How Did Gatsby Chase The American Dream

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Certain desires can push you to do extraordinary things. Sometimes, these desires are not good for you to chase. Jay Gatsby fell head over heels for a girl he met in Louisville and wouldn’t stop until he had her. There wasn 't an amount of money that could bring him the true happiness he was seeking. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby chases the American Dream by doing everything for the girl he loves. Gatsby began his pursuit of the American Dream after he met Dan Cody. Cody lived a life of luxury and Gatsby looked up to him because of his wealth. “And it was from Cody that he inherited money-a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars. He didn’t get it” (Fitzgerald 100). This made Gatsby mad because that money was his main goal in life now. “At once Cody, the Western tycoon, who is spending his money in the flamboyant style of the Gilded Age, becomes Gatsby 's image of a wealthy and successful man” (Way 89). This made him want to pursue riches and live a life of luxury just like …show more content…

Lastly, Scott F. Fitzgerald also tried to live out the American Dream. He mirrored his own life in the book, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s dream, just like Gatsby 's dream, eventually died out in the end. Both Gatsby and Fitzgerald were never satisfied. They always wanted more than what they already had. “Gatsby symbolizes both the corrupted Dream and the original uncorrupted Dream” (Kestler). The two of them both started out with good intentions on this quest for the American Dream, which then twisted into a version of a corrupted dream. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby chases the American Dream by doing everything for the girl he loves. Gatsby did everything in power, both legal and illegal, right and wrong, in an attempt to win back Daisy. He got the girl of his dreams but the rest of his life caught up with him. In the end, Gatsby lost the quest to achieve the American Dream. His wrongs outweighed his rights and his life came to a screeching

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