The Great Gatsby Research Paper

The Great Gatsby and the American Dream What defines the American dream varies from person to person. When imagining the American dream, some people think of making it big and becoming rich and famous, while others see it as an opportunity to escape their poverty. The American dream has persisted throughout American history as a concept that drives thousands of dreamers to achieve what they desire in life. However, this dream does not always end glamorously. This is best illustrated in the classic American novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. The American dream is a crucial theme of The Great Gatsby. This novel follows one man’s dream and showcases how it was subverted and destroyed as he drifted from the glory of the top

The Great Gatsby explores the theme of the American dream through Jay Gatsby, the Valley of Ashes, and the Green Light, leading to the conclusion that this dream everyone desires is not always obtainable. The character in Fitzgerald’s classic novel that embodies the American dream the most would be the focus of the story, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby, known as James Gatz in his early life, had lived in poverty and always had dreamed of a greater life for himself, as all Americans do. Jay Gatsby was a persona taken up by Gatz as the person he so strived to be. As explained in the novel, “So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end”. Gatsby may have started from rough beginnings, but then he rose to the top of the upper class society. He was able to escape his poverty by meeting the sailor

Gatsby states how the sole reason he purchased his mansion was to be across the bay from Daisy, so he could be close to her. In the novel, Nick Carraway, the narrator, sees Gatsby staring off at the green light. In the novel, he stated about Gatsby: “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way… I glanced seaward — and distinguished nothing except a single green light…” Nick had seen Gatsby reaching out trying to grab the green light out by Daisy’s dock, a goal he was reaching out for. The green light in The Great Gatsby is representative of Gatsby’s goals and dreams of the future, mainly his dream of being with Daisy. Unfortunately, Gatsby’s infatuation with this dream of his consumed him, taking over his life and becoming the only thing he strived for. He threw massive, expensive parties, not for himself, but only to attract the attention of his love. After establishing a relationship with Daisy, he demanded she claim she never loved her husband, Tom, and to be with him. His grand American dream of life with Daisy then began to crumble as Daisy was unable to renounce her love for Tom. Gatsby’s dream was finally put to an end with his murder by Wilson, and he fell into obscurity, to be