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The Great Gatsby Final Essay
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald cynicism about the American Dream in the 1920’s is represented by the character Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, and Daisy Buchanan. The people who were born with wealth are careless, awful people, and the people who attain it or seek to attain it end up destroyed. FItzgerald believes that the American Dream in the 1920’s is ruined by the unworthiness of money and pleasure, these changes affected his belief about the American Dreambecause when people in the book pursuit a better life, they end up getting hurt or hurting others. Fitzgerald’s attitude was represented because Gatsby was poor and he went into the criminal organization industry to come up in social ladder just so he live his dream of marrying Daisy and he ends up getting killed.
The first character whose experiences in the novel reflect the author’s attitude is Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby grew up poor and impoverished. Always wanted to be wealthy, he achieved this goal by participating in organized crime. Gatsby had so much devoted love for Daisy that Jay bought a mansion right across the bay from her. Jay through big and unattainable parties to get Daisy attention. Gatsby’s love fantasy with Daisy had shattered. With that happening, it shows that the corruption
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that have money and wealth causes to an unworthy goal.Fitzgerald sees the American Dream crumbling in the 1920’s because of this. The next character whose experiences in the novel reflect the author’s attitude is Nick Carraway. Nick is quiet and doesn't really talk a lot, so that's why people tend to tell him their secrets. Nick originally went to New York to get into the bond business. Nick is also Daisy’s cousin so that's why he get caught up in this 1920s love cycle. Nick is the tolerant and open minded person he is, that is the reason feel comfortable telling him their unwanted secrets. Nick is the person telling the story so that make Nick the narrator of the story. The final character whose experiences in the novel reflect the author’s attitude is Daisy Buchanan.
Daisy, in the past, was a popular military officer back home where she from. Back home Daisy met Gatsby, Gatsby lied to Daisy to try and convince her that he was worth enough for her. Daisy and Gatsby made love, Daisy told Gatsby that she would wait for him to get out the war. Then 2 years later she ends up marrying Tom Buchanan (hence Daisy’s last name). Daisy, in the novel, is the image of Zelda Fitzgerald, she is in love with money, ease, and material luxury. In the Fitzgerald conception of the American Dream, Daisy represents the amoral values of the aristocrat of East
Egg. In conclusion, the loss of innocence and the search thereafter plays an imperative role in human existence as well as the American Dream.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, the pursuit of the American dream in a corrupt period is a central theme. This theme exemplifies itself in the downfall of Gatsby. In a time of disillusionment the ideals of the American dream are lost. The classic American dream is one of materialism and when Gatsby incorporates Daisy, a human being, into the dream he is doomed to fail.
The novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, deals heavily with the concept of the American Dream as it existed during the Roaring Twenties, and details its many flaws through the story of Jay Gatsby, a wealthy and ambitious entrepreneur who comes to a tragic end after trying to win the love of the moneyed Daisy Buchanan, using him to dispel the fantastic myth of the self-made man and the underlying falsities of the American Dream. Despite Gatsby’s close association with the American Dream, however, Fitzgerald presents the young capitalist as a genuinely good person despite the flaws that caused his undoing. This portrayal of Gatsby as a victim of the American Dream is made most clear during his funeral, to which less than a handful of people attend. Gatsby makes many mistakes throughout the novel, all of which Fitzgerald uses these blunders as a part of his thematic deconstruction of the American Dream.
A multitude of characters in the book are corrupted by a number of things, including money and other materialistic items. Beginning with Gatsby, who became who he is through criminal activities and lying. Discovered within the book, “that 's one of his little stunts. [Tom] picked him for a bootlegger the first time [he] saw him, and [he] wasn 't far wrong." (Fitzgerald 143) He lied to Nick about his identity and his family to enlist his help with Daisy. Daisy herself is corrupted by wealth and the need for a high social class, considering she cried when entering Gatsby’s home for the first time because she had never seen such beautiful shirts. The superficial people who attend Gatsby 's parties to gawk at his home surround him with more corruption and bring light to another central theme of the corrupt American Dream. Tom and Myrtle are also corrupt in that they participate in adultery, along with Daisy and Gatsby. Corruption is clear and evident throughout the book, encompassing the worlds of West Egg, East Egg, and the Valley of Ashes as they
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:
Daisy Buchanan is married to Tom Buchanan and cousin to Nick Carraway. During World War I, many soldiers stationed by her in Louisville, were in love with her. The man who caught her eye the most was Jay Gatsby. When he was called into war, she promised him that she would wait for him. Also that upon his return they will be married. Daisy, lonely because Gatsby was at war, met Tom Buchanan. He was smart and part of a wealthy family. When he asked her to marry him, she didn't hesitate at once, and took his offering. Here, the reader first encounters how shallow Daisy is, making her a dislikeable character. Another event that Daisy is a dislikeable character is when she did not show up to Gatsby's funeral. When Daisy and Gatsby reunite, their love for each other rekindle. She often visited Gatsby at his mansion, and they were inseparable. This led Gatsby on because he dedicated his whole life into getting Daisy back, and she had no gratitude towards it. At the hotel suite scene, Daisy reveals to all that she loves Gatsby, but then also says that she loves Tom as well. This leaves the reader at awe, because after...
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.
...s with all of the parties and the pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure in an era of change. The novel shows the relationship of Gatsby and Daisy as a symbol of this pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure. The reader sees the pursuit of wealth through Daisy wanting Gatsby and Tom, both of whom have money. The pursuit of power is shown through Daisy’s decision of Tom over Gatsby as Gatsby is seen as a lower social status with little power compared to Tom who has tremendous power. Pleasure is seen through the extramarital affairs of Tom and Myrtle as well as Daisy and Gatsby. The Great Gatsby, through Tom and Daisy, reveals the human condition of the pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure through these examples and shows that the “American Dream” is not possible in a life where one’s surroundings are pushing him/her towards a life of wealth, power, and pleasure.
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
The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, perfectly symbolizes many emerging trends of the 1920’s. More importantly, the character of Jay Gatsby is depicted as a man amongst his American dreams and the trials he faces in the pursuit of its complete achievement. His drive to acquire the girl of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan, through gaining status and wealth shows many aspects of the author's view on the American dream. Through this, one can hope to disassemble the complex picture that is Fitzgerald’s view of this through the novel. Fitzgerald believes, through his experiences during the 1920’s, that only fractions of the American Dream are attainable, and he demonstrates this through three distinct images in The Great Gastby.
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.
Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald criticizes the American dream very elaborately and shows the idea of the American dream to be connected with the goal of achieving wealth. Fitzgerald does not praise wealth in the Great Gatsby but condemns it by drawing attention to the dreadful fall made by Gatsby. Fitzgerald finds the desire of wealth to be a corrupting impact on people. Throughout the novel, the characters with money contradict the idea of the American dream. They are portrayed to be very snobbish and unhappy people. The American dream in the novel is shown to be unachievable. For some time, the American dream has been focused upon material things that will gain people success.
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.
Since the early colonization of America, the American dream has been the ultimate symbol for success. In retrospect, the dreamer desires to become wealthy, while also attaining love and high class. Though the dream has had different meanings in time, it is still based on individual freedom, and a desire for greatness. During the 19th century, the typical goal was to settle in the West and raise a family. However, the dream progressively transformed into greediness and materialism during the early 20th century. The indication of success soon became focused on wealth and luxury. The Great Gatsby is a story focused on the deterioration of the American dream. Throughout the novel, Jay Gatsby is shown with a desire to achieve his dream by all means. Utilizing the Roaring Twenties as part of his satire, Fitzgerald criticizes the values of the American dream, and the effects of materialism on one’s dream.