The Theme Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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.

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald effectively portrays 1920’s America and its twisted, unsavory values. The novel has been called “the American masterwork,” by Jonathan Yardley of The Washington Post, because of the novel’s characterization of the Jazz Age and all of it’s unsatisfactory glory. One critic has written, “The theme of Gatsby is the withering of the American dream.” Fitzgerald’s work validates this statement. The Great Gatsby wonderfully depicts the death of the American Dream through the loss of humility and rectitude. The American Dream is the ideal that anyone, regardless of race, class, or gender should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. The death of this dream is demonstrated in the novel through rich symbolism as Fitzgerald uses extended metaphors and personification to portray the corruption of the Jazz Age. The American Dream is demonstrated through the color yellow, which symbolizes not only wealth but death. The American Dream is also demonstrated through characters Myrtle Wilson, George Wilson, and Jay Gatsby, as well as their tragic endings while trying to achieve the dream. Tom and Daisy Buchanan achieve money without having to work and the carelessness that results from it.

Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s party to develop the theme of the corruption of the American Dream by showing the original concept compared to how Americans bring the Dream to life. The original concept of the American Dream is thrown away for the promise of fast and easy success rather than personal happiness through hard work. When Nick first arrives at Gatsby’s party, he says, “I was immediately struck by the number of young Englishmen dotted about; all well dressed, all looking a little hungry, and all talking in low, earnest voices to solid and prosperous Americans. I was sure that they were selling something...They were...agonizingly aware of the easy money in the vicinity and convinced that it was theirs for a few words in the right key” (42). The American Dream isn’t focused on money, but on personal happiness. Fitzgerald uses the Englishmen so it naturally stands out against the American crowd, but also wants the reader to grasp that the American Dream is to take hard work and initiative in order to achieve the benefits and happiness. Furthermore, Fitzgerald uses the people at Gatsby’s party to show that Americans chase the Dream, but don’t put any work into turning it into a reality. Fitzgerald writes, “They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island, and somehow they ended up at Gatsby’s door. Once there they were introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby, and after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with an amusement

The American Dream, is an idea that all Americans are familiar with, no matter what age they are. It is the dream that everyone has an equal opportunity, to use hard work and integrity to achieve success. The American Dream is an integral aspect of Jay Gatsby’s life in the novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The novel follows Jay Gatsby, as told by Nick Carraway, through the trials and tribulations that correspond with newfound wealth and the quest to find true happiness in a cynical and testing environment. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream has the power to corrupt individuals, through his depictions of wealth, materialism, and the consequences they inflict in the character’s lives.

The American Dream: Is is fact or fiction? In the United States’ Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers set forth the idea of an American Dream by providing us with the recognizable phrase “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”. The green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock symbolizes Jay Gatsby’s “Pursuit of Happiness” in the novel, The Great Gatsby, set in the 1920s on Long Island, New York. The American Dream can be defined as “the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American Dream is achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, not by chance” (Fontinelle, Amy). At the birth of our country in 1776, our founding fathers introduced the American Dream as a personal desire to pursue happiness; however, the pursuit of happiness was not intended to promote self-indulgence, rather to act as a catalyst to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit. As our country has changed, the idea of the American Dream, in some cases, has evolved into the pursuit of one’s own indulgences such as material gain regardless of the consequences.

For centuries in this country people have believed that through hard work, talent and ambition anyone can acquire great wealth and success regardless of their social class and background, a concept later named “The American Dream” in 1931. However, people have been questioning whether this idea of rags to riches really is attainable to all who work for it, or if it is merely a fantasy and a myth. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism to illustrate the death of the American Dream.

As humans, we crave love and affection from others, and in order to live the “American Dream” money is a necessity. It was the infectious love of money that brought Nick, a wealthy veteran who wanted more out of life, to the Eggs. More importantly, the love that Gatsby had for Daisy motivated him to live the life of the rich and prove it. The characters were influenced by the love of money, or money bringing love. Love and lust could be completely changed when money was thrown in, and for the characters in the book, there was never enough.

The American Dream is something every American wants to have in life, even those outside of America. Everyone thinks that they have a dream that once they achieve it everything about life will be so perfect and nothing could go wrong. In The Great Gatsby it shows how it is not always perfect. Fitzgerald’s idea of the American Dream was depicted in his book. It shows how his American Dream never made him happy.

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays many themes; however the most significant one revealed throughout the novel is the corruption of the American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone who grew up below the economic or social level, and worked hard towards prosperity, wealth as well as fame. To embody the American Dream one must have money, power, love and a happy family. The Great Gatsby shows everyone’s undeniable desire for success and love. Myrtle, Gatsby and Daisy's pursuit of the American Dream in F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, have all been corrupted and destroyed by the dream leading them to their own downfall.

The author of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald had a hard life. When he was in his younger years, his lover left him because he wasn’t wealthy enough for her. In the book, there are five main characters: Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, Nick Carraway, Jordan Baker, and Jay Gatsby. Daisy and Tom are married and live in a large mansion on Long Island. Nick is the narrator who has just moved to Long Island in hopes of finding a new, honest lifestyle. Jordan is Daisy’s cousin, and Gatsby is a mystery man. The book looks at the American Dream and how one accomplishes it while keeping (or not keeping) moral values. In the book The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald through symbolism, anthropomorphism, and characterization, shows us that in order to achieve the American Dream, you must be willing to stab each other in the back.

The "American Dream" is a term adapted after America became a free nation and was ready for growth and prosperity. It continues even today to be used frequently in reference to the opportunity to starting or having a better comfortable life. In the twenties this household term put on a new meaning of greed, overindulgence and materialism. In his most prestigious work the, The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald portrays the corrupt nature of the American Dream through the fall of his characters. The author portrays the frailty of the American Dream through protagonist of the story, Jay Gatsby, the love of his life Daisy, and Daisy’s husband Tom. Gatsby's undying desire to quickly to impress Daisy turns into greed just as the image of the American dream suddenly became unattainable due to corruption.

The American dream is an ideology, a vision that’s form varies from individual to individual, based upon one’s own experiences. Although the one thing that remains constant in every single definition is that this ideology, just as the name states, is only a dream. It is meant to merely drive people to unlock their hidden potential and become their best self, for the sole purpose of living one’s out one’s own definition of success. In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is Jay Gatsby’s inspiration and his opportunity, however, as the book progresses it becomes more evident that not all people share the same opportunity.

In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. If you have a dream in America, you can achieve it with old fashioned hard work. Whether it’s going from rags to riches or finding love, the American Dream can offer it. But the ever-popular American dream is easily corrupted. This is greatly shown in the novel The Great Gatsby as it explores both the beauty and the corruption of the American Dream in the 1920’s. In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald includes many aspects in the story which show how the pursuit for the American Dream affected

In “The Great Gatsby”, F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream is illusory and can never be fulfilled. He suggests this concept through Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson. When these people try to purse this unfulfilling dream, only sadness and failure is left for them to feel.

Have you ever gotten so close to reaching your goal and then you fail? In the novel The Great Gatsby, the failing American Dream is very prevalent. There are many characters that try insanely hard to reach their ultimate goal and get very close to reaching it but end up failing right before they reach it. They all try so hard to reach their American Dream but are unable to reach it. Throughout the novel there are many characters that show what the American Dream has become in Scott F. Fitzgerald’s time. The theme of the failing American Dream is represented throughout the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald by Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, and Myrtle.