The Great Gatsby: The Demise of Two Dreams Essay

The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream, an idealistic and illusionary goal to achieve wealth and status. The ruthless pursuit of wealth leads to the corruption of human nature and moral values. Fitzgerald uses characters in the novel to show the corruptions and the illusionary nature of the American Dream. The superficial achievement of the American Dreams give no fulfillment, no real joy and peace; but instead, creates lots of problems for the characters in the novel. What happens to Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, and Daisy Buchanan represent the failure of the American Dream. Each character has a different dream. For Jay Gatsby, his dream is to attain happiness, represented by Daisy's love, through

Gatsby has many issues of repeating his past instead of living in the present. A common

When Gatsby reveals to about his relationship with Daisy, Nick’s relationship with Gatsby takes a full u-turn as it rapidly advances their association from simple acquaintances to close friends. Nick’s outlook of Gatsby undergoes a similar transformation. When Nick learns of the previous relationship between Gatsby and Daisy, Gatsby’s actions make sense to Nick. The mansion, the extravagant parties, and the green light were all in the efforts for making Daisy notice him. Gatsby lives his life for the past life that he lived. He spends his life seeking the attention of his love, Daisy, and as Nick explains, “He wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was…” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby sought out the American dream in order to win over the love of Daisy which creates a different perception of himself to Nick. Nick, now knowing Gatsby’s intentions worries about Gatsby’s possible rejection, and then warns him that, “[he] wouldn’t ask too much of her, you can’t repeat the past.” (Fitzgerald 110) But Gatsby, blinded by love, strives to win Nick’s married cousin’s heart. Nick perceives Gatsby as a man dwelling on the past

Differentiating between reality and dreams can be difficult in a world of wealth, lies, and alcoholism. The characters of The Great Gatsby seem to live the lives of Greek gods, believing that they are immortal and immune to the perils of common people. They party all day and all night, dressed in evening wear (as opposed to a work suit) sipping on expensive liquors. They have no sense of the lives led on the other side of town (or down Mt. Olympus). Living in a world of uncertainty, influenced by alcohol, distorted by wealth, distinguishing what could be and what really is can be difficult.

Ambitions are an integral aspect of human culture. They motivate us in a ceaseless pursuit of constant success. However, humans are truly not contempt with their successes, and perpetually dream for more success in a never-ending spiral of greed. Jay Gatsby’s character throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, is an ideal epitome of human greed, or as we can refer to it, the American dream. Fitzgerald is able to foster a culture within the novel where dreams seem unreachable, despite the amount of hunger, or greed, one may possess in aim of fulfilling their desires. A sense of elitism is also present within the novel as Fitzgerald ably crafts astounding discrepancies within the social structure of the era fondly

The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a story of misguided love between a man and a woman. Fitzgerald takes his reader through the turbulence and trials of Jay Gatsby’s life and of his pining for the girl he met five years prior. The main theme of the novel, however, is not solely about the love shared between Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. The main purpose is to show the decline and decay of the American Dream in the 1920’s. The American Dream is the goal or idea which suggests that all people can succeed through hard work, and that all have the potential to live happy, successful lives. While on the surface, Gatsby

Jay Gatsby was an ambitious young man, who became a victim to the American Dream. He, like many other Americans, had wanted it all. In other words, Gatsby’s goals and aims in life were all about money and love. Although he was able to obtain a large amount of money, Gatsby was not able to win the women of his dreams. Moreover, it seems as though he could not be satisfied with what he currently had. These unsatisfying feelings and the lack of accomplishment lead to Gatsby’s fall or death.

