Literary Analysis Of Jay Gatsby And The American Dream

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Jocelyn Lampkin Mrs. Walton English III 10 April 2014 Literary Analysis of Jay Gatsby and the American Dream The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was set back in the 1920s which is one the greatest decades in American history. It was a time when everyone wanted to “get rich quick.” Americans believe that if they have enough money, they can buy their happiness through materialistic spending, increase power socially, and possibly manipulate lost time. F. Scott Fitzgerald's characterization of Jay Gatsby embodies the American Dream ---nice car, family, money, the whole white picket fence with a dog scene that Americans visualize.Throughout the novel readers are exposed to some of Gatsby's “great” achievements. But not all “great” things in life end up being truly great, and Gatsby is an example of the American Dream’s downfall. Gatsby comes from a small town in North Dakota and he once lived with “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” but then met a “quick and extravagantly ambitious” man named Dan Cody who changes his life forever. He is the man who brought Gatsby out of his present poverty into a wealthy man and now owns a “colossal Long Island mansion”, like coming from rags-to-riches(ch 1). A dream that recurs throughout the book is to recover lost time and memories. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock is symbol of both The American Dream and Gatsby's dream to repeat the past and be reunited with Daisy. Even after five years have passed because of him leaving for war, he still finds a way to get her attention. He does this by throwing extravagant parties that everyone attends and to raise his social connections and better yet to see if Daisy will show up. He uses most of his money on her as a way of showin... ... middle of paper ... ...ar memories existed. Many thoughts go through one’s head about loved one’s while being in a war. All of the rich characters have a similar way of dealing with issues. This is to knock out and destroy anything in their path. One could infer that these characters just can’t wait for a problem to be dealt with on their own time.Therefore the thought of buying someone back into your life comes into mind and most likely doesn’t work. Gatsby’s ways of dealing with problems revolve around money and constantly pleasing others. No matter how hard Gatsby tries to “stretch out his arms and touch the light” and no matter how hard he “fights against the current” he learns that you cannot please everyone. He learns this after his plan to be with Daisy again falls apart.Therefore, even Gatsby’s extreme wealth and materialistic spending was not enough to chase the ‘American Dream’.

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