Jay Gatsby's American Dream
Do you have an American Dream? What does it consist of? How will you pursue it? What 's your purpose for it? People tend to set their American Dream based on their past, their current situation in life, or generally on what they think is best for them. The great Jay Gatsby was set in his American Dream based on his past and the society around him. What he didn’t know is that his dream failed before he began to pursue it. Gatsby’s mistaken belief of the American Dream was tarnished by money, love, and deception. What is the American Dream? The American Dream was an idea that started when the settlement of America came to place. Up until the 1920s, the American Dream was about hope, love, the pursuit of happiness, freedom, and more. Soon …show more content…
He worked hard when he was employed by Dan Cody, and he got to see how the wealthy got to live by sailing the world. After Cody died he gave his inheritance to Gatz, but Cody’s ex-wife didn 't let that happen. When Gatz money was taken he decided that he wasn 't going to live the way he lived any more. He changed his name to Jay Gatsby and was a different man. He got his riches by owning drug stores and selling over the counter alcohol. He didnt work for his money, but he did work for his money when he was employed by Cody. After losing the inheritance money he realized money wasn 't going to be fast and easy to get, so he cheated his success. The mentality of money was wrong, and what people thought people could buy with money was wrong. He cheated his up to the top, he tried to buy his way into society and a love life (Fitzgerald, …show more content…
The whole story is full of lies. How Gatsby got his wealth is a lie (Fitzgerald, 1925), why he loved Daisy was a lie. Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s relationship wasn’t based off of loyalty, and neither was George and Myrtle Wilson’s relationship. Deception caused the death of both Gatsby, and Myrtle. Tom and Daisy didn 't love each other, and Myrtle didn 't love George. Tom and Myrtle already had an affair as tale as old as time. Myrtle lived with her husband in a mechanic garage for 11 years, and being with a rich guy like Tom made her feel at the top of the social class, achieving her American Dream. She had the love, but not the money. Gatsby’s life work was to get the love missing from with in him. He based his goal from the past, and it was a bad idea. Daisy and Gatsby get reunited and start their own affair. Tom later finds out that he was losing both his wife and mistress in one night. But why would Tom get jealous if he was lying to his partner as well? That same night, Daisy kills Myrtle by running her over with Gatsby’s car. George finds out about his wife and kills Gatsby thinking he was the one driving (Taylor, 1998). Myrtle 's husband was disappointed and was empty finding out he had already lost her before she died. He had nothing to live for. Gatsby getting involved in a world full of lies destroyed his dream. Being truthful in every way would have worked out
The Great Gatsby American Dream
660 Words | 3 PagesThe novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitz Gerald embodies many themes. A major in the story is the pursuit of can be labelled the American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes and a happy family symbolizes the American dream. The Great Gatsby shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons.
Examples Of Illusions In The Great Gatsby
803 Words | 4 PagesDaisy drives, and, on the way home, accidentally runs over and kills Tom’s lover, Myrtle. Gatsby takes the fall for her but pays for it with his life when Myrtle’s husband George takes the law into his hands and kills Gatsby just before taking his own life. The novel ends as Daisy and Tom move on with their lives and Nick moves away from New York, realizing he wasn’t made for the big city
Why Does Daisy Deserve The Great Gatsby
365 Words | 2 PagesGatsby uses the last five years of his life trying to achieve his one goal of obtaining Daisy as his wife and spending the rest of his life with her, but what happens to him instead is unexpected and undeserved. Jay Gatsby got shot and killed by George Wilson. Gatsby did not sleep with Myrtle, he is an honorable man and would not sleep with another man’s wife. Gatsby also did not kill Myrtle, if he did he would have stopped the car and not just kept driving. Daisy did not talk to Gatsby ever again after the accident.
The Great Gatsby Tom Buchanan Quotes
789 Words | 4 PagesTom Buchanan' s money makes him very careless and reckless throughout the novel. In the opening chapters of the novel, we learn a little bit about Tom Buchanan. First we get a solid description of him from Nick saying that he is a
Dishonesty In The Great Gatsby Analysis
925 Words | 4 PagesGatsby is not the only one with twisted views as a result of unfaithfulness. Myrtle, George’s wife, is cheating on George with Tom in the book made clear here, “Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He 's so dumb he doesn 't know he 's alive" (26). George suspects the cheating, but never truly discovers what is going on before she dies.
What Is The American Dream Gattainable
1220 Words | 5 PagesThe Deceiving Dream The American Dream is a highly controversial topic as many think of it as a hoax or an unrealistic fantasy. The Dream itself refers to the fact that “every American citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative" (Google Dictionary). One may think that with hard work, determination and perseverance, anything is possible, but in a country like America where you need money in order to make money, this idea seems unrealistic. Things like university and college costs for the desired course makes this Dream seem out of reach as well.
