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Great Gatsby Opinions

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Through studying and analysing F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel of ‘The Great Gatsby’, I have come to a conclusion that Gatsby’s insistence on achieving the American Dream kills him because Fitzgerald wants to show the reader that it is unachievable. Through reading other critical opinions on Gatsby’s insistence on the American Dream, I came to a realisation and discovered not all critics came to the same understanding and thoughts as my initial hypothesis. The critics I assessed had similar and different points of view and their opinions varied through time. The three critics opinions I used and analysed were Roger L. Pearson (1970), John A. Pidgeon (2007) and Kathryn Schulz (2013).

According to Pearson (1970) the American Dream is a reoccuring …show more content…

Nick Carraway moved to New York to seek his fortune in the bond business. He rents a cottage on Long Island, next to a very wealthy man: Jay Gatsby, known far and wide for his extravagant parties. Gradually, we learn that Gatsby was born into poverty, and that everything he has acquired - wealth, house and lifestyle - is designed to attract the attention of his first love: the beautiful Daisy, and by chance Nick’s cousin. Daisy loved Gatsby but married Tom Buchanan, who is unpleasant, and having an affair with a married working-class woman named Myrtle. Thanks to Nick, Gatsby and Daisy reunite, but she does not want to leave Tom and while racing back home in Gatsby’s car, kills Myrtle in a hit-and-run. Her husband, believing that Gatsby was the killer, tracks him to his mansion and shoots …show more content…

This revolt imparted the idea that man and God were not separate entities, but one. Therefore it was an essential that each individual should behave as a individual in order to represent faithfully the elements of God within him. “The Puritan wealth/goodness concept gave Americans a goal to pursue; our political philosophy freed us to pursue this goal, and Transcendentalism showed men that they, as individuals, were to lead the way” (2007. pg,

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1457 Words | 6 Pages

“Narrator Nick Carraway tells the story of a summer among the wealthy and privileged; a stockbroker of limited means, Nick socializes with his cousin Daisy and her wealthy husband Tom Buchanan (with whom Nick graduated from Yale); Daisy’s girlhood friend, professional golfer Jordan Baker; and his Long Island neighbor, Jay Gatsby, a host of raucous parties in the fictitious “West Egg.” Nick, Jordan, Gatsby, and Daisy plot to have Daisy leave Tom for Gatsby. The plan is thwarted when Tom’s mistress Myrtle is killed by Gatsby’s car (driven, Nick believes, by Daisy), an event that leads her husband, Tom’s mechanic, George, to murder Gatsby. As narrator, Nick is less focused on this romance plot than on Gatsby himself and what Gatsby can teach him about his own situation. Nick has come East, he tells us at the start of the novel, to learn the bond business; later he indicates that he’s also in New York so that he may enjoy the company of men and to escape the increasing social expectations back in the Midwest, where he is being cajoled to marry.

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874 Words | 4 Pages

He ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog and never even stopped the car” (187). Tom hates Gatsby for killing Myrtle, but little does he know that the real murderer is his wife. After this much time has

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716 Words | 3 Pages

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, he captures the alluring niche of the American Dream. Fitzgerald delves into the Roaring Twenties, exploring the era’s instability and immersion in greed and pleasure. In his novel, he reflects personal events and experiences being lower class along with his desire to attain wealth for the means of happiness. Presented through his cast of characters and the realities they face, Fitzgerald criticizes the American Dream. Pairing symbolism and diction, he demonstrates the tragic tales following the glamorized American Dream as a result of the extent individuals resort to in order to achieve this ideal.

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289 Words | 2 Pages

Nick Carraway has idealized Gatsby, but the irony lies in his statement that Gatsby turned out fine, which is far from reality. At the beginning of the book, Nick portrays Gatsby in a positive light and idolizes him prematurely based on rumours, revealing his misconception before truly understanding Gatsby's character. As the story progresses to its conclusion, it becomes evident that George Wilson is the one who shoots Gatsby. George, under the mistaken belief that he had caused Myrtle's death, takes action by shooting Gatsby. In this situation, Daisy was behind the wheel, and Gatsby attempted to avert the accident by taking control of the steering wheel, but the events unfolded rapidly.

