Why The American Dream is Corrupt The American Dream is a frequent theme in most of American literature. In his novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald creates characters who are trying to achieve their American Dream and will do whatever it takes to reach it. With their dedication to achieve their American Dream, Fitzgerald’s characters will perform illegal action and in turn will morally corrupt them. While The American Dream has been portrayed positively by other authors, Fitzgerald emphasizes that it can drive people to illegal activities and morally corrupt them. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, The characters, especially Gatsby, are examples of corruption at the time and they were influenced by his idea of the corrupted American Dream. In order …show more content…
Nick Carraway moved to the East in hopes of achieving his dream of becoming successful and along the way he does his best to make everyone around him happy. He vows to not judge people and can be seen as a genuine person :"Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had. (pg 1 Fitzgerald)" The reality, however, is that he is one of the most corrupted people in the novel. His immorality comes from his dream of making his and other people’s lives better. He knows everyone’s secret and even though he favors Gatsby more than anyone else in the novel, he still does his absolute best to make people like Tom happy. His careless dream has eventually led to him witnessing the death of Gatsby and eventually giving up on his dream altogether and moves back West. Someone else with no moral values is Myrtle Wilson. She is morally corrupt because of how she treats her marriage with her husband, George. She has a materialistic way of thinking about life. Her dream is to be surrounded by whatever she wants but George, because he is poor, cannot provide that type of luxury. So she follows her corrupted dream and starts by cheating on her own husband with someone way wealthier, Tom. Along the way she even comes across as snobby and disrespectful : "I told that boy about the ice." Myrtle …show more content…
The American Dream’s influence is most notably seen throughout the novel with Gatsby. Gatsby’s American Dream is to be with Daisy for the rest of his life. However, Gatsby wasn’t capable of achieving that dream because Daisy and himself were different when it came to wealth (Gatsby being poor at the time and Daisy being old money). So he quickly fell into the path of The American Dream which drove him corrupt. He lost his identity, he lost his relationships, he lost his dream of being with Daisy, and he even lost his own life because of it. The Great Gatsby is arguably considered the greatest piece of American literature because of its portrayal of the American way of life in the 1920s, however its greatest strength is its interpretation of the corrupted idea that is The American
The 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.
He seems to have everything a person could want from a lavish home, to many friends and grand parties. However, Fussel in his book “Fitzgerald’s Brave New World” explains that Americans view of the American Dream is corrupted and false. This is due to people’s ignorance towards the real reason for human happiness. Americans do not realize that money does not buy you happiness. For example Jay Gatsby influenced the way that Americans viewed the American Dream.
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the american dream corrupts Jay Gatsby and takes over his life. The “american dream” was invented so to say in 1931. James Truslow Adams defined the american dream as “a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of fortuitous circumstances of birth or position” (Willis para. 3). Adams also made it easier to understand by saying it is a “dream of a better, richer and happier life for all our citizens of every rank” (Willis para. 4).
Immoral Money It is evident that the American Dream is just an unreachable ambition and that people are destined to languish in their journey for money, love, and happiness. Everyone soon learns that the American Dream is just pretending to be the American Nightmare. This is seen in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It follows wealthy Americans on their trek for the American Dream.
Fitzgerald reveals that the concept of the American Dream, through Gatsby’s character, by showing an image of an individual working hard enough to have a successful future regardless of their past, is never attainable- demonstrated in American society today, except for those who
The Constant Pursuit of The American Dream: The Truth of Gatsby's American Dream The American dream is and always will be the ultimate goal for many Americans. It is this mythological accomplishment that many people pursue, but it can never be truly achieved. Problems that hinder the achievement of the American dream will always be present. In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is the protagonist that was always seen as a man that had the most luxurious lifestyle, yet his far-fetched dream is across the bay and will never be reached.
The novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and published the 10th of may 1925, revolves around the main character Jay Gatsby as well as Nick Caraway. All of Nick’s supposed friends are very self-centered and greedy. I believe that the characters in the novel personify greed. The novel is told through narration from the character Nick Caraway.
Many people in America, if not all people, strive to live the American Dream, but what exactly is the American Dream? In his novel, “The Great Gatsby”, F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates to us that the American Dream is really only just a dream, which can never truly be attained through his use of corrupt characters. Fitzgerald uses old money vs new money to show us that people aren’t content with what they have, instead they have hatred for one another. He further goes to show that people can have everything but are incapable of filling the empty void they still have. Fitzgerald also describes the secretive and corrupt lives that many of the characters live, showing us that people can have a secretive, immoral side within themselves.
"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.
An important theme in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the corruption of morals because of wealth. It doesn’t matter if one comes from old or new money, wealth will corrupt the morality of even the humblest. The first example of wealth corrupting morals is in the indifference to infidelity between the married Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. The next example of wealth corrupting morals is seen in Jordan Baker’s actions to keep her luxurious lifestyle. Third, Jim Gatsby’s pursuit of wealth lead to the corruption of his morals.
Just like Daisy, Myrtle chooses money over love. She cheats on her husband George with Tom. Myrtle was a woman from the lower class who desired to be a part of the higher class. Tom spoiled Myrtle and gave her the lifestyle she always wanted. She belittles her husband and talk bad about him because he is not at the top of the social ladder where Tom is.
If his mind is not occupied by his mistress Myrtle, he is drowning in thoughts of Gatsby’s suspected crime-filled life. “Indeed, Tom Buchanan's sources appear most reliable in his characterization of Gatsby's drug store chain as ‘just small change’ compared to his stolen bonds” (Pauly 116). Buchanan is a hypocrite towards Gatsby. He denounces Gatsby’s life actions as being morally evil but Tom’s actions are no different than Gatsby’s in the sense that both men are unfaithful to themselves and their nearest relationships. Tom is competing with Gatsby through deception and treachery, and their dangerous habits wound them
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows how Jay Gatsby tries to fulfill the ideals of the American Dream. When Gatsby was young, he set goals and worked hard to improve. He pursued the typical American dream of gaining wealth, finding a companion, and being admired by others. Gatsby thought it was best to try and change everything about himself. He wears a thick mask of lies throughout the story, hiding his past, changing his name, suppressing his emotions, and even adapting his word choice.
The Great Gatsby presents its characters as having living the American Dream. However, it is only a belief; the behaviors they have and decisions they take only leave them with a false perception of life and lifestyle. The Great Gatsby relates to the corruption of the American Dream for those materialistic people who were after money. Fitzgerald reveals the idea of corruption in the American Dream through conditions such as wealth and materialism, power and social status, and relationships involving family and affairs. He uses examples of this corruption to show the reader that people are willing to lie, betray others, and commit crime to be able to live a ‘better and fuller’ life.
The Valley of Ashes: An American Trap In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Gatsby, one of the main characters, tries to reach his goal of reuniting with Daisy, but is unsuccessful. Other characters, such as George and Myrtle Wilson, are also unsuccessful in their quest for their American Dream. Fitzgerald uses his novel to challenge one of the utmost famous American values: anyone can go from rags to riches; but, is that absolutely true? People struggle to reach their hopes and dreams, especially those with unfavorable backgrounds.