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Exposing the Morally Corrupt American Dream
The 1920’s were a decade of renaissance characterized by the establishment of the "American Dream" -- the belief that anyone can, and should, achieve material success. F. Scott Fitzgerald's most famous novel, The Great Gatsby, contains themes and morals that continue to be relevant today. In his novel, Fitzgerald criticizes the American Dream by describing its negative characteristics: class struggles between the rich and the poor, the superficiality of the rich, and the false relationship between money and happiness. Furthermore, the main character also serves as a metaphor for the inevitable downfall of American Dream.
"The Great Gatsby ... describes the failure of the American dream, from the point of view that American political ideals conflict with the actual social conditions that exist. For whereas American democracy is based on the idea of equality among people, the truth is that social discrimination still exists and the divisions among the classes cannot be overcome" (Internet 1). It is impossible for all people to become rich, since material wealth is based largely on social position, and class divisions prevent the poor from becoming successful. "One thing's sure and nothing's surer / The rich get richer and the poor get -- children" (Fitzgerald 101). Myrtle's attempt to break into the group to which the Buchanans belong is doomed to fail. She enters into an affair with Tom, and takes on all the negative qualities of his social group; she not only becomes corrupt and immoral, but she scorns people from her own class. "I thought he knew something about breeding but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe" (Fitzgerald 39). The adulterous behaviour of Myrtle and Tom,...
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...he American Dream of success and money is nothing more than a morally corrupt fantasy.
Works Cited
Fahey, William A. F. Scott Fitzgerald and The American Dream. Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, 1973.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli. Toronto: Simon & Schuster Inc, 1995.
Internet 1. "http://www.uni-ulm.de/schulen/gym/sgu/gatsb/klaus2.htm". F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary Home Page. "The Great Gatsby's Theme".
Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina, 1997.
Internet 2. "http://www.clunet.edu/engdept/ad/gatsby2.html". Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. "Great Gatsby: Chapters 5 - 9".
Infonautics Corporation, 1998.
Internet 3. "http://www.clunet.edu/engdept/ad/gatsby3.html". Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. "The Structure of The Great Gatsby". Infonautics Corporation, 1998.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner,1996. Print.
The novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, deals heavily with the concept of the American Dream as it existed during the Roaring Twenties, and details its many flaws through the story of Jay Gatsby, a wealthy and ambitious entrepreneur who comes to a tragic end after trying to win the love of the moneyed Daisy Buchanan, using him to dispel the fantastic myth of the self-made man and the underlying falsities of the American Dream. Despite Gatsby’s close association with the American Dream, however, Fitzgerald presents the young capitalist as a genuinely good person despite the flaws that cause his undoing. This portrayal of Gatsby as a victim of the American Dream is made most clear during his funeral, to which less than a handful
Trask, David F. "A Note on Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." University Review 33.3 (Mar. 1967): 197-202. Rpt. in Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.
http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/biography.html. October 18, 2002. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. London: Penguin Books, 1990.
Through the use of symbolism and critique, F. Scott Fitzgerald is able to elucidate the lifestyles and dreams of variously natured people of the 1920s in his novel, The Great Gatsby. He uses specific characters to signify diverse groups of people, each with their own version of the “American Dream.” Mostly all of the poor dream of transforming from “rags to riches”, while some members of the upper class use other people as their motivators. In any case, no matter how obsessed someone may be about their “American Dream”, Fitzgerald reasons that they are all implausible to attain.
Hermanson, Casie E. "An overview of The Great Gatsby." Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925
Bruccoli, Matthew J. Preface. The Great Gatsby. By F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. vii-xvi.
The American Dream is a concept that has been wielded in American Literature since its beginnings. The ‘American Dream’ ideal follows the life of an ordinary man wanting to achieve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The original goal of the American dream was to pursue freedom and a greater good, but throughout time the goals have shifted to accumulating wealth, high social status, etc. As such, deplorable moral and social values have evolved from a materialistic pursuit of happiness. In “Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity”, Roland Marchand describes a man that he believed to be the prime example of a 1920’s man. Marchand writes, “Not only did he flourish in the fast-paced, modern urban milieu of skyscrapers, taxicabs, and pleasure- seeking crowds, but he proclaimed himself an expert on the latest crazes in fashion, contemporary lingo, and popular pastimes.” (Marchand) This description shows material success as the model for the American Dream. In his novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald reveals the characterization of his characters through the use of symbols and motifs to emphasize the corruption of the American Dream.
Eble, Kenneth. "The Structure of The Great Gatsby." F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc. 1963. 89-94
Auchincloss, Louis. “The American Dream: All Gush and Twinkle.” Reading on the Great Gatsby. Leone, Bruno ed. San Diego: Green haven Press, Inc., 1988. Print.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print
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