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Why The Great Gatsby Failed

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An Un-Complete American Dream The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald, states that "There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired"(79). Gatsby tried with all his money, effort, and parties to complete his version of the American Dream. Gatsby tried to pursue his American Dream of getting the "Golden Girl" and becoming rich and powerful, and he accomplished his dream of riches and power, even though failed at getting Daisy, which shows us that the American Dream is not a good thing if there is no one in one 's life to share the dream with. There are many reasons why he failed in not getting his dream, like only flaunting his wealth for Daisy and not show his true feelings, chasing someone that did not love him back and by selling …show more content…

European immigrants came here in search of a better life in the “land of opportunity,” and the people that worked hard got their dream, but the people like Gatsby who made the money but sold themselves short on whatever the rest of their goal was, like Gatsby’s “Golden Girl” dream. Gatsby sold himself short, so he didn’t get his dream. Just like Sven Birkerts expressed, “if The Great Gatsby is indeed a cautionary tale, then it is really cautioning us against selling ourselves short, against turning in fear or disappointment from the lyrical call of our nature. Gatsby was not a fool for dreaming, only for not knowing how dreams intersect with realities” (96). Gatsby chased Daisy by throwing parties and flaunting his wealth, but Daisy wasn’t chasing that back, Daisy was chasing love, something Gatsby was not. Linda Pavlovski wrote the same in a journal “Gatsby 's "frontier," however, is an ill-advised pursuit of a vacuous young woman not worthy of his love”. Gatsby could have found someone else, but he did not. He bought a house, threw parties and ended up dying for someone who moved on from him after he left her for

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