What Does Happiness Mean To Me In The Great Gatsby

The Jazz Age of America happened in the 1920s, begun by the end of the Great Depression. The richer classes in America lived an American Dream of wealth, freedom, and never-ending entertainment. This sometimes led to corruption from people seeking more money, more fun, more love, and more. The Great Gatsby is a prime example of this phenomenon. F. Scott Fitzergald’s

It has long been said that money can’t buy happiness, but still people continue to use it’s acquisition to try to make themselves happy. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the title character struggles with this realization. The book is set in New York during the ‘Roaring 20’s’, a time famous for its parties and lavishness. The book examines the attitudes toward money within the upper particularly through the lense of the new-money title character, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby dedicated his life to the acquisition of money with the goal of eventually acquiring the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan.

Happiness, is defined by a person’s well-being or positive state of mind. For many the pursuit of happiness leads to fulfillment in life. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the three main characters, Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Nick Carraway all pursue happiness in different ways. For Gatsby, true joy can only be achieved by dwelling in his youthful past. Daisy, however, finds no enjoyment in past experiences but attempts to grow and learn.

The characters in the novel pretend that they have their lives all figured out, but through their successes their downfalls and emptiness can be seen, to prove that money cannot buy happiness. Jay Gatsby is the newest and upcoming star in New York during the 1920’s. Through his business and inheritance he is one of the richest men of his time. One may think that his abundance of wealth would lead him to be eternally happy, but he is the opposite. Gatsby longs for his love of Daisy, which is his personal American Dream.

Wealth identified how you lived to the people surrounding you in society. It was wealth that built you and destroyed you. Wealth overshadowed true love and beauty in The Great Gatsby. Those who had old money looked down upon those with new money, while those who were not rich was ignored by society. Wealth and the desire to be accepted by the society distracted the characters from making moral decisions.

The director of The Great Gatsby Luhrmann conveys that money won’t buy you the things that matter in life like a happiness, true love or power; money will only buy you boisterous parties, expensive clothing, and fancy cars. Luhrmann conveys this through set and color throughout The Great Gatsby . It is thought that money will buy you anything you want in life, but money will only buy you material items it won't buy you a true love or a family. True love is what is trying to be found in the great gatsby because they had their true love but let them go because they didn't have the money that they thought their true love wanted, they end up becoming rich and having all the best material items in the world and threw the biggest parties. They know that their true love liked parties so they throw huge fancy parties hoping that she’ll wander in one day.

Throughout the year I learned many things,one that stood out prominently was the pursuit of happiness. I learned that the pursuit of happiness is a difficult and dangerous path to achieve because of all the struggles to get even there. In many ways, you are not guaranteed the happiness you so wanted, no matter what path you take. One example that shows such hardships for the pursuit of happiness is The Great Gatsby. In The Great Gatsby,Gatsby did all he could just to be together with Daisy.

The Great Gatsby Greed can ruin a person’s life. F. Scott Fitzgerald shows this in his classic novel, The Great Gatsby, a sad love story about the rich title character, Jay Gatsby, and his obsession to win back the love of the now married Daisy Buchanan, his former girlfriend. The extravagant lifestyles of Gatsby and the wealthy socialites who attend his parties lead to lost dreams and wasted lives. These men and women are absorbed by material pursuits. In Jay Gatsby’s case, all the money in the world could not replace what he truly desires, Daisy.

The American Dream Doesn’t Equal Happiness If the phrase “money can’t buy happiness” was written into a full story, that story would be The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and has countless examples of the phrase “money can’t buy happiness” suggesting that the American dream and loads of money doesn’t suddenly make your life perfect and all your problems are gone, in fact, the story suggests the complete opposite. In the story, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows that every character who has money or character that is around the people that have money end up in more trouble and having more problems than the average person.

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” a doctrine established by our founding fathers and adopted by the United States as the original meaning of the American Dream. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the dissent of the American Dream. As time progresses the meaning of the American Dream became lost, but it still has pertinence to the present. The Declaration of Independence set the basis of what the American Dream meant and why it still has relevance to its people’s live today.

When Gatsby loses everything, we see that wealth not only fails as a means of fulfillment but actively participates in the destruction of this goal. Fitzgerald suggests that wealth cannot lead to happiness, rather it undermines the existing and potential good in life. It should therefore should not be used as means of attaining fulfillment. The first mentions of Gatsby’s character reveal a personality who has sacrificed morality to achieve a

Does money buy happiness?Daisy Buchanan for example believes affluency equals happiness. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, the story follows a group of socialites and their interactions with the trials and tribulations of life. Through Daisy Buchanan thirst for wealth, she sacrifices her happiness. Daisy surrendered the tenderness of love and bliss when she decided to wed Tom Buchanan. She was first in love with Jay Gatsby “ They were so engrossed with each other… the officer looked at Daisy ….

When Gatsby and Daisy danced Fitzgerald explains, ‘’I remember being surprised by his graceful,conservative fox trot’’(fitzgerald 105). This is important because of how Daisy and Gatsby first met because of the way they were together before he went to go fight in the war. Then, after he went to war, Tom gets married Daisy only because of his money, which is very wrong of Tom and Daisy. Some people go through hard times and,‘’if the most basic needs are not met emotional contentment cannot be achieved’’(Sheppard). The idea of money does make people happier to a certain extent.

What is something that everyone searches for but never finds? True happiness. The characters in The Great Gatsby have that goal even if they don't know it. They live extravagant lifestyles, in search of a meaning in their life. Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby's goals and values show that they just want to be happy.

After the devastation of World War I, the American people had a revolution in the social standards from traditional views to more modern. The moral compass of people was no longer based on basic religious rules but instead regarded ethics as a relative concept. This venturing out from traditional ways gave the people a door to start the extreme materialism and partying as a way of life. Along with the “roarin” side of the 20s, there also came a group of writers known as the Lost Generation. One of these writers that arose with the Lost Generation was F. Scott Fitzgerald.