The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

In “The Great Gatsby” F. Scott Fitzgerald uses his characters as symbols for the fragility of the American dream and the ultimate dissatisfaction inherent in its pursuit. In doing so, this theme becomes more tangible as represented by living, breathing people who go through things that we can visualize. Daisy has all the outward signs of luxury while achieving no real happiness. As such she epitomizes the disillusionment with the American dream. Tom, her husband, who has a life of luxury and power and uses it in destructive ways represents the negative effects of the mindless pursuit of wealth. And Gatsby, himself, pursues wealth to attract a love from his past. His failure in this represents the fallacy of such a pursuit.

The Great Gatsby, a highly acclaim American novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, entails the demise of the American dream by means of drawing a parallel between Jay Gatsby, a character whom covers his inner qualities with the idealistic characteristics of the rich during the Roaring Twenties in order to obtain the affection go the beloved and deeply flawed Daisy. Regrettably, throughout his conquest for Daisy’s affection, Gatsby falsely presumes that through his accumulation of wealth he will be able to acquire his deeply embedded desires for happiness, which mainly revolve around his acquisition of Daisy Buchanan. Eventually, Gatsby’s wealth ultimately results in his cataclysmic demise, as it is unable to provide him Daisy’s unconditional and

The American Dream is a philosophy based off of starting from nothing and achieving family, fortune, and fame. The belief that self-determination and hard work will lead to the attainment of the American Dream is strongly tied with the American culture. This philosophical idea, however, is not portrayed in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which is often referred to as one of the “Great American Novels” to date. In terms, a “Great American Novel” should portray an honest and well-remembered character, rather than a character such as Jay Gatsby who achieved his fortune through illegal business and dies without recognition towards the end. Although Gatsby lives a lavish lifestyle that many people fantasize about, Gatsby’s American Dream is never fully fulfilled due to his failure of not having a family, successfully obtaining money the righteous way, and leaving a legacy; therefore, the novel The Great Gatsby, should not be entitled as the “Great American Novel” today.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, acclaimed as one of the greatest classics of the twentieth-centre literature, expresses the erosion of the great American dream. Established around 1920s America, Fitzgerald focuses on the emptiness of excessive wealth and the extinction of morals. Told from the perspective of Nick Caraway, a man who inherited his wealth, as he settles into life in the West Egg district of Long Island, known as the home of the newly rich. He becomes acquainted with Jay Gatsby, his next-door neighbor, who throws tremendously flamboyant parties every Saturday night. Gatsby first appears aloof and driven by an exorbitant lifestyle with little purpose, but as the story progresses Fitzgerald reveals more about Gatsby’s ambition and objective. In his youth he fell in love with Daisy Buchanan, but due to his low status and poverty Daisy became out of reach and she married Tom Buchanan, and extremely wealthy man. Because Gatsby lost Daisy, he decided to center his whole life around winning her back, so he turned to a life of organized crime where he made his millions and began

“To do two things at once is to do neither”(Syrus). As Publilius Syrus suggests, in an age where multitasking is more common than the ideals concencentration, it is important to reconsider the capabilities of man. The idea of taking on multiple tasks underlines man’s capabilities in that it often gears the mind in two opposite directions with equal power. In this regard, though it may seem efficient, it is actually vile for man to attempt to sustain multiple projects that gear toward opposite directions. This idea is confirmed by F. Scott Fitzgeralds’ The Great Gatsby, a novel in which the protagonist Jay Gatsby illustrates why man isn’t capable of taking on two equal and opposite projects at the same time. Gatsby fails to conquer Daisy

In a capitalistic country like America, money plays a huge part in your life and can classify you into a certain social status, depending on whether or not you have it. The United States is an attractive destination for foreigners because of the chance of finding fortune. The American Dream was derived from the idea that living in the United States of America promises prosperity and ultimately lead into a better life. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby’s is heavily influenced by his greed due to his journey from poverty to luxury. The wealthier Gatsby gets the more manipulative and controlling he becomes towards people around him. His pursuit towards the American Dream causes him to become lost in his own fortune and

Differences in a person’s lifestyle in comparison to others holds true in any situation. These differences in lifestyle and choices can be seen the in the novel, The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald. This novel portrays life in the 1920s as optimistic and extravagant. It also shows the decadence of society and the disproportionate division of wealth through the course of the story. Contrasts between characters can be easily seen and are in fact apparent in every facet of the story. Two characters in particular differ greatly on key themes through the story. With their stark differences, we can see the idealistic or noble views of this aspect of their lives or how their journey may reflect such ideals. Tom Buchanan, is an extremely rich

“He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong” (Fitzgerald 133). This quote from the book shows Tom, Daisy’s husband, revealing Gatsby for who he truly is, a man who obtained his money by breaking the law. This demonstrates the fact that your past will always catch up with you. The societal values washed Gatsby away right along with it. He believed that the only way he could achieve true happiness was by becoming part of the upper class, and he was willing to break the law to do so, so he could have the chance to win Daisy back. The things he did to try to ultimately get Daisy pushed him farther from her. This illustrates ironically how by America pushing morality down the drain for the purpose of becoming happier and fuller, their sins and choices were causing their lives to just become hollow, numb, and purposeless.

