White picket fence, big car, huge house, glamorous parties, and lovers galore are all different aspirations of those who believed in the American dream in the 1920s. F. Scott Fitzgerald seemed to base all of The Great Gatsby on, not only a love story but the American dream of one man, Jay Gatsby. He had the dream of his true love and money, all of which he could get on their own, but when achieved together, the American dream fell apart. Other characters such as Daisy and Myrtle both had dreams like Gatsby, where they wanted true love and money at the same time. In the story, Daisy Buchanan is married to Tom Buchanan, but was and still is in love with Jay Gatsby. Tom cheats on Daisy with Myrtle and Daisy cheats on Tom with Gatsby. Their American …show more content…
dreams of love and money seem easy to achieve separately, but when together, they become a lethal pair that makes their dreams unobtainable. The idea of an American dream is different for all the characters in The Great Gatsby. They have the common idea of money and love, but each is slightly different from person to person, each being impossible to achieve. Daisy always has the point of money and love together but constantly lets her need for money hold her back from her love. Daisy’s American dream, like many others, is unobtainable when both love and money come into the picture; she can achieve one or the other on their own, but when together they are a toxic mix. In the novel, Gatsby tells Nick about his past love affair with Daisy. Their love was true but when he had to leave for the war she became impatient and married another man. Her impatience was not all that caused her American dream to die off; when they were young, Gatsby was still a poor man. Since Daisy grew up in a rich household she was supposed to marry a rich man and even though she truly loved Gatsby years ago, he was not rich enough for her social status. Her standing in society at the time would not permit her to lower herself to him. Gatsby talked to her about all the things he planned for the future, but none of them gave her a rich husband immediately. Even in the present when Gatsby has money she cannot be with him because he wants things to go back to the way they were but they cannot. Many things have changed in both of their lives: Daisy is married and has a child now and has loved another man after Gatsby. The years it took Gatsby to get his money for Daisy was too long for her to wait and too much had changed by that time. Not only that but Daisy and Gatsby come from completely different worlds. Gatsby did not grow up rich and recently became wealthy, while Daisy has been rich since she was born and is considered old money. The way he came about his money is still shrouded in mystery, “I think he killed a man” (Fitzgerald 49), many guests at parties gossip about who he is and how he got his money. Gatsby lives a life of mystery, which makes it hard for Daisy to choose him, not knowing if his money was legal. This part of his money did not have as much of an impact on their relationship as their separation. They both lead completely different lifestyles; Daisy is elegant and posh while Gatsby is big and lavish. They live on completely different islands that cause a bigger separation between them emotionally and physically. Tom, her husband, grew up rich and understands her lifestyle of old money, while Gatsby is the opposite. Love and money create the perfect American dream for every character in the book, but with different things holding them back, they become a toxic combination. Just like Daisy, Myrtle lives in a lavish world where she is used to money and love; the difference is that Myrtle married the man for love but not the money. Like most, Myrtle’s American dream cannot find the perfect mixture of money and love. Her sacrifice for love leads her to resent her husband. Myrtle cheats on her husband with Tom Buchanan, a rich married man and lies to her husband constantly. Her dream can never be perfect is she feels the need to cheat on her husband. She is unhappy with her poor husband and needs to lie to him and say she is visiting her sister in the city in order to find happiness. Her dream of a perfect rich husband can never come true if she is married and the man she is in love with is married to another woman. Her one possibility at the true American dream is with Tom, but he, like her, has another spouse that they cannot leave. Myrtle marries her husband for love and leaves the money behind, she often explains, “’I married him because I thought he was gentleman,’ she said finally. ‘I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my toe’” (Fitzgerald 34). Myrtle grew up rich and knows that she should marry a rich husband as well but decides to marry below her. She thought her happiness would be fine if she married the man she loved;l but found that to not be the case. At a New York party, she explains that he is not good enough to be married to her and she regrets ever marrying him. For her dream to be complete she needs a rich husband that she loves; she could have one, but not the other. In the end, her need for the perfect American dream led her to cheat on her husband. George is furious when he finds out and locks her in the house, saying they are going away. His anger causes him to her Myrtle and indirectly results in her death. To get away from George, Myrtle runs out in the middle of the road and is killed in a hit and run. Myrtle’s attempts and failures towards an American dream not only fail and cause her long-term pain but lead to her death as well. Out of all of the characters in the story, Fitzgerald mainly focuses the story on Jay Gatsby’s ultimate American dream.
