ipl-logo

Dreams In The Great Gatsby And When I Was Puerto Rican

1054 Words5 Pages

As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Dreams are an absolute necessity in life–not only is it a path of guidance, but also the backbone of one’s motivation, ambition, and goals. Not having a dream is like solving a traceless murder or following an invisible shadow. Dreams are fueled by the pursuit of love, the pursuit of a better future, and the pursuit of an identity, as seen in the novels of The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath, and the memoir of When I Was Puerto Rican. Set in the Jazz Age of The Roaring Twenties in Long Island, New York, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby explores the theme of love and the actions fueled by love. During this time, World War I had permanently changed modern life, inspiring the younger generation to have a live-for-now mentality, an acute awareness …show more content…

Thus, characters in the novel seek pleasure above all else, as seen through the relationships of Tom and Daisy and Jordan and Nick. For Jay Gatsby, his heart belongs to the married Daisy Buchanan and he longs to reignite the fire that once blazed between the two lovers. Gatsby, who was once a penniless soldier and lover to Buchanan, had been absent in Buchanan’s life for five years, but reappears as a self-made millionaire. Gatsby illegally sold alcohol to become rich and did this solely to win back Buchanan’s love. He gloats his affluence to her by throwing extravagant parties and flaunting his luxuries Out of love, Gatsby goes above and beyond to win back Daisy’s love. He even keeps a scrapbook of memorabilia of Daisy, "'Look at this,' said Gatsby quickly. 'Here's a lot of clippings--about you.' They stood side by side examining it" (Fitzgerald 74). Gatsby wants nothing more than the confirmation that

Show More
Related
1457 Words | 6 Pages

Even though Daisy hasn’t seen Gatsby in five years, she still has a love for him deep down in her. Daisy’s more for money over love and her husband Tom inherited money from his own family which was past down

Read More
957 Words | 4 Pages

After realizing he lost her love when he came back from war, he devoted his whole life to winning her back, and reviving the relationship and feelings they used to have for each other. For example he, committed himself to the sense of obtaining and having money, which used to be his real dream, before he met Daisy. The problem was Gatsby wanted a lot of money fast, so instead of being a true honest gentleman, Gatsby received his money through selling liquor illegally, and teaming up with the con, “Meyer Wolfshiem”. Gatsby's intense desire also drove him to acquire a house presently near Daisy and Tom’s home, a place where Gatsby can gaze and praise from. Then Gatsby starts to throw very popular parties in hopes that Daisy may notice and come to one, but she never does.

Read More
1621 Words | 7 Pages

F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, explores the idea of the pursuit of dreams and the unattainable desire to recreate the past. People everywhere are motivated by similar dreams that give them meaning to the things they do. Gatsby builds his life around his dreams and they shape his identity while also holding him back from true greatness. He is obsessed with this dream and like many people, can only see that it won’t work out after he has already devoted so much to it.

Read More
144 Words | 1 Pages

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, "The Great Gatsby," the characters of Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan stand as stark contrasts in the social tapestry of the Roaring Twenties. Both men inhabit the glittering world of wealth and excess, yet their origins, motivations, and moral compasses diverge significantly. This essay will delve into the intricate similarities and profound differences between Gatsby and Tom, exploring the thematic nuances that shape their characters. Despite the pervasive negative portrayal of Tom Buchanan throughout the narrative, an intriguing question arises: why does Daisy, caught between the allure of Gatsby's romantic idealism and the stability of Tom's old money security, choose to remain entwined with the latter?

Read More
162 Words | 1 Pages

Jay Gatsby is obsessed in winning back his long lost love Daisy Buchanan and does not allow for anything or anyone to come in his way of regaining her love. Gatsby is so fixated by his lust and need for Daisy, that he follows the corrupted American Dream. When he returns from his service he pursues his first part of his dream, wealth, through shady schemes alongside his new partner Meyer Wolfsheim and disregards all sentiments of wrongdoings. He quickly becomes a new man. After his success in gaining wealth becomes a reality; the next dream is being worthy of Daisy’s love once more.

Read More
743 Words | 3 Pages

Another example of his lasting love for Daisy Buchanan is when they reunite at Nick Carraway's house, per Gatsby’s demanding request. Gatsby, understandably nervous, is “pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pocket” (Fitzgerald 86). Though he's lived just across the bay from Daisy, it’s been years since they’ve had any interaction. Anxious as ever, he likely would’ve never anticipated the awkwardness that's yet to come. He’s always hoped in the back of his mind that Daisy would have carried him in her memories like he did with her.

Read More
455 Words | 2 Pages

From the surface, F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic, The Great Gatsby, avowed as the Great American Novel, presents itself as a story of hindered love, much like a Jazz Age Romeo and Juliet. While some components of the story revolve around love, at its core, the novel encapsulates an unquenchable yearning for the past and a poignant exploration of the American Dream's transience. The novel’s conclusion delves far back into the past; beyond the towers of Gatsby’s mansion he built to catch Daisy’s attention and beyond the red, white, and blue of the American flag, a “fresh, green breast of the new world” (180) awaits exploration. The land that “flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes” is the pinnacle of the American dream, with limitless potential and boundless echoes of success.

