The Great Gatsby Happiness Essay

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Recommended: Connection to the american dream the pursuit of happiness

The Contingencies of Happiness Mahatma Gandhi once said that, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Happiness does not depend on freedom or success, but is rather the pursuit of a content life as seen in the eyes of the beholder. To some obtaining success and freedom can lead to happiness however, not everyone who finds success and freedom are happy. To say that happiness is only a direct result of either success or freedom is false statement, needless to say it can be part of the journey or the end result for many. Happiness is a state of mind found not just through success and freedom, but rather through the search of a complete life. In the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we are immersed into the lives of several upper class Americans that are …show more content…

In this document it is stated that America will become “Free and Independent States” (Declaration of Independence), in spite of this freedom many Americans still cannot seem to find happiness. In a recent poll it was found that less than one third of Americans are happy as of 2016(Harris Poll). From this data it can be concluded that happiness in not dependent on freedom but instead on what someone does with their life and the opportunities they are given. However, some do find happiness as a result of the freedom that they have been granted. This is also shown by the Harris Poll because while two thirds of the population are found to be unhappy the remaining third of America have found consider themselves happy and content with their lives. Happiness is not dependent on freedom; freedom can only be a part of the path towards a joyful and complete life as shown in this example. Success can also be one of the many different stepping stones towards

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