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How Did Gatsby Achieve The American Dream

2015 Words9 Pages
During the 1920s, the American Dream was something that many Americans gave blood, sweat, and tears in order to achieve, but the majority of the time, multiple factors prohibited them from ever reaching it. In The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he exhibits this by showing both sides of the spectrum. On one side, he shows how Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, has achieved the American Dream by having the ability to spend money on all of these expensive parties, buying classy clothes, in addition to many other lavish items. On the other hand, he shows the failure to achieve the American Dream, which Fitzgerald represents by including a detailed description of his love for Daisy Buchanan and the fact that he never wins her back.…show more content…
Despite the fact that Gatsby has all the money and material possessions that he could ever want, but he is still in search of one thing that continues to elude him. As mentioned before, the one thing that evades him is the love of Daisy. This goal is one he continues to work toward tirelessly; however, he is still unable to achieve Daisy’s true affection, which seems to be quite impossible. His attempts at winning Daisy show a tight resemblance to something like his own personal American Dream. This shows another strong correlation to the people who struggled to achieve the American Dream in the 1920s. Many of them never accomplished their goal and alongside them was Gatsby due to his tragic death in the prime of his life. An article written by Carla L. Verderame, titled “Social Class in The Great Gatsby”, further reinforces this thought when she says, “Gatsby’s determination to achieve great wealth and to shift from lower to upper class is all done in an attempt to reclaim Daisy,” (Verderame “Social Class”). Gatsby single-handedly took himself from lower to upper class only to impress the one girl that he cared about in his life. It did not matter how he reached that or what stood in his way, he just knew he needed to make it happen. At the very end of the book, the author proves this again by writing, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year…show more content…
Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner export ed., New York, Scribner, 2013.
Lathbury, Roger. “Jazz Age in the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald.” Critical Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Facts On File, 2007. Bloom 's Literature, online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/15311?q=jazz age. Accessed 5 Jan. 2018
Little, Matthew. " 'I could make some money ': cars and currency in The Great Gatsby." Papers on Language & Literature, vol. 51, no. 1, 2015, p. 3. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A412555797/LitRC?u=hatterslib&sid=LitRC&xid=208df78f. Accessed 2 Jan. 2018.
Quinn, Edward. “Jazz Age.” History in Literature, Facts On File, 2004. Bloom 's Literature, online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/45237?q=Jazz%20Age.
Verderame, Carla L. “The American Dream in The Great Gatsby.” Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature, 3-Volume Set, Facts On File, 2010. Bloom 's Literature, online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/39162?q=The%20American%20Dream%20in%20the%20Great%20Gatsby.
Verderame, Carla L. “Social Class in The Great Gatsby.” Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature, 3-Volume Set, Facts On File, 2010. Bloom 's Literature, online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/39164?q=social class in the great gatsby. Accessed 2 Jan.
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