Read More
1564 Words | 7 Pages

He undertook this outgrowth of character because his ultimate intention was to obtain this idea of Daisy that he curated when they had first met. This notion that Gatsby had to look and act a certain way came from what he believes is standard and perfect in Daisy’s eyes. Gatsby’s outlook on life is based not only on what he believes, but also what his society believes. Even though Daisy and Gatsby were involved romantically in the past, he needs a way to captivate her once more and compel her to deem him worthy. During the tour of his West Egg mansion, Gatsby eagerly gives Daisy and Nick, Nick noticed that Gatsby “hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy”(Fitzgerald 91).

Read More
1984 Words | 8 Pages

Have you ever wondered about the impactful insight of how fantasies and human dreams shifted throughout history? The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel narrated by Nick Carraway, a character who narrates a story in New York in the 1920s about Jay Gatsby. More specifically, Jay Gatsby’s long journey trying to achieve his dream of being with Daisy Buchanan, as well as all of the factors impacting Jay Gatsby’s life. Furthermore, in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses characters to illustrate how he believes human hopes and dreams have lost their significance and modernized to the overall desire for wealth, social status, and self-pleasure. He is a force that strives people to pursue that dream; the impact of that strive is

Read More
1478 Words | 6 Pages

Gatsby begins as a small and poor young boy whose love and affection for Daisy Buchanan could not be achieved without having money. Gatsby thus strives to have a cumulative mass of fortunes acquired through crime such as drug dealing. Gatsby engages in these activities to gain wealth as a way to boost the affection towards Daisy Buchanan. The lavish and extravagant life is evident from the lavish parties that he holds in the extravagant mansion near Nick’s small house. Gatsby thinks that with great riches, it will be easy to win Daisy.

Read More
903 Words | 4 Pages

You have affairs going on, all that juicy drama. Nonetheless, there's a sad story of people seeking things that don't bring them joy under all that enjoyment. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's “The Great Gatsby”, big parties and luxurious living set the mood for a deeper exploration of how people feel and act. Characters attempt to realize their aspirations in the story, but they are faced with the American Dream's good and bad aspects. In “The Great Gatsby”, Fitzgerald reveals how chasing the American

Read More
1332 Words | 6 Pages

In F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby, as Jay Gatsby delves into his pursuit of wealth and need for materialism, his hopes and aspirations become shattered in a world of unobtainable and unreachable possibilities. While Jay Gatsby confidently believes that material excess will ultimately bring about love, admiration, and prosperity, the audience understands that the possession of material objects does not always lead to the possession of these intangible virtues. The richest and happiest man is the one who sets the joy and happiness of others in the center of his wealth. As Jay Gatsby dedicates himself to winning over Daisy Buchanan and falls in love with her aura of luxury, Gatsby becomes overwhelmed with an unremitting desire for money and pleasure that eventually triggers his downfall. He has one purpose in life: to attract Daisy with his ornate house on West Egg and with his overflowing sum of money.

Read More
1133 Words | 5 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is a reflection of the American Dream. Written in 1925, the book tells the story of a man named Jay Gatsby, whose main driving force in life is the pursuit of a woman called Daisy Buchanan. The narrator is Gatsby’s observant next-door neighbor, Nick Carraway, who offers a fresh, outsider’s perspective on the events; the action takes place in New York during the so-called Roaring Twenties. By 1922, when The Great Gatsby takes place, the American Dream had little to do with Providence divine and a great deal to do with feelings organized around style and personal changed – and above all, with the unexamined self .

Read More
1873 Words | 8 Pages

The characters in the novel pretend that they have their lives all figured out, but through their successes their downfalls and emptiness can be seen, to prove that money cannot buy happiness. Jay Gatsby is the newest and upcoming star in New York during the 1920’s. Through his business and inheritance he is one of the richest men of his time. One may think that his abundance of wealth would lead him to be eternally happy, but he is the opposite. Gatsby longs for his love of Daisy, which is his personal American Dream.

Read More
2355 Words | 10 Pages

As American business man, Richard M. Devos, once said, “Money cannot buy peace of mind. It cannot heal ruptured relationships, or build meaning into a life that has none.” In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott, Fitzgerald, Daisy, an elite socialite, is blinded by dollar signs and makes multiple decisions based on class, ultimately leading to the destruction of those who she claims to love, and without a doubt love and idolize her. Jay Gatsby has been in love with Daisy for five years, and supposedly she is with him, but she’s too impatient to wait for Gatsby while he is at war and decides to marry an arrogant, racist, and rude former college football star, Tom Buchanan, for money. Daisy is a self-absorbed, vacuous socialite whose decisions lead to the destruction of Gatsby.

Read More

More about Dreams In The Great Gatsby And When I Was Puerto Rican

Related Topics

Open Document