The American Dream In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

Jay Gatsby is a perfect example for the American Dream“The character of millionaire Jay Gatsby represents the extremes of 1920’s wealth and decadence. Gatsby devotes his life to accumulating riches in order to attract the attention of his romantic obsession, the lovely but spoiled Daisy Buchanan. ”(Avey, 1). This quote spoken by Tori Avey, describes how Gatsby is a perfect representation of the Roaring Twenties and the American Dream. “In the Great Gatsby, the eponymous character embodies the model American construct of the self-made man.

In the article, Jay Gatsby is portrayed as a man who represents the American society as a whole. Gatsby is the perfect portrayal of the American Dream simply because he represents all of our issues and dreams rolled into one. One aspect of Gatsby that relates to America and it's culture is looking to money as the answer to all of life's problems. Furthermore, it can be seen that relying on wealth can lead to issues, and it Gatsby's case, fatal.

He was successful very at getting money, but was never truly rich. Gatsby has always had his eyes set on making the most money he could, he never lived in the present. Since Gatsby never lived in the present he did things permanently. When Gatsby was around he never was really popular and didn’t have many friends; he decided to change that for good by making a lot of money.

If Gatsby is meant to represent the American Dream, the reader can assume that the American Dream had become corrupt; that it could only be achieved through illegal deals and lies that got him the life he wanted but didn’t deserve. The American Dream through Gatsby is built upon deception and sooner or later, the truth must

Gatsby Essay Montana Renno Period: 2 Mrs. Gwizdala The American dream is a specific idea in which every American has an equal opportunity to succeed with hard work and determination. The Great Gatsby portrayed several truths of “The American Dream” shown through Fitzgerald’s characters. Throughout The Great Gatsby it becomes evident the American Dream cannot be obtained unless one was born into wealth. Jay Gatsby, the main character, was not born into wealth, but earned it through hard work.

Gatsby’s Failure of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby Dreams are seen as a positive way to keep people going forward through their lives. However, dreams can blind people and not let them to see the truth. The novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes the idea of The American Dream of not being able to be achieved. Gatsby is one of the characters in the novel that tries to achieve The American Dream. The pursuit of the American Dream brings negative results to Gatsby because he becomes greedy, unrealistic, and dishonest, which shows that chasing dreams can destroy one’s life.

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows how Jay Gatsby tries to fulfill the ideals of the American Dream. When Gatsby was young, he set goals and worked hard to improve. He pursued the typical American dream of gaining wealth, finding a companion, and being admired by others. Gatsby thought it was best to try and change everything about himself. He wears a thick mask of lies throughout the story, hiding his past, changing his name, suppressing his emotions, and even adapting his word choice.

The 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”.

“It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms farther...” describes the belief known as the American Dream stating that anyone can achieve success through hard work regardless of their past. The story The Great Gatsby, originally portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel and later Luhrmann’s film adaptation, explores the theme of the perversion of the American Dream. This is evident through analysis of the meaning of the American Dream; Fitzgerald’s portrayal of the characters of Gatsby, the Buchanan’s, and the Wilson’s; the symbolism behind locations such as The Valley of Ashes and West and East Egg; and the social norms of the successful, such as partying and drinking. “Gatsby believed in the green

The American dream stands as a symbol for hope, prosperity, and happiness. But F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby, examines the American dream from a different perspective, one that sheds light on those who contort these principles to their own selfish fantasies. Fitzgerald renders Jay Gatsby as a man who takes the Dream too far, and becomes unable to distinguish his false life of riches from reality. This 'unique ' American novel describes how humanity 's insatiable desires for wealth and power subvert the idyllic principles of the American vision. Jay Gatsby is the personification of limitless wealth and prestige, a shining beacon for the aspiring rich.

As a result of an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overall cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. The character Jay Gatsby is the best character to show the American Dream and its awful outcome. Gatsby’s American Dream is the life he strived to have and obtained for himself. When growing up he wasn’t born rich like most of the upper class.

After the unsettling times of World War I, people lost most of their faith in the government and society. Shortly afterward, the Modernist era emerged and took over literature as a response to how our country was greatly changed. By cause of this loss of faith, modernist literature displayed many variations of disillusionment. When one is disillusioned, one must recognize that their previous belief is now untrue, contrary to what many people may believe. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the theme of disillusionment is represented through the use of narrator Nick Carraway who shows the disillusions of “the American Dream”, the upper class and their marriages become apparent to the reader.

"The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream." In this quote, by Azar Nafisi, it explains how dreaming can be tainted by reality, and that if a person doesn’t compromise they may suffer. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is one the many themes present. The American Dream that most people in this book hope to have involves wealth, status, a fun social life, and someone to lust after. It is the life they all strive to have until they obtain it and see its meaningless composure.

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 .

The dream is represented by the ideas of a self sufficient man or woman, who is willing to do anything to achieve the goal of becoming successful. The Great Gatsby shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, a time period when dreams became corrupted for many reasons. The desire for a luxurious life, the hope for happiness, and the ambition for something unachievable and work together to ruin the American Dream. The Great Gatsby shows a time when the American Dream is failing, humanity is corrupting it by their wants of possessions leading to the all out demise of the American Dream.