The Illusion Of The American Dream

Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald the theme of The American Dream and Illusion versus Reality are interlinked and are also evident within the novel. This is seen through the protagonist Jay Gatsby, recently changed from James Gatz, who once lived with a poor lifestyle, strived for greatness and luxury in order to achieve The American dream, and is now living in West Egg. This is where people of new wealth go to live their lives. Gatsby’s tale of rags-to-riches can be seen as living The American Dream, however Gatsby always wants one thing in order to complete this desire; Daisy Buchanan. She is first introduced as an innocent and generous woman who is genuine in all the things she says and does. Gatsby was once

Why is America never America? “America never was America to me” is a line repeatedly written in the poem ‘Let America be America Again’ by an African American poet Langston Hughes. This poem was published in 1936, when being African American was one’s greatest sin. African Americans were treated as things that elite whites can own rather than free- willed humans. In this poem, the pain and suffering of colored Americans, who were considered less than humans, is reflected clearly. Despite being written by an African America poet, the poem ‘Let America Be America Again’ does not represent African Americans only. Minority groups including economically disadvantaged whites are represented in this poem. For these people America is not America. It is a sleepless night where dreams are not allowed. They never get freedom in the land of the free. They never get opportunity in the land of opportunities. They never get justice and equality in the land of the justice. America is not America they want to see, and the poet Langston Hughes repeatedly mentions, “America never was America to me”. In 1936, when the poem was first published, being colored immigrant was the same, or even worse than being a murderer, justice was never served, and there was no equality. The privileged elites had all the America to them but to the lower racial groups and immigrants, American dream never existed. Despite the fact that the poem ‘Let America be

What is American Dream? What does it mean to you? What does it mean to me? Although we all have the same ideology of what the definition of what the American Dream is, we can all come up with a different meaning, each one more personal to ourselves than to others. As we will see with the help of three different authors, regardless of age, race, sexuality, religion, or social status, we could possibly agree on the idea of the American Dream falling short and being a false sense of reality for many Americans to this day.

While wealth can be quite alluring, the power associated with it can also shape one's opinions, morals, and overall humanity. Wealth is a significant factor in determining one's position in society, thus the eagerness to obtain more is correlated with the wish to hold a higher status. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, relates to this pursuit of riches and the social hierarchy attached to it. The story takes place during the height of the roaring 1920’s in New York City. Each character represents an economic sphere and has their own ambition for wealth; however, these characters, whether they fail or succeed, lose their humanity in the process. Fitzgerald utilizes the characters Gatsby, Myrtle, and Daisy to demonstrate that the desire for wealth leads to a process of dehumanization, in which morals and identity are displaced.

Research conducted by Sandra L. Hanson and John Zogby concerning shifting attitudes toward the American Dream states, “lack of thrift, effort, ability, motivation, and self-control are the most popular explanations for poverty among Americans” (Hanson 571). Such explanations demonstrate the growing issues that help to create the darkness of the American Dream. In placing such an emphasis on achieving success, the American Dream belittles those unable to achieve it and allows no room for failure. Though some individuals may work hard their entire lives, they may never find the material success that others such as Ben or Charley do. Even in the case of characters who have worked their entire life, such as Willy, the lack of tangible, material success creates a false idea that they did not do enough or did not work hard enough. Concerning Willy’s career and life, Ben states, “What are you building? Lay your hand on it. Where is it?” (Miller 1271). This statement pushes the misconstrued idea that whatever success one has achieved needs to be tangible and seen, which is not always the case. It can be argued that by the end of his life, Willy had found success. Linda’s proclamation that they were “free and clear” after having finally paid off the mortgage furthers this argument (Miller 1298). Out of debt, and with the comfort of a devoted wife and loving sons, Willy had achieved a life that many can only dream. However, because he and others do not recognize love and happiness as

The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a book designed to represent the American Dream to help describe how it is not achievable and designed to set people up for failure. The main characters Gatsby & Daisy are there to help show how no matter what you have the American Dream is not able to be achieved. F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby uses the privileged,yet unhappy Daisy Buchanan and here manipulative ways to showcase that the ideals of the American Dream are unattainable

Henry Ford once said, “Money does not change men, it merely unmasks them. If a man is naturally selfish or arrogant or greedy, the money brings that out, that’s all.” Ford explains how money gives naturally selfish people the freedom to be themselves. When a person is poor, they often times are not allowed to act themselves because they do not have the money to reinforce their actions. This theme is evident in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby because money allows Daisy to act selfishly. Her selfishness is proven through her lack of interest in other people, her affair, and how she discards people without a care. Selfish people, like Daisy, oftentimes do not even understand that they are selfish because they lack an interest in what other people say about them.