He dreams of having his gold girl by his side and money to spoil her. Gatsby is optimistic and determined to achieve his true American dream, but like all of the other characters in The Great Gatsby, this dream is impossible to achieve. After he met Daisy, Gatsby spent 5 years trying to get money to be good enough for her. In the end, he could never achieve his dream, and he ended up wasting 5 years of his life along the way. Gatsby found his true love Daisy, but to achieve his dream and win her over he needed the money. Once he had the money it was too late and the toxic relationship in the American dream continues. When Gatsby worked for his money, possibly in some illegal manners, Daisy could not wait for him to be rich. Daisy became too impatient and went to marry a man that gave her the love and stability equal to her social status. He bought her a big house and moved close to her, but in the end still did not get his dream girl. Part of Gatsby’s dream to have things go back to the way they were 5 years ago; he wants to relive the past and pick up where they left off. Throughout the novel, Gatsby seems to forget the fact that 5 years has passed since they were together and he thinks that she can run away and be with him. In the 5 years that they were separated Daisy got married to an extremely rich man and had a child with him. With these changes, it is not so simple for her to get up and leave her child and husband behind like Gatsby wants her to. Not being able to go back and live the past crushes a big portion of his true American dream. He has imagined all of the things that Daisy and their relationship will be, but she can never live up to the standards he sets; therefore, his dream is impossible. When Tom finds out about Gatsby and Daisy’s affair, all Gatsby wants is for Daisy to say that she never loved Tom, but she cannot bring
herself to say it. During the fight Daisy yells, “I did love him once¬¬–but I loved you too” (Fitzgerald 132). This statement crushes Gatsby and his American dream. He wants Daisy to only love him and have him be the only man she ever loved but Daisy cannot bear to lie to them. Her love for Tom ruins Gatsby’s dream, even if he does have money now, together they ruin each other once again. F. Scott Fitzgerald bases his whole novel on the American dream for the characters in the 1920s. Daisy, Myrtle, and Gatsby all have different definitions of their own American dream that they spend their whole lives trying to achieve. Daisy and Myrtle both want true love and money, while Gatsby wants those things along with being able to turn back the clock. Their dreams of money and love seem simple to achieve and in some ways, they are. The characters in The Great Gatsby are able to obtain money or love on their own, but together their dreams fall apart. When money and love are put together in their lives, they are all unable to obtain their true American dreams. Much of this relates to life even today when people seem to want it all, but people still need to make certain sacrifices to find only a sliver of happiness in their lives.
Gatsby’s explanation of this dream focused on money and social status. He has always yearned for this, even when he was a child. Fitzgerald frequently emphasises Gatsby’s desire, throughout the entirety of this novel. Though, Fitzgerald accentuates this desire when Nick discovers the truth of Gatsby’s past. During this elucidation, Nick explains that “his [Gatsby’s] parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people-his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all.” (Fitzgerald, 98) This shows the reader Gatsby’s lifelong determination for wealth and power. Even in his adult life, he strives for more than what he has. In John Steinbeck’s essay, he explains that “we [Americans] go mad with dissatisfaction in the face of success” (Steinbeck, 1) This is exactly how Gatsby feels, he is not content with his success, the amount of money he has, or the height of his social status and is constantly wishing for more than he has. Though, once he meets Daisy he no longer strives for wealth, but rather for her. As shown in this novel, even though Gatsby has achieved all he had wanted when he was growing up, he will not be content until he is able to call Daisy his
When the book begins, it is assumed that his dream is fortune and “fame,” but as the book continues, it reveals his dream is love. He has a love, Daisy for many years, she is the reason he lives where he does and has the parties he has, just to impress Daisy. Daisy never even showed up to one of his parties until the end. Gatsby bought a big house right across the river from Daisy’s house and and throws extravagant parties to get her to come, all he wants was love. Although he never truly achieves it, he is able to work hard to try to achieve it. That is a part of the american dream, it may not be attainable and Gatsby might be working hard for something that just is impossible for him to achieve . “―I thought of Gatsby‘s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy‘s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could barely fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night” (p. 180,
In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby functions under the illusion that Daisy is perfect and is living in such distress because she was forced to marry Tom due to Gatsby being away at war and being poor. This illusion leads Gatsby to spend his entire adult life pining after Daisy and cheating his way up the social and economic ladder in order to win her over. Gatsby believes that Daisy will someday come back to him because she loves him so much and they will live happily ever after together.
In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald elucidates the hollowness of the American Dream, as the unrestrained longing for wealth and freedom exceeding more honorable desires. He illuminates the idea that having or attaining this American Dream will result in unethical behavior or unethical acts.
His American Dream was to repeat the past and be reunited with Daisy but had no idea that his past was already far behind him. He perceived a debt of lies just to fit in with Tom’s social class. Fitzgerald never let Gatsby reach his dream because he never realized that if he truly loved Daisy he’d let her decide if she wanted to be with him and back out of her marriage, but he didn’t. Gatsby only thought about what was best for him, not what was best for him and Daisy. Even though Tom was a swindler didn’t mean he didn’t have a spiritual attachment towards Daisy, even when Tom ran off to have his little sprees he always returned back to her.(132). Gatsby just wants Daisy because she a shimmering thing that’ll look good on his arm, something like a trophy he could show off. He’s too haunted by his past to give it up, he actually thinks repeating his past would be an accomplishment to him but in reality moving on with his life would’ve been his biggest achievement and that’s why he couldn’t achieve his ultimate dream.
