The Great Gatsby And The American Dream Analysis

The concept of the American Dream was first found in a sermon called “city upon a hill” given by John Winthrop a Puritan as they were on their way to Massachusetts in 1630. As time goes on, the American Dream is used as a popular theme. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses the theme of the American Dream. In the novel Fitzgerald has one of the characters represent the American Dream, showings us what the American Dream is like during the 1920s, and how it explores the idea of America.

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.

the American dream is a concept of going to rags to riches, and working hard to achieve it. The American Dream was brought to light in the 1920's during the golden age. "The Great Gatsby” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about nick, a bond man, who tries to work his way up in the social class system. Along the way he meets Jay Gatsby, and The Buchanan’s, both of which are already upper class, though got there in several ways. In “The Great Gatsby”, F. Scott Fitzgerald, through his characters, reveals that the American dream only results in dissatisfaction rather than the happiness, despite what it promises.

The American Dream is the idea of someone believing you have to have money, power, and respect to be successful. For example parents that have been through a lot to get money, power, and respect. In the novel, “The Great Gatsby” by, “F. Scott Fitzgerald”, the ultimate message about the American Dream is that you need money, power, and respect to be successful. Fitzgerald shows in many ways why he doesn’t believe in the American Dream by the way he uses literary devices like imagery and metaphors and by the way his characters act. The American Dream has not served Americans well because somewhere along the road something wrong happens to the person’s life or career.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, each of the characters are trying to pursue their own “American Dream”. Fitzgerald uses the character of Jay Gatsby to show the overworking of the American Dream, leading to its failure. Throughout the novel, Gatsby is trying to achieve the impossible American Dream he wants. He is trying to win back Daisy Buchanan, the girl of his dreams. His quest to marijuana win her back demonstrates that Gatsby has an extraordinary ability to transform his hopes and dreams into reality. He goes through various attempts to win her back, facing many struggles and problems. The fate of the character Gatsby in The Great Gatsby illustrates how people’s outcomes for the American dream may not always be what they dream for.

The American Dream means that the ideal American achieves success though hard work and determination. It alludes to the idea that anyone who tries in America can become successful. That all it takes to make the American Dream come true is to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. This is exactly what Gatsby is describing in his quote on page 73.

The American Dream in The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald’s idea of the American Dream is having enough cash to buy expensive vehicles and enough whisky to crash them. The dream is living a joyful and luxurious life, minds are set that only wealth could bring such a blessing as happiness. Fitzgerald views the American Dream as something hard to obtain, and portrays it rather dishearteningly. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby chases his dream of romance for years, climbing the stairs of class and wealth and still does not end with his “happily ever after”. The American Dream is an illusion in The Great Gatsby, and is depicted in Gatsby himself, the Valley of Ashes, and Myrtle Wilson.

What is the American  dream to you?  Well in your eyes is the American Dream full of ginormous mansions, sports cars, and parties.  Or is it the dream of being given the opportunity to be successful, living a healthy life, and to have family/friends that love/care for you.  In the story of ‘The Great Gatsby’ Jay Gatsby is a very rich young man who started off in a poor family but, then became a very successful ‘businessman’; which buys him a humongous mansion, several cars, but no ones love.  The real debate is what is the real meaning of the American Dream.

Gatsby changed Nick’s mind on the American dream and what it really is.Nick’s original thoughts on the American dream “...become again that most limited of all specialists, the ‘well-rounded man.’”(Fitzgerald 6),were much like his families in the beginning.Later after the events in his time with Gatsby Nick sees the error of his ways and returns to the Midwest giving up on his bond market dream.”Gatsby was never in it for the money and this revelation eventually caused Nick to give up his quest for wealth in the bond market”(Nagel).It is Gatsby that shows Nick his error and this revelation that wealth isn't the goal he should be focused on. This shakes the core of his beliefs and all that his family would have taught him.This changes

Gatsby’s hopes and dreams represent the green light that he reaches out in chapter one. Gatsby believes that he can relive the past. Gatsby and Daisy are two different people portrayed in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby is dedicated to his hopes and dreams to win back Daisy, but Daisy is a fool. A fool is someone of whom no one expects anything, someone who is free to act irresponsibly and who can expects someone else to handle the fallout from his or hers mistakes. This is the type of person Daisy is, and Nick recognizes this flaw in her. Daisy met Gatsby five years ago before they reunite once more in Nicks’ house for tea. But before all that Daisy didn’t know Gatsby that well let alone that he was dirt poor. She made a mistake in marrying Tom for his wealth, she made an example of taking the easy way out, choosing wealth in Tom over the unknown in Gatsby. Daisy’s life as a debutante is filled with superficiality and empty materialism. Her married life is no different. She crumbles easily when faced with challenging or unpleasant situations. Daisy feels that staying with Tom is simple and she doesn’t have to go through the stress of leaving him but she isn’t happy.

“The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” This quote by James Adams shows the concepts of a dream that is linked to hard work and opportunity. In Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, Gatsby and Frank portrays the theme of the destructive nature of dreams. The Great Gatsby follows the story of a charming yet mysterious man named Gatsby who orders his life around the love he lost while the American Gangster is based on a real-life story that follows the life of Frank Lucas, one of the most powerful drug crime bosses. Both characters’ pursuit of the American dream focuses on

Unlike, any other country, America continues to surpass the norm of society by possessing the ability to allow anybody of any race, merit, or religion to achieve their desires. Since the beginning, America has been a place “where dreams come true,” from when the colonists aspired freedom and liberty to present day where Americans pursue wealth and success. However, throughout the twentieth century, this concept of the “American dream” seemed to have deceived the commonwealth as those who aspired success found themselves poor and deprived of the benefits the American dream promised them. This idea of the corruption of the American dream is prominent in the novel The Great Gatsby, as the author F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a variety of symbols

After the world was left ravaged by a great war which brought previously unknown amounts of pain on a global scale the citizens sought after distractions. Soon after men and women both with newfound vigor and rights took to the streets to celebrate, but a wall named prohibition stood in its way. A wall that would be leaped over by the many who believed they earned their right to recline and drink to their hearts content. Although illegal, drinking was commonplace and happiness the name of the game. F. Scott Fitzgerald understood this and crafted a tale that reflects the freedom of choice and flexibility allowed by the United States. The novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the film Chicago directed by Rob Marshall

Wealth, material possessions, and power are the core principles of The American Dream. Pursuit of a better life led countless numbers of foreign immigrants to America desiring their chance at the vast opportunity. Reaching the American Dream is not always reaching true happiness. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby achieves the American Dream, but his unrealistic faiths in money and life’s possibilities twist his dreams and life into useless life based on lies.