Theme Of 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 American Dream has various implications for diverse individuals. For some people, the concept implies that one can accomplish his or her objectives and goals through living this dream. To others, it provides a beacon of hope, as an open door that individuals desperately desire to enter in pursuit of opportunities. The Americans after World War I, boosted by the emotions of the war, had an uncontrollable vigor about accomplishing and displaying an extravagant way of life and achieving a high social position. The people of America considered bliss to be embedded inside the American Dream and without that, life would be without pleasure and thus without meaning. The novel The Great Gatsby, by Scott Fitzgerald, provides a sight of the

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.

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.

Most define the American Dream as an equal opportunity for all to achieve success through handwork and determination. Many define success as having or gaining wealth and power. This isn 't true for the novel The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald. Instead Fitzgerald represents the withering of the American Dream, in the novel the American Dream is presented more as a overpowering idea of aspirations far from reach, making it less of a dream and more of a distant thought. Throughout the novel Fitzgerald slowly deconstructs the image of the American Dream and builds upon the corrupting nature of wealth. Due to the corrupting nature of wealth we are able to identify the theme of the withering American Dream, which is being represented through

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.

Fabrizio Moreira once said, “The American Dream is that any man or woman, despite of his or her background, can change their circumstances and rise as high as they are willing to work.” (American Dream Quotes). This quote is reminiscent of what most people think of the American Dream as. Usually, their thoughts entail hard work leading to success and happiness. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many examples of the American Dream. Fitzgerald expresses the American Dream through his characters and makes a specific point about how the American Dream isn’t all that it seems.

The American dream is the idea that everyone should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby we are given a glimpse of 20th century New York; a story focused on the corrupted American dream. Many characters in the book are in pursuit of the American dream not aware of the impact their behavior will have in the end. The Great Gatsby is a tragic story portraying the downhill spiral of the American dream due to the carelessness of the wealthy.

“The American Dream” is for the beneficial purpose of success in an individual’s ambition. Most consisting of living the life of luxury, success, and happiness which pertains to a “perfect” lifestyle. The novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is primarily based off the idea of American dreams with the hopes reaching a higher social class. Jay Gatsby illustrates how the “American Dream” can not be obtained from his failures throughout his dedicated and hardworking efforts. In which, his attempt to achieve his American dream lead him to his downfall and loss.

The American Dream has changed drastically over the years. One of the biggest changes happened during the 1920’s. Fitzgerald was appalled by this change and “corruption” of the american dream during this time. This corruption of the dream is one of the main themes of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Gatsby represents the American Dream which was killed by Daisy who was the cause of the immoral and adulterous lifestyle that he chose.

No average American can reach the “dream” without a major struggle. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the author shows that the American Dream can only be accomplished by those who have a social advantage. You can see those differences in between characters throughout the whole book. The "American Dream" fails several times, which F. Scott Fitzgerald describes in his book.

When one thinks of the American Dream, it never is the same as the first. One could dream of making it big in Hollywood while another just wants to be able to provide enough money for their family. Everybody has a different dream that they want to accomplish in life and everybody faces some kind of road block while trying to reach it. The Great Gatsby is a great example of the American Dream and the struggles one can face while trying to achieve it. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald argues that the American Dream is difficult to achieve because old relationships and social status can interfere. He argues that the American Dream is difficult to achieve through Myrtle Wilson’s want for a new life full of riches and luxury, Daisy Buchanan’s complicated relationship with her husband and dream of reliving an old romance, and Jay Gatsby’s idea that the past can repeat itself and win him his first real true love.

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