Themes Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The author Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby as a novel that talks about and covers American issues in the 1920s. He shows in the novel the carelessness and selfishness of everybody at the same time by portraying all of them in the location of west and east egg. Fitzgerald talks about a couple different topics throughout the novel. One of those is," the Attainment of a dream may be less satisfying than the pursuit of it" and the second one is"the American Dream is corrupted by the desire for wealth". He uses those themes to show how americans lived at a different time.

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, something we all dream to prosper, however differs from each one of us. Whether it be to obtain riches or love, or simply live happy, we all aspire to cross that finish line at the end of day. The universal theme of the American Dream is presented throughout The Great Gatsby, and is shown throughout many of the characters in which many are emptied, because of their lust for money. For instance, in the novel The Great Gatsby the main character Gatsby shows downfall for the American Dream, because of his ambition, and corruption. The character expresses his downfall through his traits of ambition, and resilience in obtaining his materialistic riches, and most important living happy ever after with his “nice” girl Daisy, the one who got away.

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.

One of the most influential writers of the early 20th century was a man named F. Scott Fitzgerald. The biggest topic that he wrote about was the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses many different aspects of writing to get his opinion across, such as the outcome of stories like The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams”. He also uses the setting and to explain his beliefs. Based of his work, Fitzgerald believes the American dream is not only unrealistic, but also unattainable.

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 Great Gatsby depicts The United States in the 1920s. While originally, this period depicted the Great American dream with people pursuing their goals and seeking happiness, it contained an unfortunate turn with people running after money, riches and materialism. Towards the final stage of the story Nick states "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy -- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made." This clearly displays how most of the upper society had surrounded themselves with lavish cars, posh houses, and extravagant parties forgetting the true value of life. Fitzgerald displays that the "American dream" is not all that people see from the outside, but that a majority of these individuals lived shallow lives, with narrow mentalities. Everything on the outside was glistening, but the inside held many dark, and upsetting secrets. Throughout various themes, symbols and motifs, the underlying meaning that Fitzgerald wants revealed becomes evident.

The American Dream is the assumption that working hard will allow one to flourish economically and socially. However, to truly achieve the American Dream, one has to have both wealth and support from one’s family. In The Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Walter’s dream of owning his own liquor store stirs up problems with his family. Similarly, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby’s infatuation with Daisy leads him on a lonely and perilous journey. Walter and Gatsby each fail to achieve the American Dream because neither of them have both wealth and a loving family: Walter has a supporting family, but lacks wealth, while Gatsby is at the pinnacle of prosperity but is neither able to marry the love of his life nor build a loving home.

What is the American Dream? America has evolved from a struggling nation to become a world power through its huge economic growth. Driven by the principles of independence, self-reliance, and freedom. Americans have had so many opportunities to accomplish their goals. To many, the American Dream is to have freedom and the opportunity to pursue financial freedom. To others, such as Gatsby, in The Great Gatsby, the American dream is happiness. He is driven by his dreams, trying to find what will make him happy. Gatsby seeks happiness through love. The belief that a perfect world is within his grasp drives his character to be successful. Without dreams Gatsby would lose his sense of purpose in life. The pursuit of the American dream is a paradox. Achieving it is not possible, but without it, life will lose its purpose.

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

Aims, goals, and aspirations are considered the driving force in human life. Pursuing one’s dreams and accomplishing them is an astonishing feat that is only dared to be carried out by some. The American dream is still a major source of inspiration for the fledglings which still have their hopes in the air without worry. Despite this, lack of hope in the American dream is a snowball that increases exponentially in size as it rolls down a mountain, as it is portrayed in the American classic, The Great Gatsby. The American dream is demonstrated as a corrupted ideal which in turn ruins the lives of those who chase it as they are blinded by promises of having a high social status, oceans of riches, and their morals then become twisted as a result. While the book may have seemed as just a simple tragic tale, it delves deep into this concept of the dream and explores various parts of the bottomless abyss.

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.

American dreams~ the belief that anyone can achieve success with effort. F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the falling of the American dream. In most of his book the main character either ends up dead or sadly alone. They got the money but inside that was not what they were really looking for. This was completion or happiness, which is what, was missing from their lives even though they had everything it was not enough it was not fulfilling.