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Corruption In The Great Gatsby Essay

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Prompt: The Great Gatsby concerns the corruption of the American Dream. Write a character analysis of Jay Gatsby’s life. Where and how did his dreams “go wrong”? In each of your three main body paragraphs, discuss his character traits and the social influences that contributed to his downfall. Also explain what message Fitgerald conveys about the values of the modern American Dream
American Dream and Unfulfilling Reality

The American Dream, one that is overly perceived and hardly achieved. The idea that anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, or class, can reach success in society. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the narrator, Nick Carraway, guides the story through the ups and downs of Gatsby's journey to achieve the …show more content…

Gatsby‘s American Dream was to obtain his former lover Daisy Buchan. His main motivations and ambitions come from his unsophisticated belief that he can repeat the past he had with Daisy five years ago. Gatsby can be perceived as naïve as he has a difficult time understanding that many changes occur in five years and he cannot just pick up where he left off. Nick even warns Gatsby, “You can’t repeat the past,” and Gatsby replies, “Why of course you can!” (Fitzgerald 69). Even after being given a clear warning, Gatsby is persistent and continues to follow through with his stubbornness. He fails to see that he may be mistaken and will not come to terms with the thought that Daisy has moved on. This ignorance eventually guides him to failure as he pushes for something that no longer exists. His thinking is unreasonable as he is disconnected from the reality of time that exists in the relationship he strives …show more content…

It turns out Jay Gatsby, living the luxurious and glamorous life, did it all and only for the one person he yearned for, Daisy. Gatsby believed in the ideology that money can buy everything. Gatsby’s mansion, the antiques, luxuries, beautiful shirts, and yellow Rolls-Royce, each, and everyone purchased with the hope that it would pull her closer to him. Jordan tells Nick, “But it wasn’t a coincidence at all… Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay… He wants her to see his house,” (Fitzgerald 52). Initially, when Gatsby bought his mansion, it was out of hope that one day Daisy would see his glorious mansion, and fall in love with him again. In the 2013 Great Gatsby Movie, the party at Gatsby’s house ends with Gatsby telling Nick, “It’s so hard to make her understand. I've gotten all these things for her and now she just wants to run away. She even wants to leave that [pointing to his mansion].” Even after Daisy has seen all these lavish materials he has put out in front of her, he is not able to win her over. His focus on material love, ultimately led to his downfall as he ended up sacrificing and devoting his entire life to something unreachable. Gatsby could be viewed as materialistic as he failed to notice that money cannot buy a person, nor

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