The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby has been around for ages; it is a story of a young man in the 1920’s who is thrown into a new world made up of the new and the old rich. He is confused by the way these people act and in the end cannot stay another minute in this strange, insensitive, materialistic world. The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many techniques to help the reader understand how Nick Carraway (the narrator) is feeling throughout the story. In the book The Great Gatsby, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald uses effective language to make his writing successful. He uses the techniques of imagery and irony to display this message.

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.

The famously written book, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, provides many details, which help to provoke the meaning behind this narrative. The use of symbolic objects helps to connect the significance of the story on a deeper level and eventually reveal its literal meaning. Many symbols portrayed throughout The Great Gatsby, such as the green light, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, Gatsby’s Mansion and the weather help to uncover one of the main themes–the American Dream.

Society has an obsession with money. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, wealth is portrayed in two different classes called the new money and the old money. New money refers to those who have recently made their own fortune within their own generation. Old money refers to those who have inherited money from their wealthy families in the past generations. The new money people are more extravagant with their money in order to flaunt their wealth, while the old money people are more conservative with their money because they have been around for longer and people already understand their wealth. The difference between new and old money is not

During the 1920’s, most Americans cared about their wealth and social standing. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald displays the characters striving for happiness, love, and wealth, in which none of the characters can have all of the options in the life they have. He does this to explain his own struggle with his American dream by never having a lot of money, never being a very successful writer, and losing his golden girl. Fitzgerald portrays his pessimistic view on the struggle of fulfilling the American dream by portraying different types of people trying to achieve their own dreams with the obstacles of social status, and the influence of reputation getting in the way of their individual dreams.

The American Dream is one of the most prevalent themes throughout The Great Gatsby. Reviewing the long span of literature, it is almost impossible to escape this topic. Through research, it is found that the idea of the American Dream is constantly changing and redefining itself. The transition of this idea from one time period to another, and from one protagonist to the next is an intriguing journey. The American Dream has affected society and is something that most people aspire to achieve. It is the innate desire of wanting to be better and improve oneself that kept the Dream alive for decades past. Symbolizing wealth, perfection, the American Dream is an idea many wish to achieve. The American Dream causes characters in the Great

Many people dream about achieving the American Dream, especially immigrants from around the world hoping to start a new life. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby tells the story of one man’s journey, Nick Carraway’s, in obtaining the American Dream. His decision to leave the midwest and move to the east enables him to be able to learn stocks and make a living. Nick has not yet achieved the American Dream, but is eager to obtain this feat. Nick’s friend, Tom Buchanan, lives in East Egg and inherits money from his parents. Jay Gatsby, who lives next to Nick in West Egg, has worked for his money and was inspired to become wealthy. In The Great Gatsby, three main characters look for opportunities to gain the American Dream with numerous obstacles in their path. Jay Gatsby strives for opportunities to work for wealth and uses it to demonstrate his opulence; conversely, Tom Buchanan is the opposite of Gatsby, obtaining wealth from his parents and using his money to make a living. Nick Carraway is neither of the other characters, but instead is looking to possess the American Dream.

In the book, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is exemplified through many symbols and idols. Fitzgerald uses cars to represent wealth, success, status, and glamour. As Friedrich Nietzsche states, “There are more idols in the world than there are realities.” Nietzsche’s quote shows how idols and symbols are used to create impressions. Images are powerful and set a stage for others to judge one’s character, enabling human beings to avoid seeing what realities are. Idols are potent enough to mask the truth. In the novel, despite Gatsby 's own insecurities, he is viewed as an idol in society. Idols impact and influence Gatsby’s life and those living around him. Gatsby’s car represents an idol, illustrating his wealth, capturing attention, creating impressions, and covering misconceptions throughout life in the West Egg.

Dance has shaped the way we look at many different things throughout history. It has shaped how people socialize, what music people listen to, and even whole eras. One such era is the roaring 1920s. How did people socialize in the 1920s? They danced the evening away. What music did people listen to? Jazz music that they could listen to while they danced the evening away. Dance was a huge part of what made up the glorious Jazz Age. So, when a book was written to describe the 1920s scene, no doubt there had to be dance, and lots of it. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the energy level of the parties, music, and dancing to represent a vast array of emotions within the characters.

The American Dream has been around for years, and is forever changing. However, its basic principles of determination and purpose have always been around, except during the 1920s when they had become corrupted. This idea was shown throughout The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story gives great insight into what life was like during the 1920s from the characters’ perspectives. Through Gatsby’s lavish lifestyle, the readers get to see what the ultimate goal was for the American people at the time. However, what he had was not enough for him since all he ever wanted was to earn Daisy’s love. Gatsby’s dream was symbolized through the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, which he use to stare at night. Fitzgerald uses the green light to compare Gatsby’s hopeless quest for Daisy’s heart to the unobtainable, corrupted American Dream. He does this by showing how obsessed the characters are with having a life like Gatsby’s, and by having him die at the end of the novel without having achieved his dream.

"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven 't had the advantages that you 've had” (Fitzgerald 3). Many people are born into bad statistics for being able to achieve the American dream. Nick reveals this very early on in The Great Gatsby with this thought provoking quote. Not all people are born with the same advantages as others. There are many factors that have held people back from attaining their goals in our great country.. Despite the perception that Americans can move from rags to riches to live the American Dream, the trials and obstacles that underserved and minorities have to overcome reveals that the American Dream is a false hope.

3. What determines whether the hopes a character has about changing location match up with reality?

When F. Scott Fitzgerald first came out as an author his works were not greatly appreciated as they are now. In the early twentieth century wealth, power, and status - otherwise known as the American Dream- were the goals of many. Fitzgerald used the American Dream as the backdrop for most of his works, and in doing so he illuminated the theme of self-deception. Most people in these times were not rich, powerful, or had high status so to deceive others and themselves they lied about who they were. Take his novel The Great Gatsby, the absence of anything real beneath masks of pretense and self-deception define the novel. Three of the main characters, Nick Carraway, Tom Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby, all demonstrate self-deception in one way or another. Even in Fitzgerald’s short stories self- deception is a reoccurring theme. Absolution shows a child protagonist, Rudolph Miller, who is inclined to habitually and instinctively lie just to look like the best version of him. In both of these works, Fitzgerald’s uses hypocrisy, narcissism, and delusions within his characters to demonstrate the three different forms of self-deception he believes are within humanity.

In the novel The Great Gatsby, J. Scott Fitzgerald introduced Jay Gatsby and used him as the mean to comment on the American dream. Although other characters in the story were also built to depict the author’s comment on the American Dream, Gatsby is still the most appealing example amongst any other. In order to entirely expressing his criticism, Fitzgerald used the variety of contrasting ideals and definitions on the American dream itself through out the novel. Most importantly, by focusing on Gatsby’s characterization, putting his character in the perfect setting as well as presenting suitable symbols, the author indicated his despise on the corruption of the American dream and how badly the mere concept of it had been distorted.

Frances Scott Key Fitzgerald, born September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota, is seen today as one of the true great American novelists. Although he lived a life filled with alcoholism, despair, and lost-love, he managed to create the ultimate love story and seemed to pinpoint the American Dream of his time in his classic novel, The Great Gatsby. In the novel, Jay Gatsby is the epitome of the self-made man, in which he dedicates his entire life to climbing the social ladder in order to gain wealth, to ultimately win the love of a woman: something that proves to be unattainable. As it turns out, Gatsby’s excessive extravagance and love of money, mixed with his obsession for a woman’s love, is actually the autobiographical portrayal of