The American Dream In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The true purpose of the American dream is lost upon Gatsby, as it makes "no sound" of warning upon his conscience, fading into an omen that becomes "uncommunicable forever" (100). Jay Gatsby 's indecent ascension as a king of society depicts America as a land of the affluent, instead of the land of the free. In this counterfeit America, Gatsby 's dream "must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it" (159). But since he "[does] not know that it [is] already behind him" (159), Gatsby continues to seek contentment in fattening his purse. Unable to see past his warped reality, he tries to procure any object that could possibly satisfy his desires.

When growing up he wasn’t born rich like most of the upper class. He started life with little, as the son of fairly unsuccessful farmers. Even though Gatsby has always wanted to be rich, his main motivation in gaining his fortune was for his love Daisy Buchanan, whom he met as a young military officer in Louisville before leaving to fight in World War I in 1917. Since Gatsby 's money did not come from inheritance, as he would like people to believe he had to find another way to obtain it. He got his wealth from organized crime, since the story takes place during the time of

He desperately tries to impress with all the luxury, the houses and the money, but all the materialistic goods aren 't enough to convince not only Daisy, his lost love, but also the rest of the upper class. When Gatsby asks Nick " My house looks well doesn 't it ? See how the whole front of it catches the light" (Fitzgerald). He wants to be reassured and reinforce his position but unlike his neighbours, Gatsby doesn 't owe his success to hard work and earning his own money but to

The Dream consists of a seemingly simple theory; success. Charles Foster Kane possessed everything that a materialistic man could dream to have: money, power, a successful career, women, and extravagant possessions some men would go to extremes lengths to have. Yet, Charles had it all. The most important ingredient of happiness in life Kane lacked however, was the single component he couldn 't buy and that was: love. "You won 't get lonely, Charles... You 'll be the richest man in the world someday."

Douglass was born into a life of slavery that was cruel and unforgiving. He was born with nothing and in a situation where it seemed like things could not get any worse, they did. Douglass’s father was his master so he had no father figure in his life and his mother was sold soon after he was born. Unfortunately, slave children being separated from their mothers was not uncommon and “Frequently, before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some farm a considerable distance away” (Douglass 13). While Douglass was never able to experience the value of family, Hewes was able to know the importance of his.

Having courage to work hard for a goal or a dream builds strength through all the difficulties trying to get there. Some of those struggles were expressed by George; “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go into town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re pounding their tail on some other ranch.” (Steinbeck 13).

The rigourous mentality for an ideal life left Gatsby with the solitude of competition against his peers, but also the emptiness from a goal that gave no personal worth. The achievements Jay Z reached, contrarily, were then given back to provide hope and trust through his adaptation of success. Through both lives, “The American Dream” can be seen as success, but to truly succeed, one must have the ability to customize the reasons for wanting fame, and that intention will eventually come to be gratitude and progression of the

While on the surface, Gatsby does have a ‘rags-to-riches’ story, it is not a virtuous one; he amasses his wealth through illegal channels by working with Meyer Wolfsheim, and never fulfills his dream, Daisy. Also, He changes his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby when he first encounters Dan Cody. Because Gatsby has to take on an entirely different persona to achieve success, disguising his poor upbringing and suggesting that James Gatz could never achieve the American dream. Gatsby first attempts to earn his financial success by performing menial labor for Cody, but when Cody’s ex-wife swindles Gatsby out of his inheritance, he turns to illegal means of getting rich. Not only does Gatsby illegally gain his wealth my selling grain liquor over the counter, but he also does so under the direction of Meyer Wolfsheim, breaking two essential qualities of the self-made man, virtue, and independence.

Fitzgerald exploited the story comes with figurative language and characterization so he demonstrated to the audience the ultimate goal may affect when falling in love with someone from a different social class can be an obstacle to achieving the American Dream. Gatsby carried unrealistic imagination in mind despite to his nature born in the low status of the society. Gatsby-himself must have faced many difficult challenges ahead in the society life to passed the self-limit to achieving his fantasy dream. As the author borrowed Nick’s narration in the story to illustration the characterization "His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people--his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all.” (.98). This line depicted Gatsby life when he was a little, and this characterization contained a big ambitious dream of a child who starting from the bottom to get

Julian Baggini iterates that while “happiness is important… it’s not everything; it’s worth having but hard to possess,” though he also admits that happiness’ role in life’s meaning is “so unclear,” (90). It is evident that Miller mirrors this sentiment--his main character, Willy Loman, devotes his entire life to achieving “happiness” through personal success. However, Miller depicts Willy’s goal, pursuing happiness as the main purpose of life, in a very tragic manner. Willy is greatly unable to achieve his goals. And, even in death, he did not obtain happiness or even guarantee his sons’ happiness, though he ends his life just because there is a possibility that his death may inadvertently bring success, and with it, happiness, to his family.