The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Essay

The American Dream is something that everyone spends their life trying to achieve. According to James Truslow Adams, the American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" (The Epic of America). In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, his characters do anything it takes to try and reach their American Dream. In Jay Gatsby's case however, his American Dream is incomplete. The Great Gatsby is not just about the American Dream; it is about the failures of people who are attempting to reach it.

Illusion of the American Dream One’s hedonistic customs is more appealing in today’s money-grubbing society. This mercenary culture is seen through the characters in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the 1920s the book highlights the theme of the American dream in relation to people’s lucrative lifestyle during the decade. Initially, the American dream was the belief that success was achievable to anyone who worked hard with determination. However, Fitzgerald challenges that perspective with a bleaker outlook of the American dream.

This can give us a pretty good idea of Cons mental state right after he is released. Con does not care about getting better for himself but he wants to get better for everyone around him. However Con also shows he is anxious to get better when

What is money worth if your happiness is at stake? Overall Gatsby’s story shows that not every aspect of the American Dream can be achieved such as the perfect wife and perfect

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes the American Dream as “an American social ideal that stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity; also: the prosperity or life that is the realization of this ideal.” This, however, is false. The new American Dream is about superiority. The only reason people want to prosper in life is so they can show off their success. All the American Dream represents is power. The first element people use to gain power over others is money.

I argue that media is the root of the change, along with politics. The American dream should be restored to its former glory. Politicians are using the American dream as a ploy to get votes by promising us they’re something to believe in, and that they can make America great again. Donald

In The Great Gatsby, the American dream was accomplished by a man named Jay Gatsby. He achieved being wealthy in order to accomplish another dream, the love of a woman with a very dramatic life, Daisy Buchanan. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald presents the idea that the American dream changes peoples’ lives, takes over your life, and how you do things once you have accomplished the dream. The people that have already achieved the American dream live a life differently from others that have not accomplished it. Unlike Tom, Jay Gatsby had to work for his American dream which was wealth and later on in the book, Daisy Buchanan’s love.

Jennifer L. Hochschild describes the American dream as “the soul of the nation.” She clearly illustrates the importance of the dream to American culture. So, what is the American dream according to Hochschild? She was referring to John Locke and his fantasy, then said “But the sentence evokes the unsullied newness, infinite possibility, limitless resources that are commonly understood to be the essences of the “American dream.” She also pointed out the flaws in the American dream and how at times the pursuit of it can lead to counterproductive outcomes not just for the individual but society as a whole. Moving on, into how exactly she described the dream. She pointed out that there was definite division between the way the whites and blacks

During the “fast living of the twenties”, both men and women were changing their past lifestyles and moving forward to a more grandeur lifestyle, taking on a way of living that was considered the “American Dream”. In relation to how the 1920s was known to be like, the central theme of the book, “The Great Gatsby”, was focused around this time period. The author of this book, F. Scott Fitzgerald, reveals his real feelings of “The American Dream” and uses the main character, Jay Gatsby, to show that this idea is indeed superficial. Throughout the novel, the author interprets Gatsby's way of thinking to reflect on the ideas of the time period to show superficiality. The personality of his character has “something about him that suggested dreams, romance and a kind of sense or love of splendor and grandeur”, which is used to help indicate relative values of fictional achievements (Solomon 187).

Fitzgerald believes the prosperity that is promised in America is an unattainable thing, and that chasing it will always be a losing battle. It has caused many to fall into poverty and debt yet these dreams are romanticized and celebrated. This leads to more effort pouring into worthless endeavors as people like Gatsby try to reach their “orgastic future” (189). “Orgastic” is a combination of the words ‘orgasmic’ and ‘orgiastic’, two words associated with immense pleasure. Fitzgerald combines the two, amplifying the effects of both words, creating an image of the optimistic dreams that many wish to reach.