How Did Gatsby Achieve The American Dream
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.
The Great Gatsby American Dream
660 Words | 3 PagesThe novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitz Gerald embodies many themes. A major in the story is the pursuit of can be labelled the American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes and a happy family symbolizes the American dream. The Great Gatsby shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons.
Allusions In The Great Gatsby
1352 Words | 6 PagesThe American Dream suggests that every American citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work. One of the major ways that Fitzgerald portrays this is by alluding to outside events or works of literature specifically from that time period. Another major relationship that develops in The Great Gatsby is between Tom and Daisy. F. Scott Fitzgerald alludes to things such as the World’s Fair and “The Love Nest” to display the eventual dismantling of Tom and Daisy’s relationship. Both of these separate plots consolidate under the idea of Gatsby trying to become the epitome of the American Dream, as seen through his strive for a “perfect life.”
Why Is Gatsby Great
1387 Words | 6 PagesAny average person would desire to be a “Gatsby” who is extremely wealthy, widely idolized, and seemingly impeccable. Indeed, what makes Gatsby great is his lavish lifestyle and self-earned wealth. However, the more one observes Gatsby, the more one realizes that his epithet is incongruous with his actual character. Not only is the major factor that makes him remarkable, wealth, a result of illegal bootlegging, but he seems to contradict his ‘greatness’ in various instances in the novel. This leaves the readers to speculate that the title of the book is ironic as Gatsby is not great because he is too naïve, pursues after a married Daisy and does not achieve the American Dream.
Similarities Between Forrest Gump And Jay Gatsby
882 Words | 4 PagesHe compares to Lawrence R. Samuel’s idea of the American Dream when Lawrence states, “The usual answers-financial stability or, more specifically, making enough money to be able to retire(still often one million dollars, despite inflation), the ‘good life’ (usually a nice house in the suburbs with all the consumer trappings), to work for oneself, to have (at least) fifteen minutes of fame, the ‘pursuit of happiness.” Gatsby's identity goes through extreme change while he transforms through the story trying to fit into the wealthy upper class. He initially found success in his pursuit of wealth, however this wealth didn’t always come from the most legal means. He became popular socially with his exclusive parties that drew a crowd from all over the world. But his main goal was to get Daisy Buchanan back who he loved.
Myrtle Wilson In The Great Gatsby
951 Words | 4 PagesFrancis Scott Fitzgerald once stated, “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart and all they can do is stare blankly.” Throughout his famous work, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrayed the American Dream. Contrary to the ideology of the “Roaring Twenties” society, he described the American Dream as a delusion. People of the era focused on materialism in order to boost their wealth and status and forgot the importance of their relationships. Several characters within the novel sought to gain a higher status in society.
Examples Of Duality In The Great Gatsby
884 Words | 4 PagesThe 1920’s was a very interesting time in United States history. After all World War I had ended and many Americans did not realize that the Great Depression was in the near future, so the 1920’s fell between these two dramatic events. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby teaches many morals, but none more important than the duality of the 1920’s. Duality is evident in Gatsby's dreams, his death, his lover Daisy, his wealth, and his parties, which all reflect the duality of the 1920’s. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald makes the concept of achieving the American dream seem improbable.
How Does Jay Gatsby Fulfill The American Dream
723 Words | 3 PagesPart of the American dream is finding love and raising a family. Gatsby’s hard work was fueled by the dream of Daisy. Gatsby had never loved a girl like this one. He was so infatuated with her that he even said, “Her voice is full of money," (Fitzgerald). Gatsby loves his money and ultimately just to hear her voice brought extreme emotion to him.
American Dream In The Great Gatsby And The Epic Journey
601 Words | 3 PagesThe 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”.
The Facade Of The American Dream In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
1034 Words | 5 PagesThe Facade of the American Dream The American Dream is the opportunity for all Americans to live a life of personal happiness and material comfort, but is it actually achievable? F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is a story of characters working hard to achieve the American Dream, but ultimately they are unable to ever realize their perfect life. The novel makes a strong naturalism argument about the rigid class system in society and the disillusionment of the American Dream.
The Great Gatsby Quotes On The American Dream
856 Words | 4 PagesGatsby is a perfect example of what Fitzgerald shows as the American dream. He is rich and popular, however he is not happy. He wants to go back to a time when he believed he was truly happy. “His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy's white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God.”
Immigration In The Great Gatsby
539 Words | 3 PagesThe American Dream is a vision held by the working class of America: a dream in which one can achieve all that he desires through hard work and perseverance. The reader sees Gatsby as a self-made man: a man with everything you could possible want in life, a man who has achieved the American Dream to its fullest, and yet, this image is marred by his unhappiness. A barrier between the inherently wealthy and ‘new money’ blocks his ability to win back the girl he loves, placed there by by the embodiment of the upper class in America - Tom Buchanan. Tom never saw Gatsby as his equal because Gatsby was not born with money, calling him a “Mr. Nobody from Nowhere” (130). The working class sees this statement as an example of why the American Dream is not worth the effort.
The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Essay
702 Words | 3 PagesF.Scott Fitzgerald is an American novelist and a short story writer. He is the author of the famous novel “ The Great Gatsby”, which is written in the 1920’s. The period of the 1920’s is well known as the roaring twenties due to lack of morales and the lowering of standards and expectations, people intended just to have a good time not caring about the outcomes of their and how they will effect their lives. Fitzgerald wants to prove in his novel the death of “The American Dream” it’s just a myth. The author of this novel shows the death of the american dream through the events surrounding Gatsby, and Daisy.
Corruption Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Analysis
1756 Words | 8 PagesThe Corruption of The American Dream in The Great Gatsby In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald illustrates society in the 1920’s and the desire for the people with in it to achieve the American Dream, which embodies the hope that one can achieve power, love and a higher economic/social status through one’s commitment and effort. The novel develops the story of a man named Jay Gatsby and his dream of marrying what he describes as his “golden girl”, also known as, Daisy Buchanan, his former lover. Fitzgerald explores the corruption of the American dream through the Characters; Myrtle, Gatsby and Daisy.
The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Essay
1133 Words | 5 PagesF. 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 Negative Side Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby
772 Words | 4 PagesJust as the American Dream- the pursuit of happiness- has degenerated into a quest for more wealth, Gatsby’s powerful dream of happiness with Daisy has become the motivation for lavish excess and criminal activities. He used his dream to escape from his past, but then was stuck on hold for when he lost Daisy the only part of the dream he really cared for. Gatsby made a dream just for Daisy so she could be apart of his, but saw the meaningless of it when she didn’t choose him in the end. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther….
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