Explain The Destruction Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby
1143 Words | 5 PagesThe author explains that Gatsby did all in his effort to get better for Daisy, but ended up dying in the midst of it. The author depicts this by stating, “Furthermore, his success obviously doesn’t last – he still pines for Daisy and loses everything in his attempt to get her back” (Wulick). The author also brings in the idea of George and Myrtle Wilson trying to achieve the American Dream. It is mentioned that George wants a better life just as much as Myrtle does. However, Myrtle seeks a better life through Tom and having him buy her materials.
What Is The American Dream In The 1920s
650 Words | 3 PagesThe American dream is an illusion that is deeply implanted in the minds of the people, it sets a bar for life achievement and offers hope to work hard to achieve their dreams. As for Americans, they are raised in a society to where they are expected to make lots money and to have a healthy family. After all in our society success is largely based off positions of power and financial stability. For example, in The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there were multiple interpretations of the ideal American dream in the 1920s. In the 1920s, due to the growth of materialism, people advertised and fancied the power of money to fulfilling their dreams.
Money And Power In The Great Gatsby Analysis
1149 Words | 5 PagesThe carelessness that money creates allows those in power to bypass and disobey the laws because they believe their money will bail them out of trouble. Many wealthy people use their money as a reason to not take responsibility for their actions. Wealth causes the characters in The Great Gatsby to be out of touch with reality and the world beyond wealth. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's
American Dream In The Great Gatsby Analysis
785 Words | 4 PagesThe Great Gatsby, written in 1924 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, in my opinion, focused on the American Dream and the problems with that vision. In contrast to all the other themes of the book, it seemed to be rather uplifting on the surface but when you look into the details it can paint a pretty disgusting picture of the American Dream in the 1920’s chiefly and the American Dream for all Americans throughout time in general. In the following, I will be discussing the American Dream in a whole over the course of the entire novel, using a specific quotation, and focusing on Gatsby. As we focus on the American Dream in the Great Gatsby, we must look in general across the entire book. We really first start to see foreshadowing to this theme in the second Chapter with George Wilson and Myrtle Wilson, one making a living as a mechanic/gas station operator, the other making money by being in an affair with Tom respectively.
How Does Jay Gatsby Fulfill The American Dream
723 Words | 3 PagesGatsby represents the American Dream throughout the story, he works hard towards rewarding achievements but is let down, because others would rather have money, power, and society’s approval. Jay Gatsby grew up in a poor family from North Dakota. As a farm child he worked hard and followed the American dream. He wanted to escape the poor farm life and make a name for himself. He wanted to be someone that was looked up to by others.
American Dream In The Great Gatsby And The Epic Journey
601 Words | 3 PagesThe view of the American Dream is different for everyone. The Epic Journey, by James Truslow Adams, views the American Dream as a dream of attaining one’s fullest stature regardless of one’s social status. Similarly, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s American Dream relates to Adam’s dream but limited to materialistic wealth- a dream that seeks for motor cars, higher wages, and to impress the people of high status. Both Adams and Gatsby believe that everyone has an equal chance of achieving their dream. Adams says “The dream is that dream of land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”.
Examples Of Carelessness In The Great Gatsby
2003 Words | 9 PagesWhen Tom Buchanan has an affair with Myrtle, he leads her astray for her to believe that he loves her, even though he does not, resulting in her death. When Daisy does not show up to Gatsby’s funeral, she proves to her cousin that she is nothing but childish. Based on the outcomes of the careless actions of these
Examples Of Love And Money In The Great Gatsby
1219 Words | 5 PagesThroughout the novel The Great Gatsby by F Scotts Fitzgerald love and money motivates every character. They all had made decisions based on love and money, no matter the consequences, no matter if it was good or bad they still made those decisions through the love they had for someone and their desire for money. Tom Buchanan 's love for daisy was pure and true throughout the book the great gatsby he even made some hard decisions all out the love possesed for her. A very critical part of the the novel was when tom 's wife had killed George Wilson 's wife Myrtle Wilson in a automotive accident. When George came to tom about what happened questioning him about who killed his wife, Tom could see that George was furious and would be willing to do anything to the person who killed his beloved wife.
The American Dream In The Great Gatsby
599 Words | 3 PagesThe Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a story about the American society in the 1920s and the search for the American Dream. It exemplifies the class distinction between the wealthy and the poor, comparing the vivacious lifestyles of the rich in comparison to the dull lives of the poor. This is a tale about a man, Jay Gatsby and his struggles in trying to reinvent himself and achieve the American Dream by reuniting himself with the girl from his past, Daisy Buchanan, but ultimately fails tragically. What he tried so hard to achieve eventually killed him: the American Dream. Through the eyes of a New York bond dealer, Nick Carraway, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the American Dream and its lasting effects on the characters.
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