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1327 Words | 6 Pages

There are numerous differences between today’s society and society from 100 years ago; nevertheless, Fitzgerald’s vision of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby is similar to today’s ideals of the famous fantasy. While the dream can come from inherited wealth, the reality is it generally comes from working hard to become successful. Based on the analysis of The Great

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2060 Words | 9 Pages

George hunts Gatsby down and shoots him, and then shoots himself. After all this, Nick arranges Gatsby’s funeral, breaks up with Jordan, and moves back out west to escape the

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321 Words | 2 Pages

Canto XXXIII was very sad and tragic. Some of the themes were revenge, betrayal, and food. Ruggieri, an archbishop was betrayed by Count Ugolino. Ugolino betrayed his country and was forced out. To get revenge, Ruggieri persuaded the Pisans to go against Ugolino and lead him to a trap.

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810 Words | 4 Pages

The ‘American Dream’, at its core, is an idealistic belief that anyone, regardless of their background or circumstance, can achieve great success in life through hard work alone. It’s now regarded as a national disillusionment, and yet it still pushes the consumerist and materialistic ideals of America. This is something that is commented on and critiqued in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”. Fitzgerald’s novel, published in 1925, follows the perspective of Nick Carraway, who serves as both a narrator and witness of the story's events and a foil to two other characters, Gatsby and his love, Daisy. Gatsby and Daisy personify the American Dream, with Gatsby being the pinochle of a ‘self-made man’.

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418 Words | 2 Pages

This shows that though the American dream is still alive within the people and their hopes and ambitions, it has been influenced by

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1557 Words | 7 Pages

Nick Carraway, however, sees Daisy as who she truly is. Formerly the sweet girl who loved Gatsby in Louisville, Daisy will never desert her social class in the East Egg to be with Gatsby of West Egg. Gatsby takes off his rose-colored glasses and realizes the past cannot be repeated. “Only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible” (Fitzgerald, 134) He faces reality in chapter seven, when Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby and proves her real nature. Unfortunately for Gatsby, he is unable to create a better life for himself without Daisy before getting murdered a few days after his epiphany.

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558 Words | 3 Pages

Coming from nothing at all, to a world renowned figure, Jay Gatsby’s story is a tragic one. He was a self-made millionaire who tried to have everything he wanted yet was not successful. After World War 1, America promised many opportunities and success for people willing to work hard: the American Dream. However, this dream was very corrupt and didn’t lead to true happiness. Through the four characters of Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, and Dan Cody, Fitzgerald expresses how the American Dream is attainable to anyone however it does not guarantee satisfaction through various rhetorical devices.

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1018 Words | 5 Pages

You’ve probably heard the saying, “You get what you pay for.” I have found that to be generally true. Most of the more expensive items that I’ve purchased over the years have served me well. I’m thinking of clothes that have worn like iron and tools that have been through many homeowner wars and just keep on working. No doubt, you can probably think of some good examples too.

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1508 Words | 7 Pages

Furthermore it has a great deal of people who scrutinize it. With this in mind it is puzzling to see the majority of the readers and critics that remain ignorant to the fascinating way that Fitzgerald can distinguish his slightly obscured, but still straightforward, distasteful views towards the American dream. Marius Bewley, “contends that Fitzgerald, through The Great Gatsby, offers up a rather harsh critique of the American Dream and not merely a ‘pastoral documentary of the Jazz Age’ as is often suggested”(“Bewley”). In other words, Fitzgerald does a splendid job making his thoughts on the American dream both obvious and hidden at the same time. But his thoughts are no doubt, not in favor of the rest of his generation..

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1218 Words | 5 Pages

The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis “They were careless people…” says Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby. In a story depicting the 1920s during a time of prosperity, growth, and the emergence of the America as a major global power, this statement may seem to be contrary. But in reality, Nick Carraway’s description of his friends and the people he knew, was not only true, but is an indication of those who were striving for the American dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream is foolish, the people who pursue it are immoral and reckless, and this pursuit is futile. First, F. Scott Fitzgerald proposes that the American dream is foolish.

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1931 Words | 8 Pages

After finding out that Gatsby gets his money through illegal activities, she then decides to not leave her husband for him. Daisy

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