The American Dream is sought after by many. The goal to find love, wealth, power, and even fame lurks through their minds. Thus, individuals think it was the way to ameliorate their life, but is it really? Achieving riches may bring joy temporarily, but not permanently. In The Great Gatsby, even with all the money in the world, Gatsby is not truly content with his life. Jay Gatsby’s American Dream is to reunite with his old love, Daisy. He is aware of the pain of losing her, but finds joy in attaining her anyways. The source of the plot derives from the delayed union of Daisy and Gatsby five years before, due to their “romantic readiness” (Barbarese 100). He begins as unprivileged, but gradually works his way up to become a “New Egg”. From extravagant galas, to luxury cars and a huge mansion, many assume he is satisfied. Sadly, Gatsby is not. He is missing one piece to complete his puzzle of life, Daisy. When they first meet, Gatsby’s social status is deemed unworthy of her love. This results in him changing up his identity and persona in order to gain her back. After, thoroughly evaluating her, he realizes her …show more content…
attachment for materialism. Therefore, turning towards money to “lure a disillusioned beauty into a trap built on visions of love and possible redemption” (Batchelor 74). Unfortunately, Gatsby is too blind to realize that he cannot repeat the past, especially after Daisy moved on to marry Tom. Money may allow a person to obtain anything possible, but these possessions only hold material significance. What about love, family and the ability to make real connections? With riches, come corruption, depression, and hidden agendas resulting in melancholy. Mark 8:36 mentions, “What good will it do a man to gain the whole world and to lose his soul” (KJV)? Gatsby’s “Platonic conception of himself” (Fitzgerald 104), is invented at seventeen and he continues to remain faithful to it. After gaining wealth, he loses his soul once he reinvents himself to meet the expectations of Daisy. Money opens doors for Gatsby, with his business partnerships and style of work, but the tradition of wealth that surrounds him, corrupts his American Dream. Egotistic, arrogant, and immoral individuals soured his atmosphere. From the many dreams and aspirations, held by the other characters, Gatsby is too short-minded to see that reality is just around the corner to set them straight. Tom has all the money in the world and a beautiful wife, but is still miserable and jaded. This results in him cheating and living a double life in New York. Not only are they unfaithful, but also hold their marriage together through fraudulent lies. Unfortunately, due to Gatsby’s inexperience to wealth, he associates prosperity with pleasure, harmony, and splendor, thinking that it will bring him utmost contentment with the love of his life. Ultimately, surpassing the hardships that money has placed onto the other characters during the novel. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald illustrates how money cannot truly buy pleasure. Gatsby falls for Daisy’s voice that is full of money, not realizing that money is the only thing promising about her. Just like hard cash, Daisy has been callous and has no sympathy for Gatsby, choosing Tom over him. Due to Daisy sugar coating everything, Gatsby is sightless to distinguish her true character that prosperity engraves in her. Daisy symbolizes material triumph and dishonesty of wealth, ultimately blaming Gatsby for the untimely death of Myrtle Wilson. Even with the many examples about how Gatsby is not content, many still might argue that he is.
With riches, Gatsby is able to get Daisy momentarily, but realizes it is not all he imagines. The compassion and love between them is lost over time. Gatsby figures maybe she needs more lavishness to please her, but no amount of money could keep her from leaving him. Daisy moves on, but Gatsby is left under the moonlight depress, hoping she will change her mind. Gatsby also has beautiful cars, but his fancy yellow car brings death upon him due to miscommunications between George Wilson and Tom Buchanan. Many would think that since Gatsby had so many guest at his party many would show up to his funeral. Sadly, Gatsby is a mystery to his guest, leaving only three people to show up to his funeral. This shows readers that he truly has no
friends. Throughout the novel, Gatsby takes the time out to entertain his guest, trying to give everyone what they want. Unfortunately, he failed to amuse himself. Gatsby’s vision of an ameliorated life gets the best of him due to blindness towards the consequences of prosperity. Wealth not only leaves Gatsby heartbroken, depressed, and lonely but also dead. Without his dream, he is left with no direction, showing that the American Dream is just a dream and unattainable. In conclusion, Gatsby’s wealth does not bring him contentment, since he still tries to chase after his past. Just because money can buy all the cares in the world, does not mean he or she lives in high spirits.
A society naturally breaks up into various social groups over time. Members of lower statuses constantly suppose that their problems will be resolved if they gain enough wealth to reach the upper class. Many interpret the American Dream as being this passage to high social status and, once reaching that point, not having to concern about money at all. Though, the American Dream involves more than the social and economic standings of an individual. The dream involves attaining a balance between the spiritual strength and the physical strength of an individual. Jay Gatsby, of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, fails to reach his ultimate dream of love for Daisy in that he chooses to pursue it by engaging in a lifestyle of high class.
No two people are going to share the exact same goals, and while many people’s dreams run along the same pathways towards security, money, love, and companionship, the route by which to get there and the destination should be left entirely to the dreamer. By creating an institution such as the American Dream, goals become oversimplified. The American dream boils happiness down into two or three facets, which everyone seems to try desperately to conform to, but people cannot be told what to like. As conformists, though, everyone will attempt to seem perfectly happy with a lot they never chose as they live a dream they never wanted. Nothing showcases this more clearly than the rampant unhappiness of the characters in The Great Gatsby. None of the people the world would consider ‘successful’ end the novel happy; instead they are left either emotionally hollow or entirely dead. Their failure at achieving real and true happiness is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s way of criticizing the relentless pursuit of a phony American
American clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger once said “The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it is possible to achieve the American dream.” This idea of the “American dream” has been around since the founding and has become a prominent part of American culture and identity. This same idea is what the raved about novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is based around. Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, pursues this American dream through his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan and his need to be insanely rich.
