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The unattainable american dream
The unattainable american dream
American dream literature
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The American dream never died, but did it ever exist in the first place? In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the American dream is important to a man named Jay Gatsby. As a young boy Gatsby grew up having large dreams and goals. He left his home and his family to do whatever he needed to achieve his dreams. As a young adult, he still strived for the success even if it meant ending something in a tragedy. Gatsby is a great man that is ambitious, wealthy and, generous.
Gatsby is great because he is ambitious. He has an extraordinary gift of hope. For example, “This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the “creative temperament”-it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again.” (6). This quote shows Gatsby is one of a kind. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, says he has found things in Gatsby that he has never found in anyone else. Gatsby is determined to get Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby’s secret love, to fall back in love with him. “I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night,” went on Jordan, “but she never did. Then he began asking people casually if they knew her, and I was the first one he found” (84). Gatsby throws extravagant parties hoping one day Daisy will wander in but she never does. He desperately desires to see Daisy and will not stop until he is successful. Even as a young boy Gatsby is ambitious. This quote from the novel reads,
“Rise from bed ……………………….. 6:00 A.M.
Dumbbell exercise and wall-scaling … 6.15-6.30 “
Study electricty, etc .…………………. 7.15-8.15 “
Work …………………………………. ...
... middle of paper ...
... a word or a gesture of exultation a new well-being radiated from him and filled the little room” (94). Gatsby was delighted to catch up and to finally see Daisy. The way he glowed after getting to see Daisy is a special kind of charm. He wants to live the American dream with Daisy. Gatsby works his charming ways to try to win over Daisy heart.
Gatsby is great. He is ambitious, generous, and charming. The writer of the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, wants the readers to learn that no matter how hard you work or how hard you try you will not always end up with what you want. Gatsby worked hard for Daisy. All he wanted was to live the American dream with her. Gatsby’s life got cut short, and Daisy never felt the same way that Gatsby felt. F. Scott Fitzgerald taught the readers a lesson by showing that you can work hard but, the outcome will not always be in your favor.
The American Dream is nothing new to world. In 1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote “The Great Gatsby” which was about a man truly living the “American Dream”. Everything he did though was to achieve wealth. He had elaborate parties in his fabulous house, bought the best of everything, and did whatever he had to do become the best. He started out with nothing and worked his way up by creating a fake life, even the woman he loved most did not know of his past. The woman, Daisy, he loved most was not even in Gatsby’s life, but in the life of another man. Gatsby worked and strived to get everything he had for a married woman who did not even love him. Though Gatsby thought he loved Daisy he only loved the idea of her. Someone who he had a few wonderful moments with, someone who he could see his life spent with. What did he really get out of life though? Wasted years to impress someone who never really mattered when he could have been spending it with someone who could of loved him for who he really was. Who was Gatsby though, no one can e...
Gatsby’s explanation of this dream focused on money and social status. He has always yearned for this, even when he was a child. Fitzgerald frequently emphasises Gatsby’s desire, throughout the entirety of this novel. Though, Fitzgerald accentuates this desire when Nick discovers the truth of Gatsby’s past. During this elucidation, Nick explains that “his [Gatsby’s] parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people-his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all.” (Fitzgerald, 98) This shows the reader Gatsby’s lifelong determination for wealth and power. Even in his adult life, he strives for more than what he has. In John Steinbeck’s essay, he explains that “we [Americans] go mad with dissatisfaction in the face of success” (Steinbeck, 1) This is exactly how Gatsby feels, he is not content with his success, the amount of money he has, or the height of his social status and is constantly wishing for more than he has. Though, once he meets Daisy he no longer strives for wealth, but rather for her. As shown in this novel, even though Gatsby has achieved all he had wanted when he was growing up, he will not be content until he is able to call Daisy his
The American dream is an idea that every American has an equal chance of success. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows us this is not the case. Fitzgerald wrote the character Jay Gatsby as a tragic American hero. Jay Gatsby went from a nobody to a millionaire and most people believe that he had achieved the American dream. However, he did not achieve the American dream because he lost a piece of himself in his pursuit of his supposedly incorruptible dream.
The American Dream states that with hard work people come rich. Fitzgerald questions this value. Gatsby’s story presents the unrealisticness/falsehood of the tradition/original American dream.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys how Jay Gatsby’s ambition is the root of his success and death. When Gatsby, a man of humble beginnings, meets Daisy, her wealth and high status allures him. They fall in love, but due to Gatsby’s low financial and social position, Daisy feels insecure and leaves him. Gatsby’s optimism and obsession to win Daisy prompts the ambition that ultimately drives him to his noble yet tragic ending.
