The Great Gatsby And The American Dream

The American Dream is what everyone hopes that they can achieve. It is the perfect lifestyle of wealth and class. The pursuit of the American Dream can lead to prosperity or nothing. Many people end up with nothing in their attempts. Thesis: In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, communicates the message that the American Dream is dead through Gatsby's attempts at accomplishing his dream, his reasons for failure, and his dream in general. Gatsby had a vision for his life and a dream and would not let anything get in the way of the wealth he wanted or a life with Daisy. Gatsby longed for wealth. Nagel said this about wealth and The American Dream, “Benjamin Franklin seems to have understood this substantial view of the American

Wealth was part of Benjamin Franklin’s idea of the American Dream. Daisy was the other priority in Gatsby’s life along with wealth. Nagel felt that The American Dream could also lead to destruction in this quote, “The central problem in this plot is not that the quest for the American Dream is in some way fundamentally destructive, but rather that the version of it sought by Gatsby and Nick is a degraded corruption of the idea, a formulation that reduces the objective to money and to social status based on surface riches, not on the more fulfilling aspects of the original conception”(Nagel). Gatsby was chasing Daisy for the last few years of his life. In the end, it was revealed that Gatsby’s dream would lead to destruction. Gatsby had many ways that he would go about accomplishing his

Gatsby liked to keep his attempts private almost as if he wanted to work in silence and in the end show up in the public eye having already reached his dream. Fitzgerald said this about Gatsby keeping his attempts private, "I hear you fired all your servants." "I wanted somebody who wouldn't gossip. Daisy comes over quite often in the afternoons." So the whole caravansary had fallen in like a card house at the disapproval in her eyes”(Fitzgerald 60). He did not want anyone to know what he was planning. He wanted to wait until he knew for sure that his dream was secured. He was trying to win Daisy over without anyone knowing. Gatsby was also very dedicated from a young age to accomplish the life he envisioned for himself. He had ideas of which he thought would make him wealthy, “His copy book in his own handwriting says, "study electricity, study needed inventions," characterizing the faith that the perfection of the individual is possible in America”(Pidgeon). This shows that even at an age where most people still rely on their parents for support, Gatsby was planning ahead and was already making attempts to accomplish his American Dream. Gatsby did anything it took to succeed. He wanted to make sure that his attempts succeeded. Even after he had achieved his wealth he realized he only wanted Daisy but in reality this could end up leading to failure and death. By the end of the story, the death of the American