The Facade Of The American Dream In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, written in 1924 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, in my opinion, focused on the

The American Dream is a common thing that people seek to have. The American Dream is the idea of a person coming from nothing and rising up to the upper class through hard work and dedication. Through this hard work and dedication people would hope to be free, wealthy, and happy. I'm sure this is everyone's dream, especially ones who come from a struggling family or come from another country looking for freedom and a way out from the way of life they were stuck in before. Pursuing this dream is good in some ways but not everything turns out the way it is planned to be. There would be things to be sacrificed, like the people you love and the things you care about. Money can not buy everything.

F.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.

The American dream stands as a symbol for hope, prosperity, and happiness. But F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby, examines the American dream from a different perspective, one that sheds light on those who contort these principles to their own selfish fantasies. Fitzgerald renders Jay Gatsby as a man who takes the Dream too far, and becomes unable to distinguish his false life of riches from reality. This 'unique ' American novel describes how humanity 's insatiable desires for wealth and power subvert the idyllic principles of the American vision.

The American dream states that any individual can achieve success regardless of family history, race, and/or religion simply by working hard. The 1920’s were a time of corruption and demise of moral values in society. The first World War had passed, and people were reveling in the materialism that came at the end of it, such as advanced technology and innovative inventions. The novel The Great Gatsby exploits the theme of the American Dream as it takes place in a corrupt period in history. Although the American Dream seemed more attainable than ever in the 1920’s, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby demonstrates how materialism and the demise of moral values in society leads to the corruption and impossibility of the American Dream.

Many people fantasize about the American dream. In his book The Epic of America, James Truslow Adams (1931) describes the American Dream as a, “...dream of land in which life should be better and richer and full for everyone with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” The American Dream is the idea that if a person has a significant amount of money and friends that they will be happy. It is in our nature as humans to want to be the best and have nicer things than our peers. The majority of people try to achieve the American Dream so that they will feel more exceptional to others. Though, in The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is a fallacy that the character Nick realizes can never truly be attained.

F. 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 . Fitzgerald focused on the shift in the American Dream - from being the idea of self-fulfillment, dignity and comfort that is achieved through hard work, to being equated with the pursuit of wealth and power, and identifying happiness with having money. The novel depicts the rise and fall of the concept and describes the causes of its decay.

The Failure of the American Dream in the Context of The Great Gatsby Sun Seo Jeon 전순서 20140880 The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, which is a belief that anyone, regardless of their social class and the situation they are born into, is given opportunities to achieve their own version of success. It is emphasized that American dream is achieved through sacrifice and hard work, not just by chance. This meant to motivate Americans to attain prosperity and happiness. However, there is an ironic interplay between idealism and materialism in this statement of American Dream; the dream suggests hope, opportunity and equality, but in reality, it is to become rich and of higher social status, which is only

"The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream." In this quote, by Azar Nafisi, it explains how dreaming can be tainted by reality, and it that if you don 't compromise you may suffer. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is one the many themes in this book. The American Dream that most people in this book obtains to have is wealth, statist, a fun social life, and someone to lust. It is the life we all strive to have until we obtain it and see it 's meaningless composure. 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.

The 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 Great Gatsby is a wonderful novel that explains the drive and want to have the American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald and his life really show the true meaning of the American Dream and how hard and difficult it is to achieve it. He went through many hardships during his life and yet he still was able to come close to achieving the American Dream. The Idea behind the American Dream is that anyone can go from being poor to rich and live a healthy lifestyle and get the most out of life without being financially unstable.

Evan Olmstead English II - 6th Mr. Davidson 2/16/18 AMDG The Great American Dream F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby portrays many themes, however the most significant theme relates to man 's unsuccessful attempts at the American dream. The Great Gatsby shows how not one by many characters fail at achieving their American dream. The American Dream as defined by James Truslow Adams in 1921, "life should be better, richer, and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each regardless of social class or circumstances of birth”. The desire to strive for what one wants can be achieved if one is willing to work hard enough.

The Great Gatsby is not simply a story of Jay Gatsby’s undying and misguided love for a Daisy Buchanan. The novel, The Great Gatsby, encompasses a number of themes, the most significant one is the disillusionment and corruption of the American dream. The ability to obtain prosperity such as happiness, or a car is what comprises of the American dream. It is a belief that anyone who is self-sufficient, or who is a hard worker can obtain this dream regardless of their social standing. In the book, the facade of a dream appears to be at the tips of Gatsby and Myrtle’s fingers but this “pursuit of happiness” sentiment is in actuality impossible. In The Great Gatsby, the characters strive to reach their own ideas of the American dream, a dream which is unattainable due to the expectations of others, the cost of success and their false ideas of reality.

“It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms farther...” describes the belief known as the American Dream stating that anyone can achieve success through hard work regardless of their past. The story The Great Gatsby, originally portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel and later Luhrmann’s film adaptation, explores the theme of the perversion of the American Dream. This is evident through analysis of the meaning of the American Dream; Fitzgerald’s portrayal of the characters of Gatsby, the Buchanan’s, and the Wilson’s; the symbolism behind locations such as The Valley of Ashes and West and East Egg; and the social norms of the successful, such as partying and drinking.

The valley of ashes also symbolizes the difficulties of the poor, like George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a result. THE EYES OF DOCTOR T. J. ECKLEBURG Another dominant symbol within this novel is the billboard eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg which is in the middle of the valley of ashes, right next to Wilson’s garage staring at the waste that careless capitalism has