F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby and Toni Morrison 's JAZZ both tell the

Scott Fitzgerald exhibited the “American Dream within his characters, Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, Nick Carraway, Myrtle Wilson, and Tom Buchanan, and it was all based on their social class. The American Dream is a central idea to American history that has been around for hundreds of years. “The Great Gatsby” accurately depicts the American Dream. Not only that, but the book also connects The American Dream to social class. Each character in “The Great Gatsby” has his or her own visible American Dream as well; they are completely different, and based upon the social status of the character. From poor and struggling starts, to having inborn money, the characters of the book have a wide variety of social classes that make them pursue different happiness. To be successful is an understatement for “The Great Gatsby.” Selling over twenty-five million copies, the book is still continuing to sell and be read despite being ninety-one years old (Lucey). The reason for this, besides the great symbolism, character development, and plot, can also be accounted to the devotion to the American Dream. “The Great Gatsby” is an American Dream in itself, and its sumptuous story will live on continuing to display the different social classes and their effects on The American Dream. People will always keep reaching for their own green light and their own

Class structure of the 1920s was based on popularity and how well off people were compared to those around them. F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates class structure in the book The Great Gatsby through the different characters in different social classes. Fitzgerald gives settings that correspond with the social classes of the characters to better illustrate what environment he placed each character in. The Buchanan’s, Gatsby, and the Wilsons are examples of the different conflicting social classes Fitzgerald lays out for his readers.

Life in The Great Gatsby was never shown as realistic. It was mostly of people who partied all night and drove in fancy cars and drank and danced until the sun came up. The only realistic life was Nick Carraway’s. He was just a guy trying to live and sell bonds in Long Island, but he got sucked into drama with his new neighbor and his cousin. Not all lives were so extravagant, most would think. However, it was called the roaring 20’s for a reason. People were living and having fun and actually partying. Flappers emerged and pushed boundaries, money was easy to spend with credit, prohibition was violated and forgotten, and all was well during this time period.

“Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone...just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (Fitzgerald 1). The first line of The Great Gatsby illustrates a heartfelt sentiment of treating others respectfully and not judging a book by its cover. However, as the chapter continues, the narrator Nick Carraway, suggests this propensity of tolerance is better used as leverage to entice more people to trust you and tell you their secrets. Nick is privy to the secret lives and untold truths of many rich and powerful people of New York because he could be trusted, whether he wanted to be or not. This is a constant theme throughout The Great Gatsby -- the internal struggle of F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrayed through his characters, of being a kind, honest person content to live his own life versus a grotesquely rich and selfish person who only cared about himself and living the illusive American Dream. The characters created by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby strongly reflect influences of people and events in his life, and demonstrate facets of his personality that dictated how he viewed the world, friendship and love.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the compelling story of the lengths one man goes to in order to try and win back the love of his youth. In order to do so, the titular figure of the novel, Jay Gatsby, reinvents himself from the hardscrabble soldier of his younger years into an enigma of a millionaire; during his time living at West Egg, Gatsby is revered by all, but known by none. Despite the lavish lifestyle which has made him ever so well known for, Gatsby is never able to win back Daisy, the girl who has for so long represented the culmination of all of his desires. In his novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s desperate struggle to ingratiate himself into Daisy’s life to illustrate how one can never overcome the socio-economic barriers placed upon them at birth.

Satisfaction does not comes easy nor does it occur right away. Those who live a prosperous life and those who don’t are seen as different in society, but both may crave more in life to become satisfied. The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is narrated by Nick Carraway who lives in the East Egg of New York. Nick has only lived in New York for a short period of time and starts to become fascinated with his notorious neighbor, Gatsby. Shortly after becoming acquainted with Gatsby, Nick discovers that Gatsby is madly in love with his cousin Daisy, who is married to Tom Buchanan. Tom trusts Nick immediately since he is Daisy’s cousin and allows Nick to meet his mistress, Myrtle. Even though it may seem as if Tom lives the perfect