More handpicked essays just for you.
Class distinctions in the great gatsby
Class distinctions in the great gatsby
Class distinctions in the great gatsby
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The American dream originated when immigrants came to America searching for new opportunities and a better life. In the early 1900’s all people could do is dream; however, those dreams gave many different meanings to the phrase “American dream”, and for the most part, wealth and hard work play a very large role in the pursuit of “the dream”. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, and Arthur Miller’s drama, Death of a Salesman, both protagonists, Jay Gatsby and Willy Loman, are convinced that the way to achieve a better life is by living the “American dream”. However, the dream does not end up successfully for these two characters. In fact, their ideals and hopes of rising to success cause their American dream to take a turn into a nightmare.
Although it may seem as if F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is portraying a romantic relationship between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, a woman he meets and falls in love with in Louisville while training to be an officer, the novel portrays the wealth and materialistic culture in the 1920’s. The more luxury and the more things a person can show off, the more accomplished and successful the person felt. In the roaring twenties, having a family, cars, and luxury was what people would pursue in life but for others, that was not enough.
Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, is not necessarily looking to live the dream but to become successful in business. After World War I, Nick decides to move to Long Island, New York, better known as the “West Egg”. He rents a cottage and ends up living next door to the extravagantly wealthy and mysterious Jay Gatsby. In the twenties, people trying to become successful by hard work were obsessed with their social class statuses....
... middle of paper ...
...ays/a/themesales.htm>.
"Death of a Salesman." Free Study Guides for Shakespeare and Other Authors. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. .
"Death of a Salesman." Shmoop. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. .
"The Demise of the 1920s American Dream in The Great Gatsby." â InfoRefuge.com. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. .
"The Great Gatsby Setting." Shmoop. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. .
"Lessons in Unmanliness: Willy Loman." Character Analysis of Willy Loman From Death of Salesman. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. .
Moseley, Merritt. “Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.” The American Dream. Ed, Blake Hobby. New York: Info Rose Publishing, 2009, 47-55
Through the use of symbolism and critique, F. Scott Fitzgerald is able to elucidate the lifestyles and dreams of variously natured people of the 1920s in his novel, The Great Gatsby. He uses specific characters to signify diverse groups of people, each with their own version of the “American Dream.” Mostly all of the poor dream of transforming from “rags to riches”, while some members of the upper class use other people as their motivators. In any case, no matter how obsessed someone may be about their “American Dream”, Fitzgerald reasons that they are all implausible to attain.
“The Demise of the 1920s American Dream in The Great Gatsby.” Inforefuge.com. 27 October 2011 www.inforefuge.com/demise-of-american-dream-the-great-gatsby
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.
People from all around the world have dreamed of coming to America and building a successful life for themselves. The "American Dream" is the idea that, through hard work and perseverance, the sky is the limit in terms of financial success and a reliable future. While everyone has a different interpretation of the "American Dream," some people use it as an excuse to justify their own greed and selfish desires. Two respected works of modern American literature, The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman, give us insight into how the individual interpretation and pursuit of the "American Dream" can produce tragic results.
Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, Americans have idealized the journey towards economic success. One thing people do not realize, however, is that the journey is not the same for every individual. Media often leads its viewers toward a “one size fits all” version of success that may help themselves, but will rarely help the viewers. This is seen in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Miller includes multiple instances of symbolism and personification to reveal to the reader the situational irony in Willy’s life, underlining the theme of self-deception in regard to the American Dream.
Murray, Edward. “The Thematic Structure in Death of a Salesman.” Readings on Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman. San Diego: Greenhaven Press Inc., 1999.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald reflects the American society in the 1920’s and the different social groups that coexisted. The Great Gatsby portrays the failure of the American Dream, where corruption, illegal trading, superficial relationships, and social classes take the main roles. The author demonstrates how the American dream has become a pursuit of wealth and materialism through the exploration of the upper class. In addition, the author uses characterization to reflect the upper class in the 1920’s as two separate groups: the “old” money, and the “new money”. These are shown through the main characters in the novel, such as Gatsby and Tom Buchanan.
"The Demise of the 1920s American Dream in The Great Gatsby – InfoRefuge.com." Info Refuge. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014
Murphy, Brenda. Critical Insights: Death of a Salesman: By Arthur Miller. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 2010. Print.
... Works Cited and Consulted. Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Harold Bloom, ed.,
Willy Loman’s character in Death of a Salesman portrays him as a tragic hero. Willy Loman continued to want recognition and his reputation, but never forgets about his family. These characteristics describe him as a tragic hero in Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman’s tragic flow leads him to pursue the idea that reputation in society has more relevance in life than knowledge and education to survive in the business. His grand error of wanting recognition drove him crazy and insane and led to his tragic death.
Willy Loman, from the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, exhibited the traits of a tragic hero. His disastrous qualities came prior to his foreshadowed death when he realized his existence had not panned out the way he had hoped. Mr. Loman aroused sympathy from the readers as he dedicated his life to a single cause, all while having a weakness of pride that led to his catastrophic passing.
Miller, Arthur, and Gerald Weales. Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman: Text and Criticism. New York: Viking Press, 1971.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Seventh Edition. X.J. Kennedy, and Dana Gioia. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 1999. 1636-1707.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Literature. Ed. Sylvan Bates New York: Longman, 1997. 1163-1231.