Introduction
Gatsby is the protagonist in the book named The Great Gatsby. He was born in a poor family but wants to be rich at a little age. He is the representative of American-dream chaser, just like any other American people who want to be wealthy by themselves. First, we should know something about the meaning of American dream. Second, I will describe how Gatsby achieve his dream in the book. Third, I will analyze the reason why Gatsby fail in the book. Then, follow my step to comprehend Gatsby’s American dream.
American dream
Every American believes that they can get rich and easy life through their hard working since 1776. American dream inspire people in America to create their value. From generalized view, it represents freedom, democracy and equality. From narrow view, it means people would make themselves to live the lives that they want by hardworking, originality and determination rather than depending on their social class and other’s help.
American scholars commonly think that “the Declaration of Independence” is the foundation and root of American dream, the Statue of Liberty is the symbol. American legal institution offers the guarantee, people can do what they want to do in a relatively fair circumstance. Thomas Wolfe, a famous writer, explain American
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Then, he chases him dream and leaves hometown at sixteen years old. To the beginning, he works along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam-digger and a salmon-fisher, which bring him food and bed. Next, Gatsby save Dan Cody and seize the opportunity. Cody teach Gatsby how to be a gentleman, he relies on Gatsby to help his business. Gatsby hopes inherit Cody’s property, but when Cody died, Gatsby was cheated of his inheritance by Cody’s family, he is once again dirt-poor, the vague contour of Jay Gatsby had filled out to the substantiality of a
The American dream carries a different meaning for every person. The definition may also change according to the time period and situation. In many sources, the American dream is defined as the ideal that all United States citizens should have equal opportunity to obtain success and prosperity through dedication. Two famous speeches, “The Speech at the Virginia Convention” by Patrick Henry and “The Speech in the Constitutional Convention” by Benjamin Franklin, define the term American dream during the time we were fighting for our independence. These speeches helped define the American dream by motivating the colonists to build the foundation foundation of the term, which is freedom and independence.
According to Source A, Gatsby is in pursuit of the American Dream; however, his dream is the personification of the love of his life, Daisy. This reveals that Gatsby had all the wealth he could ask for and therefore he only dreamed of obtaining the unobtainable. Source A states, “Gatsby fails to win over Daisy, he also fails to achieve his version of the American Dream.” In other words, the portrayal of the American Dream through Jay Gatsby proves that despite putting in all the effort, a vast majority of people do not always achieve their American Dream.
The Great Gatsby provokes ideas of the American Dream being attainable due to the wealth and power surge that Gatsby experiences, but ultimately the American Dream is unattainable because of its emphasis of class and wealth over true happiness. Throughout The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald provokes ideas of
Gatsby was born in a poor family in the twentieth century. At that time, American dream was a very popular word among the young men just like Gatsby. Its core meaning explaining that anyone in the United States, so long as with enough effort, can enjoy a better life. Because of the deep influence affected by it, he had a great ambition to win wealth and position. He thought that, as long as making arduous efforts and struggling for them, he would achieve his dream definitely.
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
The Roaring Twenties and its high spirit almost made it through decade, until the seemingly never ending boom obscured a flawed economic system which eventually led to the stock market crash in October, 1929 occurred and completely inverted the national atmosphere. By 1931 over eight million United States citizens were unemployed (Andrist 185). By 1932 the number increased to between twelve and fifteen million, making unemployment a reality for one in four Americans (Carey). Along with civilians, businesses such as banks were constantly collapsing and by1933 almost half the banks in the United States had failed (Carey). This combination of failed businesses along with the general pessimism across the nation led to a sharp decrease in supply
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.
In James’ teenage years he worked around lake superior doing any job that would provide him food and a bed. James had envisioned an alternate persona, where he was wealthy Jay Gatsby, and this persona sprung into action when Dan Cody anchored his yacht in Lake Superior. 2. What was Dan Cody’s flaw? How might this relate to Gatsby?
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.
Gatsby attempted to change who he was to impress Daisy Buchanan and her family, but at the end of the day, it still wasn’t good enough. If you spend your entire life attempting to be something, and no one cares, is it meaningless? What was Gatsby’s purpose in life if he did win Daisy back and was unable to move forward. At the beginning of Gatsby’s funeral, nobody showed but nick and a few others. This just shows how much of a failure he was at the end of the day.
Literary deaths always have a meaning, and the abrupt demise of various characters in The Great Gatsby is no exception. As tensions build and secret loves are proclaimed, characters begin to meet untimely deaths. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Gatsby and Wilson's deaths, along with Gatsby's funeral, to symbolize the death of the American dream. Both men simply want to be successful and happy, and neither of them achieve their ultimate dreams.
Gatsby was a man who came up from essentially nothing by gaining his money through bootlegging and other illegal acts in order to gain a reputation in society. Gatsby’s constant desire to accomplish more in his life demonstrates the corruption of the American Dream. It is evident that Gatsby has had a thirst for the American dream since a young age, this is shown when Gatsby’s father says: “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind?
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.
The American Dream was expected to be achieved through hard work, but in reality it was achieved through extensive borrowing and increasing credit growth; and this can be supported by the lifestyle delineated in the novel. The Great Gatsby focuses on the corruption, especially in the character named
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.