Typically, a person is afraid to be uncomfortable in order to pursue their dreams. The human mind is a complex structure that forces us to be afraid of chasing things that could potentially make or break us. When a person receives the thing they once craved, a new goal, or desire, sparks up in their minds. As a human, our minds will never allow us to be completely satisfied.

but it is something that everyone views differently. In this case, “The Great Gatsby” depicts the