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Analyzing The American Dream In 'The Great Gatsby'

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The Great Gatsby Final Essay
The American dream is defined as “ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative”. Langston Hughes once wrote, “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly”. Hughes is explaining how you must hold onto your dream before they die and try to go after it. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, you see that most character has a dream or goal of his or her own. Despite if the dream is small, big, or unrealistic, a dream is still a dream. Characters such as Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jay Gatsby had some crazy dreams that hurt them in the long run. Everyone has a different American Dream, but sadly Daisy, Myrtle, and Gatsby’s American Dream failed. …show more content…

Her American Dream is love, wealth, happiness, and a good image. We find out that she got all that from Tom at first but finds out Tom has been cheating on her and she knew about it. “She might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time. Don’t you think?” (page 15). We see that Daisy is unhappy despite everything she has. She doesn't love Tom like she made people believe. In the 1920’s, a lot of girls married for money and status. Daisy married Tom for his status. Everyone knows about Tom and his wealth. “.....for instance, he’d brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest.”(page 6). She was not in love with Tom the way she loved Gatsby. She married Tom for the money and status instead of just waiting for Gatsby to return. She later reconnects with Gatsby and realizes that she could have had everything with him. “They’re such beautiful shirts, it makes me sad because I’ve never seen such – such beautiful shirts before.” (page 92). Her rushing into a marriage for wealth and status has caused her this

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Daisy left her true love to be with someone who would provide her with a wealthy life full of materialistic wonders. “She wanted her life shaped now, immediately – and the decision must be made by some force – of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality – that was close at hand.” (158 Fitzgerald) Daisy did not necessarily marry Tom for love, even though she may have loved him once, but she married him for his money and security. The only thing that Tom and Daisy shad in common was money, this is what brought them together and ultimately lead to Daisy chasing after Tom instead of waiting for Gatsby. Daisy loved the idea of Tom, rather that genuinely being in love with him.

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An American writer and historian, James Adams, claimed the American Dream is “ a life that should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability and achievement.” The American Dream is an ideal and belief that a person can achieve success and power if they work hard enough. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby, the author explores the American dream through the use of relationships and unrealistic expectations. He shows how the American Dream can become an illusion for many and can corrupt and destroy lives.

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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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Everyone has dreams of their desired future, the only thing they dream of is the only thing they do not have. The American Dream is the hope for happiness, success, and money that someone has. For most people, the dream is based only upon living a greater and higher standard in life. In the catastrophic novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald created Gatsby as a character who became outstanding. He began his life as a lower-class, ordinary, citizen and had to work his way up to being wealthy without help from his family.

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