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Myth of american dream in literature
Myth of american dream in literature
Myth of american dream in literature
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Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s party to develop the theme of the corruption of the American Dream by showing the original concept compared to how the Dream is brought to life by Americans. The original concept of the American Dream has been thrown away for the promise of fast and easy success rather than personal happiness through hard work. When Nick first arrives at Gatsby’s party, he says, “I was immediately struck by the number of young Englishmen dotted about; all well dressed, all looking a little hungry, and all talking in low, earnest voices to solid and prosperous Americans. I was sure that they were selling something...They were...agonizingly aware of the easy money in the vicinity and convinced that it was theirs for a few words in the …show more content…
right key” (42). The American Dream was never meant to be focused on money, but on personal happiness. Fitzgerald uses the Englishmen so it naturally stands out against the American crowd, but also wants the reader to grasp that the American Dream is meant to take hard work and initiative in order to achieve the benefits and happiness. Fitzgerald uses the people at Gatsby’s party to show that Americans chase the Dream, but don’t put any work into turning it into a reality. Fitzgerald writes, They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island, and somehow they ended up at Gatsby’s door. Once there they were introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby, and after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with an amusement park. Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was it’s own ticket of admission. (41) The guests find joy in the temporary excitement brought to them by Gatsby’s part, but as soon as the party ends, they are disappointed. Fitzgerald wanted the reader to see that in order to find true happiness, the seeker must make some attempt to make the dream a reality. Gatsby’s party shows that the American Dream is no longer tailored to an individual’s happiness and dreams, but is instead a blueprint for every American’s life. Nick says that, “When the Jazz History of the World was over, girls were putting their heads on men’s shoulders in a puppyish, convivial way, girls were swooning backward playfully into men’s arms, even into groups … but no one swooned backward on Gatsby, and no French bob touched Gatsby’s shoulder...” (50). In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is shown to be money and love. Instead of achieving personal goals and happiness through hard work and initiative, the dream seems to be a blueprint for how life should be in order to be happy. Fitzgerald uses the green light to symbolise the corruption of the American Dream through sloth, greed, and conformity Body Paragraph 2 - Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg Dr.
T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes are symbolic of the last true American Dream and are used to show the corruption of the dream by their contrast to the surrounding Valley of Ashes. The Eyes show that Americans have forgotten the Dream and focused instead on fast and easy success. When Nick describes the eyes he says that “Evidently some wild wag of an occulist set them there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into eternal blindness, or forgot them and moved away” (23-24). Instead of continuing on the path of happiness through hard work, the oculist abandoned the dream. Without hard work, the dream is nothing but a dream and the corruption from not trying turns it into a sad nightmare. Americans are too impatient and always end up chasing something that wasn’t part of the dream. When Wilson recalls his conversation with Myrtle, he says, “‘God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!’ Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg…” (159). Myrtle couldn’t wait any longer for her dream to come true, so she decided to chase after something else that wasn’t part of the original plan. Wilson talks about Eckleburg’s eyes being God because cheating on your dream will always be remembered by you even though everyone else has been fooled. This shows that the American Dream still exists, but is not noticed because of the pollution in …show more content…
the people and their attitudes towards success. Fitzgerald explains that “..above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg” and “Over the ashheaps the giant eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg kept their vigil…” (23, 124). Just like Eckleburg’s eyes, the American Dream is still a part of American culture, but it’s presences is undetected because of the number of Americans who have abandoned the dream for quick success. CS Body Paragraph 3 - Green Light The use of the green light shows the Dream has become focused on immediate wants rather than personal happiness by focusing on previous goals.
