ipl-logo

Futility Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

654 Words3 Pages

With booming economy in the U.S.A. after “the war to end all wars”, the American dream of gaining title and wealth was in the minds of many Americans in the 1920s. Despite that, our author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, thinks differently from the majority. Through Jay Gatsby’s views by others, corruption, and greed, skilfully crafted by Fitzgerald, the reader will explore the futility of the American Dream in the “Booming Twenties”. To portray the futility of the American Dream, Fitzgerald wanted to make a clear gap between the new wealth and the old wealth by using Gatsby and his “Old Wealth” counterparts. Fitzgerald created Tom and Daisy as Conservatives, which they have shown many times that they do not view Gatsby, who was a newly rich, as a person of same class, neither do they fond of the way of him obtaining his wealth nor the way he was spending those money. In chapter six, where Nick, Tom and Daisy was at …show more content…

Even in the “Roaring Twenties, money does not come around easily to the poor; Gatsby tried to reach his American Dream, through illegal means, by selling alcohol as a bootlegger. Despite trying to keep up a façade, Tom exposed Gatsby’s identity in chapter seven when he stated: “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter”. Furthermore, Gatsby’s acceptance of criminal activity is abnormal. In chapter four, where a normal person like Nick was introduced to Wolfsheim, he was overwhelmed and asked: “Why isn’t he in jail?” Nonetheless, Gatsby answered nonchalantly: “They can’t get him, old sport. He’s a smart man.”, acknowledged the fact the Wolfsheim is a criminal. Through Gatsby’s criminal activities and his acceptance of crimes due to his love for Daisy, Fitzgerald has successfully portrayed that Gatsby is corrupted due to his race for the American Dream, which further disdain

Show More
Related

  • Great Gatsby Socioeconomic Landscape

    919 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gatsby is in a lower social class than Daisy and Tom and his American Dream is also different from the other two. Gatsby’s differences

    Read More

  • Analyzing Baz Luhrmann's Film 'The Great Gatsby'

    665 Words  | 3 Pages

    He and his Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts'' (Fitzgerald 133). As the story unfolds, Gatsby reveals a flawed character, he has sort of cheated his way up to the American dream. Baz Luhrmann falls short in his portrayal giving the audience a glamourized view of Gatsby rather than his form of the flawed American

    Read More

  • Examples Of Kindness In The Great Gatsby

    2312 Words  | 10 Pages

    Fitzgerald attempts to make Gatsby appear as a compassionate and humble man who cares for everyone but fails at doing so by showing his many flaws and actions that go against the very idea of him being a compassionate man. At first, Gatsby appears to be perhaps the only compassionate man in the book and maybe even comparable to Christ. You see him opening his home to everyone, and taking people in and being kind hearted to everyone he encounters but later the reader begins to discover that everything Gatsby does, has an ulterior motive. For example, his kindness to Nick first appears to be just him being kind to his neighbour, however the reader later realises that the only purpose in Gatsby’s kindness towards Nick was to get him to assist him come in to contact with Daisy and be reintroduced to her. “I’m going to make a big request of you to-day” (Fitzgerald 52).

    Read More

  • The Role Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    1078 Words  | 5 Pages

    As children, we have all dreamt of money, being rich; owning an extravagant mansion, magnificent cars, and being married to a prince or princess. Basically, we dream of the perfect life, with the perfect spouse. Generally, this dream is known as the American Dream, which is the belief that if one works hard, that person will succeed by becoming rich. Even after all the clarifications for the American Dream, people have still managed to misunderstand it. The deceptive role of the American Dream, the wrongfully understood meaning of it and the changes it brings in a person is what puts together the overall idea of American Dream.

    Read More

  • Disillusion Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    1162 Words  | 5 Pages

    The American Dream, the ideal that any individual can prosper regardless of their social rank, requires the characteristics of hard work, determination, and initiative. However, if an individual is dealt poor cards, they are likely to fall into a sense of misconception when trying to achieve the American Dream for themselves. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby explores the disillusionment individuals experience when attempting to reach their goals. Nick Carraway, a young man from a wealthy family in the Midwest, visits New York over the summer in the 1920s and befriends his next-door neighbor, Jay Gatsby. He is a middle-aged man who is born into an impoverished household, but now lives lavishly on West Egg after years of dedication and

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby: The Deception Of The American Dream

    1476 Words  | 6 Pages

    Because of the catastrophic results brought on by Gatsby’s crusade to redesign the past, he can only lament that the American Dream is a foolish pursuit and that chasing dreams that “[recede] before us” (Fitzgerald 189) is a fruitless task. Fitzgerald uses a paradox to emphasize how many romantics live in a false reality; a reality where any goals can be achieved. While they are blinded by the facade of hope, they fail to realize that their dream is slowly but constantly moving farther away from them. This paradox gives the reader a look at the grim contradiction between dreams and reality. Fitzgerald believes the prosperity that is promised in America is an unattainable thing, and that chasing it will always be a losing battle.

