The American Dream in The Great Gatsby

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The American dream is sought after and imagined by everyone who comes to America. It is the main reason that people come to America; they come for freedom as well as to one day attain the idea of a perfect American dream. It theoretically symbolizes what you have accomplished in life and what you wish to one day have. In my personal opinion if any person wants come to America to live a life of happiness, be released of religious persecution and the freedom to say what you feel, then it can be accomplished. This is the first thing you get as soon as you become an American. That for me is considered a dream for the persecuted. Now beyond this lies desire, which is what society thrives from because it is what our economy is based off of. It is said that you only need food, shelter, and clothing. Dreaming is what America is all about; the beautiful houses, the wealth, the power to control things at your fingertips. Anything you can dream of you can obtain. Although, obtaining a wealthy dream can be a life of hard work and poverty—depending on what you want— it will eventually pay off to finally accomplish what is desired.

“My own house was an eye-sore, but it was a small eye-sore and it had been over look, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor’s lawn and the consoling proximity of millionaires—all for eighty dollars a month.” (10) The Great Gatsby

Essentially, the “dream” is in my view a state of mind in which you feel comfortable and content in. It is a reassurance that you have begun and finished what you set out to offer to yourself. I do not base my dream upon materialistic items such as a big house or cars or all the

wealth I can imagine. Rather I want set out to fall in love, have a family and teach my children and support them. No matter at what cost this would be. I would really like to home school and teach them but I cannot deprive them of friends, fun, and experiences that I had and will have.

I want to support them in whatever they are interested in, whether it be science, art, engineering, anything that makes them as happy as I am with my dream. Finding a woman that I can put up with and her I will be one of the harder things to obtain.

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