Examples Of Disillusionment In The Great Gatsby

The American Dream is a concept that has been integral to the fabric of American society for centuries. It is the idea that through hard work and determination, anyone can achieve success and prosperity in the United States. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald explores this theme through the story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire who has seemingly achieved the American Dream. However, as the novel unfolds, the reader comes to realize that the American Dream is not as attainable as it may seem, and that it is often accompanied by corruption, deceit, and a sense of disillusionment. Jay Gatsby, along with multiple other characters in the novel exemplify aspects of this concept, their lives illuminating the fictitious reality

His outrageous parties are thrown in hopes that Daisy will one day attend and rediscover her feelings for Gatsby. Yet despite his efforts to prove his status and success, Gatsby unfortunately could never be on the same level as Daisy, or the other elite of society. In academic journal, “The disillusionment of F. Scott Fitzgerald's dreams and ideals in The Great Gatsby,” Fahimeh Keshmiri explains that, “The Great Gatsby is an extremely symbolic deliberation in 1920s America, particularly the dissolution of the American dream in an era of wealth. Gatsby is the personification of this dream. A disadvantaged farm boy is a prosperous man now. He has gained extraordinary wealth in a few years, but he is never really one of the privileged and his dream is just a frontage” (Keshmiri 7). Contrary to the American dream’s concept of endless possibility and success, Gatsby’s story shows the impossibility of escaping certain circumstances. Gatsby wants more than anything to be part of the elite and wealthy, but unfortunately can never fit into the exclusive society because he was not born into it like the rest of them. The reality is that although Gatsby refuses to see it, there are limitations to dreams, and the American dream is not as realistic as it seems. In, “The Doomed Dreamer”, Jesmyn Ward asserts “that the very social class that embodied the dream Gatsby wanted for himself was predicated on exclusion. That Gatsby was doomed from the start. He'd been born on the outside; he would die on the outside” (Ward 8). Gatsby’s dreams of status and superiority that he was chasing to attract Daisy were impossible to achieve. The author of the article points out that the upper class America is based on exclusion, and the idea of “superiority” that Gatsby desired, but is unattainable by works. Instead you must