    Read More

  • The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    1366 Words  | 6 Pages

    Began from the great man Franklin in America,the American Dream has been the tradition of American. But under the changes of the times,great changes have occurred in the American Dream. The Great Gatsby is a typical story about American dream. It is a classic about the American dream. This caused a question:What is American dream?American dream is a kind of bait that encourage a man work hard,American dream just means that if a young man is a self-made man,then he can get the things that he pursues.

    Read More

  • Disillusion Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    1525 Words  | 7 Pages

    1920s America saw the last effects and disillusionment brought about by the First World War. For the rich, it was decadent and filled with debauchery but for the poor, life was just the same, with the war still weighing on them and adding to their struggles. Those many, had the American dream, the hope that everyone would achieve success and prosperity, to strive for. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel was a combination of the rich lifestyle and the pitfalls of the American dream. A man known as Jay Gatsby experiences a rags-to-riches story and tries to win back a married woman he was once with, Daisy Buchanan, in 1920s New York.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

    789 Words  | 4 Pages

    The 1920s were an expanding, prosperous, and vibrant time, but also brought challenges such as greed and lust for money or, perhaps, something else. It was often overshadowed by one’s hopes and dreams. In Gatsby’s case, the culture of the 1920s served him a fate of infinite loneliness due to his unrelenting love for, and dreams of a life with, Daisy Buchanan as he struggled to make his dreams come to life through his location, money, and crime, oblivious of the icy, grim reality of rejection. The 1920s was a time of opportunity to many; with the stock market in place, any person can get rich if they invested their funds.

    Read More

  • The Failure Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    1249 Words  | 5 Pages

    Failure of The American Dream The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of race, class, gender, or nationality, can be successful in America. The 1920s is called the “Roaring Twenties” because the music, fashion, and art that made up the period is anything but quiet, everyone was outside and could not stay inside as the jazz music kept everyone moving and grooving where nobody cared what you wore as everyone was equal, the 1920s settled after post-World War 1 when the Stock Market was booming, there was a sense that there was plenty of money to go around, Furthermore, the famous book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald is pushing to state that the American Dream is destroyed through various symbols throughout

    Read More

  • The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    264 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Dream is a consistent theme that is shown by Gatsby’s life. Fitzgerald described Jay Gatsby’s, formerly known as James Gatz, early life by saying, “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” (Fitzgerald 98). This proves that the multi-millionaire Gatsby, despite the rumors of how he was brought up, came from poverty. Along his path to success Gatsby met Dan Cody and traveled the world with him. Dan Cody perished and that's where it was said, “And it was from Cody that he inherited money-- a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars.

    Read More

  • The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Essay

    702 Words  | 3 Pages

    F.Scott Fitzgerald is an American novelist and a short story writer. He is the author of the famous novel “ The Great Gatsby”, which is written in the 1920’s. The period of the 1920’s is well known as the roaring twenties due to lack of morales and the lowering of standards and expectations, people intended just to have a good time not caring about the outcomes of their and how they will effect their lives. Fitzgerald wants to prove in his novel the death of “The American Dream” it’s just a myth. The author of this novel shows the death of the american dream through the events surrounding Gatsby, and Daisy.

    Read More

  • Corruption Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Analysis

    1756 Words  | 8 Pages

    Gatsby was a man who came up from essentially nothing by gaining his money through bootlegging and other illegal acts in order to gain a reputation in society. Gatsby’s constant desire to accomplish more in his life demonstrates the corruption of the American Dream. It is evident that Gatsby has had a thirst for the American dream since a young age, this is shown when Gatsby’s father says: “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind?

    Read More

  • Examples Of Hollowness Of The Upper Class In The Great Gatsby

    995 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald characterizes the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values. One of the major themes explored in this novel is the Hollowness of the Upper Class. The entire book revolves around money including power and little love. Coincidentally the three main characters of the novel belong to the upper class and throughout the novel Fitzgerald shows how this characters have become corrupted and have lost their morality due to excess money and success and this has led them to change their perspective towards other people and they have been portrayed as short-sighted to what is important in life. First of all, we have the main character of this novel, Gatsby who won’t stop at nothing to become rich overnight in illegal dealings with mobsters such as Wolfsheim in order to conquer Daisy’s heart.”

    Read More

  • The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Essay

    1133 Words  | 5 Pages

    F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is a reflection of the American Dream. Written in 1925, the book tells the story of a man named Jay Gatsby, whose main driving force in life is the pursuit of a woman called Daisy Buchanan. The narrator is Gatsby’s observant next-door neighbor, Nick Carraway, who offers a fresh, outsider’s perspective on the events; the action takes place in New York during the so-called Roaring Twenties. By 1922, when The Great Gatsby takes place, the American Dream had little to do with Providence divine and a great deal to do with feelings organized around style and personal changed – and above all, with the unexamined self .

    Read More

More about Futility Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Open Document