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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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“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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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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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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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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