For five years, Gatsby was denied the one thing that he desired more than anything in the world: Daisy. While she was willing to wait for him until after the war, he did not want to return to her a poor man who would, in his eyes, be unworthy of her love. Gatsby did not want to force Daisy to choose between the comfortable lifestyle she was used to and his love. Before he would return to her, he was determined to make something of himself so that Daisy would not lose the affluence that she was accustomed to possessing. His desire for Daisy made Gatsby willing to do whatever was necessary to earn the money that would in turn lead to Daisy’s love, even if it meant participating in actions...
The American Dream is only achievable based on your motivation to succeed, your process in which you achieve your dream can be more important than your actual dream. Sometimes it's the journey that makes or breaks you and not the destination. The Great Gatsby, written by Fitzgerald, is based off the idea of the American Dream, and whether it's achievable to all Americans. Many seem to have their own opinions and thoughts on the idea of the American Dream. The idea of the American Dream is sought after by just about anyone. This topic is often mentioned during times of sorrow and death ,as well as through many platforms such as poems, speeches, novels, and essays. Gatsby
The American Dream never died, it never existed in the first place. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby, wealthy and mysterious, is neither a terrible person nor a saint he is simply human. But to choose whether he is truly great or not so great would be difficult because he has both qualities of good and bad. But eventually his fatal flaws will lead to destruction. Gatsby does bad things with good intentions, he is a criminal and a liar but all to achieve the American dream and pursue Daisy, the love of his life.
Wealth, material possessions, and power are the core principles of The American Dream. Pursuit of a better life led countless numbers of foreign immigrants to America desiring their chance at the vast opportunity. Reaching the American Dream is not always reaching true happiness. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby achieves the American Dream, but his unrealistic faiths in money and life’s possibilities twist his dreams and life into useless life based on lies.
"The Great Gatsby" is a book full of passion. There is Gatsby 's passionate love for Daisy. There is Tom 's passion for money. When reading this book I realized that these people broke the American dream in their time. They couldn 't be happy when all they did was chase money. The Great Gatsby was full of themes, motif 's, and symbolism and the way that fitzgerald used his characters to get his point across of what it was like back them was marvelous. Gatsby just wanted the love of his life back, so he did everything he could so that he could support her. I think that out of every single character, Gatsby 's choices were the most pure. The only reason he wanted all of the money that he got was because he wanted to make the woman he loved happy,
...s drive him to be patient, determined, secretive, and careless with his wealth. He truly was a “great” man, as title suggest, stating from nothing but through hope and inspiration from his one true love he creates a “promising future” for himself (Myer). While at first the traits Gatsby posses may seem in some ways beneficial, they prove themselves to be just the opposite as this story progressed. One reason proving that these qualities were detrimental was the fact that Jay Gatsby possessed and used the qualities for all the wrong reasons. The main reason being that Gatsby did everything for Daisy was one of his greatest assets and sweetest downfalls. Furthermore, Gatsby allowed these traits to consume him and cause him to make poor mistakes, thus leading to his tragic death. And although that is true, his unbending love for her ruined him even before his death.
Gatsby’s obsession of his love for Daisy and wealth prove his dream as unattainable. Throughout the novel, he consumes himself into lies to cheat his way into people’s minds convincing them he is this wealthy and prosperous man. Gatsby tries to win Daisy’s love through his illusion of success and relive the past, but fails to comprehend his mind as too hopeful for something impossible. In the end, Nick is the only one to truly understand Gatsby’s hopeful aspirations he set out for himself but ultimately could not obtain. In the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald is able to parallel many themes of the roaring twenties to current society. The ideas of high expectations and obsession of the material world are noticeable throughout the history and is evident in many lives of people today.
When he first meets Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby has “committed himself to the following of a grail” (156). With extreme dedication, he stops at nothing to win her love back, after years of separation. Gatsby’s idealized conception of Daisy is the motivating force that underlies his compulsion to become successful. Everything he has done, up to this point, has been directed toward winning Daisy’s favor and having her back in his life. The greatest example of this dedication is the mansion he has constructed, “a colossal affair by any standard...with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (9). Once a “penniless young man without a past” (156), he transforms himself into a self-made millionaire and builds an extravagant mansion, all for the love of Daisy Buchanan. He also strategically places the mansion across the lake from Daisy’s house. From his window, Gatsby can see the blue colored lights of her house. Gatsby seems to be caught in a conflict between materialism and idealism that created and still defines the American character.
“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.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. The American Dream, a long-standing ideal, embodies the hope that one can achieve financial success, political power, and everlasting love through dedication and hard work. During the Roaring 20s, people in America put up facades to mask who they truly were. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald conveys that the American Dream is simply an illusion, that is idealist and unreal.
In the famous great American novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main character Jay Gatsby is portrayed as a romantic hero, hopeful dreamer, and as someone who is completely unforgettable. What makes Gatsby so great was not his wealth, position in society or his personal belongings, but his determination to make something of himself during a time in which moral corruptions were common. Jay Gatsby’s personal greatness was exemplified in his struggle against his own fate, devoted love towards Daisy, and self sacrifice.