To reach his idea of what happiness is,Gatsby must go back in time and relive an old dream. To do this Jay Gatsby is a man who does not wish to live in the present because it offers him nothing. He spends the majority of his adult life trying to recapture his past and,eventually,dies in his pursuit of it. The reason he wishes to relive the past is because long ago he had a love affair with the rich Daisy Buchanan,who he fell deeply in love with. However,he knew that they could never get married due to the difference in their economic and social statuses.
A story isn’t a story without a deeper meaning. This proves true with the book The Great Gatsby, a book set in the roaring 20’s where the American Dream was the only thing on everyone’s mind. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald dives into the downside of the American Dream and the problems it causes. Through imagery, flashbacks, and irony, F. Scott Fitzgerald writes of the complexities of the American Dream.
"[. . .] the man who gives his name to this book [. . .]"
The Great Gatsby is a story of the American Dream. The Great Gatsby is a view into the society of the 1920's masterfully created by Fitzgerald. In this society, the one and only Gatsby falls right into the middle. Gatsby is an exemplary example of one trying to live out the American Dream.
Gatsby is a dreamer, he dreams that one day he and Daisy will be able to be together once again. To achieve this dream Gatsby has made himself a rich man. He knows that in order to win Daisy back he must be wealthy and of high social stature. Gatsby becomes rich, has a beautiful mansion, nice things, things like shirts “They’re such beautiful shirts. . . it makes me sad because I’ve never seen such-such beautiful clothes” (pg.98).Gatsby believes his dream will come true because of all the money and nice things he has. The way that Gatsby becomes rich is in a way the demise of his dream. Gatsby becomes wealthy by participating in organized crime, including distributing illegal alcohol and trading in stolen securities. Daisy eventually learns about this and it is one of the reasons she will never again be with Gatsby. The other reason is Daisy a...
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, “The Great Gatsby”, is one of the few novels he wrote in 1925. The novel takes place during the 1920’s following the 1st World War. It is written about a young man named Nick, from the east he moved to the west to learn about the bond business. He ends up moving next to a mysterious man named Gatsby who ends up giving him the lesion of his life.
The government voted in the 18th amendment creating Prohibition making alcohol illegal, but not completely eliminating it. Prohibition caused wealth and corruption, this being depicted in the Story "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Jay Gatsby Turns to a life of selling illegal Booze in order to reach a higher social status.
The Great Gatsby, a novel by Scott Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream, and the downfall of those who attempt to reach its impossible goals. The attempt to capture the American Dream is used in many novels. This dream is different for different people; but, in The Great Gatsby, for Jay, the dream is that through wealth and power, one can acquire happiness. To get this happiness Jay must reach into the past and relive an old dream; and, in order to do this, he must have wealth and power.
The freedom in self endowment has always been the fuel to the average American citizen and his drive toward success. In other words, Americans always strive to achieve the ever so revered American Dream. What is the American Dream? David Kamp describes the American Dream as "the idea rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."(Kamp). The dream lies deeply rooted in American society and the very mention of it lights a passionate fire in the hearts of American citizens everywhere. The idea behind the dream is that if an individual has sufficient willpower, he or she has a fair chance of achieving wealth as well as the freedom and happiness that come packaged with it. Essentially, it offers the opportunity of achieving spiritual and material fulfillment. It promises success at the cost of hard work and perseverance. Over time however, this idea of attaining success through hard work and perseverance has been skewed into one which exploits greed and carelessness and The Great Gatsby is an excellent affirmation of this. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald derides the gradual corruption of hard work and perseverance in the American Dream by utilizing the motif of driving and incorporating it with the the ideas of greed and carelessness.
In the beginning, Gatsby was a poor army boy who fell in love with a rich girl named Daisy. Knowing from their different circumstances, he could not marry her. So Gatsby left to accumulate a lot of money. Daisy, not being able to wait for Gatsby, marries a rich man named Tom. Tom believes that it is okay for a man to be unfaithful but it is not okay for the woman to be. This caused a lot of conflict in their marriage and caused Daisy to be very unhappy. Gatsby’s dream is to be with Daisy, and since he has accumulated a lot of money, he had his mind set on getting her back. Throughout the novel, Gatsby shows his need to attain The American Dream of love and shows his determination to achieve it. You can tell that Gatsby has a clear vision of what he wants when Nick says, “..he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I gla...