Just like children at the store trying to get something even though they don’t really want it, the American Dream has been turned into seeking things that you only want because you can’t have. After Gatsby points out the green light to Daisy, Fitzgerald writes that, “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one” (93). Gatsby lusted for Daisy because he knew he couldn’t have her, Fitzgerald used this to show that the American Dream has went from goals that people strive to reach to simple things that are lusted
after. The green light shows that the American Dream is corrupted because it is more focused on the past then on creating a brighter future. At the very end of the book, Nick says, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter -- to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (180). A Gatsby and the light show that people don’t evolve their dream as they change, but instead focus only on one key to happiness even though it doesn’t bring them happiness. In the final chapter, Nick says ….I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night. (180) A CS
Corruption of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald embodies may themes, however the most salient one relates to the corruption of the American Dream. The American Dream is that each person no matter who he or she is can become successful in life by his or her own hard work. The dream also embodies the idea of a self-sufficient man, an entrepreneur making it successful for himself. The Great Gatsby is about what happened to the American dream in the 1920s, a time period when the dream had been corrupted by the avaricious pursuit of wealth.
The character of Gatsby and Fitzgerald’s commentary on the logical fallacies of the American Dream are closely intertwined, which is why Fitzgerald goes to such great lengths to separate the two. By distinguishing Gatsby from the flaws he possesses allows the reader to care for Gatsby, and the impact of his death all the more powerful when it finally occurs. By making Gatsby a victim of the American Dream rather than just the embodiment of it, Fitzgerald is able to convince his audience of the iniquity of the American Dream by making them mourn the life of the poor son-of-a-bitch
Fitzgerald uses Gatsby to symbolize the American dream, and uses his rags to riches journey to convey to his readers that the American dream is an extremely dangerous thing to pursue and ultimately impossible to achieve. After having dinner with his second cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom, Nick returns home to find his neighbor Mr. Gatsby in his yard. Nick says “ [about Gatsby] he stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could’ve sworn he was trembling” (21). Nick see’s Gatsby reaching out towards the water, actually at what is right across the sound; the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.
Since its publication in 1925, The Great Gatsby has remained a spot-on representation of a time in American history in which the people believed anything was possible. Gatsby is the definition of this idea. The underlying cause of everything in this novel is his--and in essence everyone’s idea. This idea is the ubiquitous notion of the American Dream. And Fitzgerald does not only write about the American Dream, but about its corruption as well. This following quote truly epitomizes what the American Dream had become in the eyes of Fitzgerald:
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.
naive belief is that money and social standing are all that matter in his quest
In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald many of the characters could not be classified as a truly moral, a person who exhibits goodness or correctness in their character and behavior. Nick Carraway is not moral by any means; he is responsible for an affair between two major characters, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Jay Gatsby does show some moral qualities when he attempts to go back and rescue Myrtle after she had been hit by Daisy. Overall Gatsby is unquestionably an immoral person. Nick Carraway and Gatsby share many immoral characteristics, but a big choice separates the two. Daisy Buchanan is an extremely immoral person; she even went to the lengths of taking someone's life. Jay and Daisy are similar but Daisy is borderline corrupt. The entire story is told through Nick Carraway's point of view and by his carelessness it is obvious the narrator possesses poor values.
The American Dream is the concept that anyone, no matter who he or she is, can become successful in his or her life through perseverance and hard work. It is commonly perceived as someone who was born and starts out as poor but ambitious, and works hard enough to achieve wealth, prosperity, happiness, and stability. Clearly, Fitzgerald uses Gatsby to personify the destruction of the American Dream Gatsby started out as a poor farming boy, meticulously planning his progression to become a great man. When Gatsby’s father showed Nick the journal where Gatsby wrote his resolution, he says, “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he 's got about improving his mind?” (182). The written resolution demonstrates how ambitious and innocent Gatsby was in pursuing his dreams and how much he wanted to improve himself that his father applauded him, which once characterized the process of pursuing the American Dream. While pursuing Daisy (Gatsby’s American Dream), Gatsby becomes corrupt and destroys himself. He did not achieve his fortune through honest hard work, but through dishonesty and illegal activities. Furthermore, Gatsby has a large, extravagant mansion, drives flashy cars, throws lavish parties filled with music and
Fitzgerald expressed that Americans give in too easily and are too careless, both which eventually lead to despair and consequence. He also portrayed that we create new fantasies to assist us while we chase old dreams. Fitzgerald’s definition and opinion of the American Dream still provide insight into today’s society, not just in the roaring 1920s, which is why The Great Gatsby continues to be a celebrated American
“Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it's set a rolling it must increase.” (Charles Colton) Sadly when many begin to go down the nefarious path of corruption they can’t stop themselves. This is due to the human qualities of greed and materialism. In the rhetorical piece “The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby began his corrupt career in bootlegging and never stopped. He became money hungry and only accumulated more dirty money throughout the years. However, Gatsby was able to turn his life around and he built something of himself from nothing, but unfortunately he had to do so illegally. Therefore I believe that to a small extent Gatsby was a commendable man for he was able to make something of himself, but Gatsby chose an immoral and corrupt path to get there, making him a character deserving a small degree of admiration.