Is your life revolved around how much money you have, what you can buy, or what you look like? In The Great Gatsby, the lives of the characters are revolved around the importance of money and the materials they own. Tom and Daisy Buchanan are two very important people that let their money control their lives, such as Daisy marrying Tom solely for is money so that she will be provided for her entire life. Gatsby is a prime example of all the wrong reasons of wanting to accomplish the American dream. He wanted to impress Daisy, so he lied and cheated his way to the top in order to prove to her that he was worth it, and now that he has money, he allowed it to take control of him and his true purpose. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald allows the

Everybody strives to earn it, those little green things in your wallet. Green is associated with good and happiness; above all, things of desire. Nevertheless, it doesn’t truly make you happy with your life and most importantly, yourself. In the fictitious novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the characters who have money at their disposal are constantly looking for something else to fulfill their longing to have a meaningful life. Despite it’s problem-solving reputation, money isn’t what it’s chalked up to be, the characters with excessive money aren’t sincerely happy with their lives. Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, and Jordan Baker and never satisfied with their m0ney. Fitzgerald’s characters never seem to connect their feeling of never being satisfied with their infinitesimal amount of happiness.

People will journey far and wide, traverse the entire continent, suffer all manner of pain and suffering, if they believe that, in the end, they will be rewarded. That is why it comes as no surprise when people from other countries struggle to get to America, believing the ancient tale of "the American Dream", convinced that they will finally make it big in this land of riches. But they find out it is not like that.

"Fitzgerald attributes the depravity of the modern dream to wealth, privilege, and the void of humanity that those aspects create."(Website) Money is clearly identified as the central proponent of the dream's destruction; it becomes easily entangled with hope and success, inevitably replacing their places in the American Dream with materialism. This replacement is evident in Gatsby's use of illegal practices and underground connection to attain his enormous fortune. His ostentatious parties, boundless mansion, and lavish clothing are all signs of his unknowing corruption. His ability to evade the law, demonstrated when his traffic violation is ignoring by a police officer, reveals his of status and privilege to get what he needs. Although Gatsby's rise to prominence is symbolic of the nature of the new dream, the most odious qualities of that dream are evident in Daisy and Tom Buchanan, who live their lives with no hopes and no regrets because the true foundation of their characters is

Henry Ford once said, “Money does not change men, it merely unmasks them. If a man is naturally selfish or arrogant or greedy, the money brings that out, that’s all.” Ford explains how money gives naturally selfish people the freedom to be themselves. When a person is poor they often times are not allowed to act themselves because they do not have the money to reinforce their actions. This theme is evident in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby because money allows people in the novel to show their true colors. For example, Daisy is extremely selfish because she owns a lot of money. Her selfishness is proven through her lack of interest in other people, her affair, and how she discards people without a care.

The Roaring Twenties is when the Americans, especially wealthy people, are being so wasteful on spending money and are addicted to alcohol and drugs. During that time, many people have hopes for the American Dream. The American Dream is a belief that a better life could be achieved through hard work. Different people have different understandings of American Dream and different ways to pursue their dream. Some key ideas of the American Dream are equality, rights, opportunities and the pursuit of happiness. In the book The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals the American Dream is an unattainable illusion and the materialism led to the corruption of the American Dream in the Roaring Twenties. Gatsby, Daisy and Myrtle all have been fail to achieve their dreams in the book and destroy by the American Dream.

I . The American dream of nobilities Daisy was heroine in The Great Gatsby; she was a beautiful, fascinating woman as wife of Buchanan and lover of Gatsby. Daisy born in a hereditary noble family, communicating with upper circles when she was a child, she has influenced by the concept of upper class, they thought only rich man like they , who born in a noble family, was really noble than anyone else, especially compared with a person who through his own became a rich man . So when she knew Gatsby is not a noble, and he made money through someway was unlawful, Daisy decided to live together with Buchanan right now.

In the 1920s, when F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, there was a common belief that anyone could achieve wealth no matter their past or current social status. This idea has come to be known as The American Dream. The Great Gatsby revolves around Gatsby and his love for Daisy. Gatsby falls for Daisy because she is his ticket to the wealth and success that The American Dream foretells. He ignores all her flaws and is willing to do anything for her just because she is wealthy. The Great Gatsby’s focus seems to be on this failed love story, however the love story is actually a metaphor for The American Dream. Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby illustrates the mystifying effects The American Dream has on people and how it cause them to put another on a pedestal ignoring all their faults and flaws so they are perceived as a perfect.