The Pursuit Of The American Dream By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The term “The American Dream” was coined in 1931 by American writer James Truslow Adams and described America as a place of opportunity based on one’s ability and hard work. Although the term originated in 1931, the fundamental ideas of the American Dream debuted in 1920’s society and contrasted greatly with previous notions of a stagnant class structure. This was due to the booming post-WWI economy, which provided an increase in accessibility to leisure items and activities, allowing luxuries typically reserved for the upper class to be enjoyed by the masses. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, reflects these social and economic changes. The novel follows the rise and fall of Jay Gatsby, who achieved prosperity in spite of being born the son of a poor, North Dakota farmer. Though many believed in an emergence of class mobility in the 1920’s, the novel The Great Gatsby demonstrates the ultimate inaccessibility of the American Dream - a holistic realization of social and economic equality.

Dreams are a compelling force in people’s lives. They are what propel them forward each and every day in an effort to reach something better. The American Dream has been sought after by millions all over the world for hundreds of years. This country was founded on the belief that anyone could achieve their dreams. However, in the 1920s these hopes and aspirations began to splinter until they ultimately shattered. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism, setting, and theme to depict the unattainability of the American Dream.

The American Dream was the vision that brought many people to America to start a new life in a strange and foreign land. This vision or dream is a common discussion topic by modern writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on Long Island in the summer of 1922. On the surface, it seems that the novel is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman, but the masterpiece major theme is about the American dream. The author writes about a man who takes the dream too far and becomes unable to distinguish his false life of riches from reality.

The American dream can mean many different things and can be interpreted in different ways. To some people, the American dream is the belief that if a person works hard enough, he or she can be successful in America no matter what race, gender, or nationality. In the 1920’s, the concept of the American dream was very much the same, that an individual can achieve success in life regardless of family history or social status if he or she works hard enough. By having money, a car, a big house, expensive clothes, and a loving family symbolizes the American dream. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the 1920’s is a time period in which the American dream becomes corrupt and dangerous. For Jay Gatsby, a main character in the novel, his American dream is about gaining wealth and material possessions in order to find happiness. Through his decision to symbolize wealth, superficiality, irresponsibility, and foreshadowing, Fitzgerald conveys the the theme that the American dream is a perfect concept and is something that can never be accomplished, but can always be reached for.

Ahhh The American Dream, the one entity that most people are reaching out trying to grasp. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald displays the life of America in the 1920s, “The Roaring Twenties”. The twenties were a time of prosperity for America. The Great Gatsby lived in a time of new cars, expensive parties and as some in the roaring twenties might say it was “spiffy!” The American Dream seems unattainable to some but to others, it is right around the corner. Jay Gatsby had the rags-to-riches story that hits all of us so dear. The Great Gatsby had The American Dream by working hard to get where he was. Everyone has the inner desire to do something great and achieve The American Dream. There are many routes people take in order to get there such as; inheritance, deceit, or working hard for it. It is the ideal that everyone should have the opportunity by working hard to achieve success.

In the The Great Gatsby and by F. Scott Fitzgerald and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry the idea of the American Dream is portrayed evidently within both timeless classics. An overarching dream between both novels is the desire of both the characters to be wealthy and to attain a respectable social standing. Both characters experience conflict in the pursuance of their dream. The American Dream is the idea that if you work hard enough and long enough, anything is possible. Although both characters chase the American Dream of upward social mobility Fitzgerald’s Gatsby does not achieve the American Dream in contrast to Hansberry’s Walter, who does achieve the American Dream due to the differences in the two character's acceptance by society or loved ones.

The definition of the American Dream is something that is defined by a person, and in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s case the American Dream is defined as unreal. Fitzgerald’s lived in the roaring twenties and the time of the party and fun, and the time that caused the stock market crash and depression. The pessimistic thought process of Fitzgerald rubs off on his novel, The Great Gatsby, a story entangled with love triangles, drama, and death. In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald’s poor life leads to his belief that the American Dream is not achievable, as seen through the literary devices of Characterization of Jay Gatsby, Nick carraway, and Myrtle Wilson.