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 novel, Gatsby, a wealthy socialite pursues his dream, Daisy. In the process of pursuing Daisy, Gatsby betrays his morals and destroys himself. Through the eyes of the narrator, Nick, one sees the extent of the corruption Gatsby is willing to undertake in order to achieve his dream. Although Fitzgerald applauds the American Dream he warns against the dangers of living in a world full of illusions and deceit; a trait common during the Roaring 20s. The language and plot devices Fitzgerald uses convey that lies and facades, which were common during the Guided Age, destroys one’s own character and morals. Through Fitzgerald use of symbolism, expectations, and relationships, he explores the American dream, and how it is an illusion that corrupts and destroys lives.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores the idea of the American Dream as well as the portrayal of social classes. Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into distinct social groups but, in the end, each group has its own problems to contend with, leaving a powerful reminder of what a precarious place the world really is. By creating two distinct social classes ‘old money’ and ‘new money’, Fitzgerald sends strong messages about the underlying elitism and moral corruption of society. The idea of the American dream is the idea that opportunity is available to any American, allowing their highest aspirations and goals to be achieved. In the case of The Great Gatsby it centres on the attainment of wealth and status to reach certain positions in life, which Fitzgerald’s protagonist sets out to achieve even if it means moral corruption.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, the 1920’s was a “throwaway culture, in which things (and people) are used and then abandoned” (Evans). This is true of the lives of the wealthy elite who ruled the East and West Eggs, causing the domination of materialistic thought. The substitution of money for integrity ultimately provided a way for corruption to take deep roots in the characters. The frivolous lives and relationships described by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby depict the emptiness of the shallow 1920’s era.
The American dream has an inspiring connotation, often associated with the pursuit of happiness, to compel the average citizen to prosper. In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s infatuation for Daisy drives him towards wealth in order to respark his love. Due to Daisy’s rich background, the traditional idea of love becomes skewed because of the materialistic mindsets of people in the 1920s. In the novel the wealthy are further stratified into two social classes creating a barrier between the elite and the “dreamers”. Throughout the novel, the idea of the American dream as a fresh start fails. As Nick, the narrator, spends time in New York, he realizes the corruption pursuing goals. Characters such as Gatsby and Myrtle constantly strive toward an the American dream, which Nick realizes to be fruitless in the end.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald employs the use of characters, themes, and symbolism to convey the idea of the American Dream and its corruption through the aspects of wealth, family, and status. In regards to wealth and success, Fitzgerald makes clear the growing corruption of the American Dream by using Gatsby himself as a symbol for the corrupted dream throughout the text. In addition, when portraying the family the characters in Great Gatsby are used to expose the corruption growing in the family system present in the novel. Finally, the American longing for status as a citizen is gravely overshot when Gatsby surrounds his life with walls of lies in order to fulfill his desires for an impure dream. F. Scot. Fitzgerald, through his use of symbols, characters, and theme, displays for the reader a tale that provides a commentary on the American dream and more importantly on its corruption.