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Jay Gatsby's American Dream

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Do you have an American Dream? What does it consist of? How will you pursue it? What 's your purpose for it? People tend to set their American Dream based on their past, their current situation in life, or generally on what they think is best for them. The great Jay Gatsby was set in his American Dream based on his past and the society around him. What he didn’t know is that his dream failed before he began to pursue it. Gatsby’s mistaken belief of the American Dream was tarnished by money, love, and deception. What is the American Dream? The American Dream was an idea that started when the settlement of America came to place. Up until the 1920s, the American Dream was about hope, love, the pursuit of happiness, freedom, and more. Soon …show more content…

He worked hard when he was employed by Dan Cody, and he got to see how the wealthy got to live by sailing the world. After Cody died he gave his inheritance to Gatz, but Cody’s ex-wife didn 't let that happen. When Gatz money was taken he decided that he wasn 't going to live the way he lived any more. He changed his name to Jay Gatsby and was a different man. He got his riches by owning drug stores and selling over the counter alcohol. He didnt work for his money, but he did work for his money when he was employed by Cody. After losing the inheritance money he realized money wasn 't going to be fast and easy to get, so he cheated his success. The mentality of money was wrong, and what people thought people could buy with money was wrong. He cheated his up to the top, he tried to buy his way into society and a love life (Fitzgerald, …show more content…

The whole story is full of lies. How Gatsby got his wealth is a lie (Fitzgerald, 1925), why he loved Daisy was a lie. Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s relationship wasn’t based off of loyalty, and neither was George and Myrtle Wilson’s relationship. Deception caused the death of both Gatsby, and Myrtle. Tom and Daisy didn 't love each other, and Myrtle didn 't love George. Tom and Myrtle already had an affair as tale as old as time. Myrtle lived with her husband in a mechanic garage for 11 years, and being with a rich guy like Tom made her feel at the top of the social class, achieving her American Dream. She had the love, but not the money. Gatsby’s life work was to get the love missing from with in him. He based his goal from the past, and it was a bad idea. Daisy and Gatsby get reunited and start their own affair. Tom later finds out that he was losing both his wife and mistress in one night. But why would Tom get jealous if he was lying to his partner as well? That same night, Daisy kills Myrtle by running her over with Gatsby’s car. George finds out about his wife and kills Gatsby thinking he was the one driving (Taylor, 1998). Myrtle 's husband was disappointed and was empty finding out he had already lost her before she died. He had nothing to live for. Gatsby getting involved in a world full of lies destroyed his dream. Being truthful in every way would have worked out

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Tom Buchanan' s money makes him very careless and reckless throughout the novel. In the opening chapters of the novel, we learn a little bit about Tom Buchanan. First we get a solid description of him from Nick saying that he is a

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Gatsby uses the last five years of his life trying to achieve his one goal of obtaining Daisy as his wife and spending the rest of his life with her, but what happens to him instead is unexpected and undeserved. Jay Gatsby got shot and killed by George Wilson. Gatsby did not sleep with Myrtle, he is an honorable man and would not sleep with another man’s wife. Gatsby also did not kill Myrtle, if he did he would have stopped the car and not just kept driving. Daisy did not talk to Gatsby ever again after the accident.

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The author explains that Gatsby did all in his effort to get better for Daisy, but ended up dying in the midst of it. The author depicts this by stating, “Furthermore, his success obviously doesn’t last – he still pines for Daisy and loses everything in his attempt to get her back” (Wulick). The author also brings in the idea of George and Myrtle Wilson trying to achieve the American Dream. It is mentioned that George wants a better life just as much as Myrtle does. However, Myrtle seeks a better life through Tom and having him buy her materials.

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When Tom Buchanan has an affair with Myrtle, he leads her astray for her to believe that he loves her, even though he does not, resulting in her death. When Daisy does not show up to Gatsby’s funeral, she proves to her cousin that she is nothing but childish. Based on the outcomes of the careless actions of these

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The view of the American Dream is different for everyone. The Epic Journey, by James Truslow Adams, views the American Dream as a dream of attaining one’s fullest stature regardless of one’s social status. Similarly, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s American Dream relates to Adam’s dream but limited to materialistic wealth- a dream that seeks for motor cars, higher wages, and to impress the people of high status. Both Adams and Gatsby believe that everyone has an equal chance of achieving their dream. Adams says “The dream is that dream of land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”.

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Knowing that Daisy is the true reason behind Myrtle 's death tom did not want to put her in harm 's way because she was his wife and person he wanted to spend his life with. Tom could not bare to go through what george was going through so he lied to protect his love, Daisy. Love was not the only motivator for action, there was also money. Money was a motivator for action for many characters throughout this novel, but the person most driven by money was the Great Gatsby himself. James Gatsby, or Jay Gatz was not wealthy growing up like every other person he surrounded himself with.

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The novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitz Gerald embodies many themes. A major in the story is the pursuit of can be labelled the American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes and a happy family symbolizes the American dream. The Great Gatsby shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons.

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Myrtle is married to George Wilson, an old, boring man. Tom does not try very hard to hide his affair, except from his wife. He takes Myrtle out and shows her off to his friends, including Nick. Daisy, knowing of her husband’s affair without telling him, feels no guilt in her affair with Gatsby. The book comes to a climax when Gatsby attends a get together with Tom, Daisy, Nick, and Jordan in New York.

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The American dream is an illusion that is deeply implanted in the minds of the people, it sets a bar for life achievement and offers hope to work hard to achieve their dreams. As for Americans, they are raised in a society to where they are expected to make lots money and to have a healthy family. After all in our society success is largely based off positions of power and financial stability. For example, in The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there were multiple interpretations of the ideal American dream in the 1920s. In the 1920s, due to the growth of materialism, people advertised and fancied the power of money to fulfilling their dreams.

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The Great Gatsby, written in 1924 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, in my opinion, focused on the American Dream and the problems with that vision. In contrast to all the other themes of the book, it seemed to be rather uplifting on the surface but when you look into the details it can paint a pretty disgusting picture of the American Dream in the 1920’s chiefly and the American Dream for all Americans throughout time in general. In the following, I will be discussing the American Dream in a whole over the course of the entire novel, using a specific quotation, and focusing on Gatsby. As we focus on the American Dream in the Great Gatsby, we must look in general across the entire book. We really first start to see foreshadowing to this theme in the second Chapter with George Wilson and Myrtle Wilson, one making a living as a mechanic/gas station operator, the other making money by being in an affair with Tom respectively.

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Gatsby is not the only one with twisted views as a result of unfaithfulness. Myrtle, George’s wife, is cheating on George with Tom in the book made clear here, “Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He 's so dumb he doesn 't know he 's alive" (26). George suspects the cheating, but never truly discovers what is going on before she dies.

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Gatsby represents the American Dream throughout the story, he works hard towards rewarding achievements but is let down, because others would rather have money, power, and society’s approval. Jay Gatsby grew up in a poor family from North Dakota. As a farm child he worked hard and followed the American dream. He wanted to escape the poor farm life and make a name for himself. He wanted to be someone that was looked up to by others.

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