The idea and definition of the American dream has been continually changing based on culture and time period. Many people classify it as the big house, with the white picket fence, the kids playing in the yard and a happy spouse. With this perception many believe this dream comes without struggle but in the novel The Great Gatsby, the characters emphasize that the hard ships don’t always make the American dream as dreamlike as others recognize. In a quote said by Craig L. Thomas, he states “You stuff somebody into the American dream and it becomes a prison.” For many characters the lifestyle they lead others to believe was so perfect was actually a nightmare that they could not wake up from.
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.
Its theme is far more complex than a simple love story. It tells about the corruption of the American dream, the broken promise of “equality for all” and the fact that you can’t be “whatever you want”. The novel is concerned with Jay Gatsby’s life, who is the protagonist of the story and perhaps American’s literature most powerful character.Gatsby lives a luxurious life in west Egg, we learn about his glamorous parties full of drinks and people from everywhere! But all this is just a facade that hides what Gatsby really is- a simple man in love. It seems that years ago Gatsby had fallen in love with a golden-haired girl named daisy. However, he wasn’t always rich and wealthy there was a time when he was poor and had nothing. This was the reason he lost the love of his life, and now does everything only to gain it back.
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. Jay Gatsby, from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, built his "American Dream" upon the belief that wealth would win him acceptance. In pursuit of his dream, Gatsby spent his life trying to gain wealth and the refinement he assumes it entails. Jay Gatsby, lacking true refinement, reflects the adolescent image of the wealthy, and "[springs] from his Platonic conception of himself" (Fitzgerald 104).
When reflecting on his memories of the man he knew as Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway recalls the unique individual’s finest quality: “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” (Fitzgerald 2). Although Gatsby occasionally stepped off the straight and narrow, he never lost sight of his ultimate goal: Daisy’s love. Even when it seemed as though everything was working against him and that he would never regain his lost love, Gatsby kept going, knowing that the strength of his hope would see him through. His childlike determination, while ultimately his downfall, was what made Gatsby truly “great.”
Jay Gatsby, a mysterious, young and very wealthy man, fatally chases an impossible dream. Gatsby attempts to rekindle an old relationship and has confidence in repeating the past. Gatsby claims that he is going to “fix everything just the way it was before” (Fitzgerald 117). In a a conversation with Nick, Gatsby discusses how the past can be repeated and how he wants the relationship that he once had with Daisy (Fitzgerald 116). Secondly, Gatsby attempts to exemplify his wealth through fancy cars and stylish clothing. Gatsby shows his clothing to Daisy and informs her that he has a “man in England” who buys his clothes every season (Fitzgerald 97). Illustrating his wealth, Gatsby drives a Rolls Royce that “was a rich cream color, bright with nickel” (Fitzgerald 68). Although Gatsby’s foolish quest of the American dream exemplifies a respectable aspiration, it ends in a tragic death that goes virtually unnoticed. A sharp contrast to the parties , the funeral was sparingly attended and “nobody came” (Fitzgerald 182). Following the ...
The early 1920’s were a time when the economy began to soar, and the notion of the American dream began to take effect. The American Dream is the idea that anyone can come from any background and no matter who they are, if they work hard and stay true to themselves, they can achieve their dreams. The Great Gatsby, set in the early twenties, displays that socio-economic power is obtained through inheritance, forming an aristocracy of power and wealth. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, demonstrates how geography and location dictate where the social-class level of an individual exists permanently in society. Furthermore, illusion and affectation portrayed in the novel to conceive the image of power and wealth in a way for someone to attempt to become something they are not, this goes against the idea of the American Dream. Even when the American Dream seems obtainable it is restricted by unruling variables. Therefore, the American Dream is simply, just a dream.
Gatsby downfall came when he sacrificed his morality to attain wealth. Gatsby realises that the illusion of his dream with Daisy, demands wealth to become priority, and thus wealth becomes the desire overriding his need for her [Daisy’s] love. Gatsby claims to others that he has inherited his wealth, but Nick discovers "[h]is parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people" (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, pg 104) and that Gatsby has lied about his past. In a society that relies on luxuries, Gatsby throws parties to attract Daisy’s attention. Also, Gatsby expresses that same need to keep busy, just as Daisy does, in a society of the elite. Nick describes Gatsby as "never quite still, there was always a tapping foot somewhere or the impatient opening and closing of a hand" (Fitzgerald, pg 68). Gatsby fills his house "full of interesting people...who do interesting things" (Fitzgerald, pg 96). Gatsby's dream is doomed to failure in that he has lost the fundamental necessities to experience love, such as honesty and moral integrity.
For some, simply having infinite wealth and popularity is enough for them to be happy. For others, they need something that money can’t buy. Two books that express these qualities are: The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Both of these books describe the life of a wealthy man but each of them have different ideas of the American dream. Examples from these books will show how the American dream differs from person to person.
As a romantic, Jay Gatsby does not understand how money actually works in American life. He believes that if he is rich, then Daisy can be his. This is displayed most powerfully and poignantly in the scene where Gatsby shows Daisy and ...
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 became 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.
The ideal of the American Dream is seen as every United States citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and also having the perfect family. But I the Novel ‘The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald shows a corruption of that American dream, from his characters Daisy, Tom, Gatsby and more. It may seem as if they have the perfect life of luxury but they are just a corruption of the American dream of luxury.