Individuals are constantly striving to acquire a higher social status, wealth, and happiness. The 1920s was an era that presented prominent social change, and dreamers felt they could achieve anything in America if they worked hard enough. However pessimistic attitudes resulted in the downfall of dreamers who were not of a particular class or race. The American Dream is ultimately unattainable due to human flaws of greed, willingness, and the ability to sacrifice happiness for wealth in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

In the past the American Dream was an inspiration to many, young and old. To live out the American Dream was what once was on the minds of many Americans. In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream was presented as a corrupted version of what used to be a pure and honest ideal way to live. The idea that the American Dream was about the wealth and the possessions one had been ingrained, somehow, into the minds of Americans during the 1920’s. As a result of the distortion of the American Dream, the characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby along with many others, lived life fully believing in the American Dream, becoming completely immersed in it and in the end suffered great tragedies.

The American Dream is defined as: “The ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” In theory, if someone were to genuinely follow through by working hard, being determined, and having initiative, such a dream could be obtainable. A majority, of the time, however, people lose sight of these ideals; which results in the purity of the American Dream being marred. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the decline in the authenticity of the American Dream is best shown by Fitzgerald’s characterization of Jay Gatsby, specifically in Gatsby’s pilgrimage into wealthy prosperity, how his unrestrained desires surpassed moral goals, and

For generations many have immigrated to this great nation know, as the United states of America, all seeking for their share of the American dream. The American dream is the philosophy that anyone can become successful through hard work and perseverance. The 1920’s embodies this concept like no other decade in American history. It is also during this time frame that one sees the perversion of this dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests in his novel, The Great Gatsby that there is a right and wrong way to obtain the American dream. Throughout the novel, Gatsby is symbolic for the materialistic nature of the American dream and its corruption in the 20th century.

Life in America during the twentieth century was seen as hopeful and prosperous to many people among the land, and many others in foreign countries longing to be in America. The American Dream during this time period is seen as one becoming financially successful while holding a high social status, along with obtaining ultimate happiness with his or her own life. The American Dream is presented through various literary works, including The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and is failed by those who try to achieve it. At the end of this novel Jay Gatsby, the main character, ends up dead, along with an honest man and his wife, thus killing the dreams each of these people were working for throughout their life. It is stated

As F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired.” Any American, no matter their background or characteristics, strives to attain one thing: the American Dream. It is planted in each citizen’s brain to never stop reaching toward their goals of success. However, the American Dream is either given or earned, which leaves a dilemma in society pertaining to who may and may not have it. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of a concept such as the American Dream within The Great Gatsby emphasizes the problems facing any individual’s rigorous work without reward. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald comments on the flaws of American ideals through allegorical characters.

The American Dream originated in the days where poor immigrants came to settle in the New World in search of life-changing opportunities. This belief was first manifested in The Declaration of Independence, which describes the hope that all man have natural rights: life, property and pursuit of happiness. The validity of the American Dream is challenged in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” which centers on the decay of the 1920s; a period of habitual sin, extravagance, and moral dejection. Fitzgerald vividly conveys the impossibility of The American Dream through the use of character, wasteland imagery and symbolism.

Throughout centuries, the interpretation and perception of the "American Dream" has changed considerably and frequently. From the vision of individual betterment in 1774, to African-American civil rights in 1963, the American Dream has and will continue to alter, as the country evolves. However, the basis of the American Dream has remained the same, with the set of ideals being democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality. In addition to the ideals, the Dream is believed to be, that anyone has the ability to achieve wealth or anything if one works hard enough for it. While for others, the Dream is believed to be living a simple, happy and fulfilling life. Essentially, the American Dream is theoretically for every American individual, regardless of their race or social class. Many historians and novelists, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, have accepted that these different beliefs and set of ideals make up the core components of the American Dream. In F. Scott Fitzgerald 's novel, "The Great Gatsby", the American Dream is an underlying theme. Fitzgerald affirms the idea of American Dream through Gatsby 's transformation in socioeconomic classes, however, critiques the pursuit of the American Dream through sharing the perspective that the Dream is not universally attainable, and those who do achieve it, may still lack emotional fulfillment.