“In his blue gardens men and women came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Fitzgerald 39). In his character, his relationships, and his gatherings, Jay Gatsby epitomized the illusion of a perfect romance. When Gatsby and Daisy met in 1917, he was searching for money, but ended up profoundly falling in love with her. “[H]e set out for gold and stumbled upon a dream” (Ornstein 37). Only a few weeks after meeting one another, Gatsby had to leave for war, which led to a separation between the two for nearly five years. As “war-torn lovers” Gatsby and Daisy reach the quintessential ideal of archetypical romance. When Gatsby returned from the war, his goal was to rekindle the relationship he once had with Daisy. In order to do this, he believed he would have to work hard to gain new wealth and a new persona. “Jay Gatsby loses his life even though he makes his millions because they are not the kind of safe, respectable money that echoes in Daisy’s lovely voice” (Ornstein 36). Gatsby then meets Daisy’s cousin, Nick Carraway, who helps to reunite the pair. Finally being brought together after years of separation, Gatsby stops throwing the extravagant parties at his home, and “to preserve [Daisy’s] reputation, [he] empties his mansion of lights and servants” (Ornstein 37). Subsequent to their reconciliation, Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, begins to reveal sordid information about Gatsby’s career which causes Daisy to

In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main theme is most directly related to the American Dream. The American Dream is based on the idea that any person, no matter who they are, can become successful in life by working hard. The Great Gatsby is about what happened to the American Dream during the 1920's, an era when the dream had been corrupted by the relentless pursuit of wealth. The pursuit of the American Dream is the ultimate cause of the downfall of the main character, Jay Gatsby.

Originally, the American dream for the first settlers was for their children, and they would sacrifice everything for freedom of religion, and thought. Although, the American dream in the 1920’s is to live in happiness through financial and social success. For many, this selfish dream is achieved through illegal activity such as bootlegging, and gambling. This dream is mirrored in many novels such as The Great Gatsby. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s demise to highlight both the fragility of, and un-attainableness of the American dream in the 1920’s.

The great Gatsby is a classic novel in which money is centered around everything. All Jay Gatsby wants to do is live the American dream. Some say Gatsby did live the American dream. Though Gatsby made lots of money and threw tons of parties their was one thing he was missing. The thing Gatsby was missing was a peaceful state of mind and a lover. In this book written by Scott Fitzgerald called The Great Gatsby Jay Gatsby finds out the American Dream isn 't attainable by everyone.

Everyone has dreams of being successful in life. When the word American comes to mind one often thinks of the land of opportunity. This dream was apparent with the first settlers, and it is apparent in today’s society. In F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925), he illustrates the challenges and tragedies associated with the American dream. By examining Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson through the narrator Nick Carraway, I understand the complex nature of the American dream. Jay Gatsby represents the cost complex of them all.

     Daisy is seeking her own version of the American Dream, and Gatsby just happens to be in it, just as

Nick eventually realizes that Gatsby is trying to buy back the past-- trying to “recover something, some idea of himself perhaps that had gone into loving Daisy” (Fitzgerald 90). Nick tries to convince Gatsby that “[he] can’t repeat the past” (Fitzgerald 90), but, blinded by his longing for Daisy, Gatsby ignores Nick and suggests that he can “fix everything just the way it was before” (Fitzgerald 90). The death of his dream happens when Gatsby realizes that he can’t buy back the past no matter how hard he tries. Not only can Daisy simply not live up to his expectations; she doesn’t have the strength to admit she has no feelings for Tom. Once the dream has perished-- it’s like Gatsby has nothing left to live for. The so-called scales fall from his eyes and he sees the world in a new light…rather, in a profound darkness. With the death of his dream comes the death of Gatsby himself. Gatsby, sadly, dies without accomplishing anything that he had hoped for. He worked so hard to make one dream come true; that he forgot to realize what would happen if that said dream failed

In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the story of Jay Gatsby’s futile quest for Daisy Buchanan’s love. In this novel set in the 1920s, we learn that Gatsby and Daisy were once in love, but she let him go because his social status was inadequate. Ever since that moment, Gatsby dedicated his life to becoming rich and gaining a high social status so that he and Daisy could finally be together. The era in which the story is set is also an iconic historical period in America. During the 1920s, jazz was born, fashion was revolutionized, women gained socio-economic freedom, and the “American Dream”, the idea that every American should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative, became more coveted than ever. The American Dream is defined and reflected throughout the entire novel, especially in the character development and common personality trends.