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Individualism In The Great Gatsby

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Modern day interpretation of the American Dream

There are multiple different interpretations and views on the American Dream, these interpretations tend to shift into a modern-day understanding of a life of comfort and differ from Fitzgerald's vision of this dream as displayed in “The Great Gatsby”. The core idea of the American Dream has altered over the course of the last century, the concept of becoming wealthy and the craving for materialism has shifted into a dream which rather incorporates love, interpersonal relationships, and moral values.
The focus of the original American dream has shifted into multiple different interpretations, among these interpretations, the general sense of loving and education wins popularity. Different …show more content…

This means that the American dream as it was, in the US does not exist anymore. People tend to alternate more than in the past which leads to a shift in vision and financial dreams, as stated by “The new American dream”. The American dream is not something that someone should strive for as it resembles wrong core values which are being displayed through money. In addition, people are more educated and find what they want to pursue through church and their digital devices. Not only does this display how Americans should shift their focus from the old American dream, in order to focus on actual core values in …show more content…

Even though these are overcome, they do not pose equality for every individual. This is stated by an American journalist in her speech The new American Dream, in which she explains how the dream is not something that one should strive for as it represents wrong core values. Economic companies tend to lean towards the wealthy, for tax cuts which may worsen earnings and wealth inequality and make it more difficult for individuals with a low income. Individuals that come from wealthier households have better access to job, general education, and other key factors that play major roles in the accumulation of wealth. It is more difficult for individuals who are born into low-income families to gain upward mobility. Nevertheless, there are countless examples of individuals that were born in poverty and managed to become one of the wealthiest humans not only in the United States but also in the whole

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President Barack Obama writes a very informative article on the subject of inequality within the article, “A Fundamental Threat to the American Dream”. President Obama’s goal is to inform the audience about the inequality between those who are born into rich families compared to the middle and under class families. He starts by comparing statistics of economic growth between the rich and the poor in 1979, the year he graduated high school, to the current year the article was written. Between these two dates, economic growth has been tipped to benefit the rich. With newer technology, it has caused the the size of the labor force to decrease and the wealth gap to increase.

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Many people in America, if not all people, strive to live the American Dream, but what exactly is the American Dream? In his novel, “The Great Gatsby”, F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates to us that the American Dream is really only just a dream, which can never truly be attained through his use of corrupt characters. Fitzgerald uses old money vs new money to show us that people aren’t content with what they have, instead they have hatred for one another. He further goes to show that people can have everything but are incapable of filling the empty void they still have. Fitzgerald also describes the secretive and corrupt lives that many of the characters live, showing us that people can have a secretive, immoral side within themselves.

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The American Dream is similar to the ideals of The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, because today we do not have steady employment, it is unrealistic to those with different circumstances, the dream can be reachable through hard work, and the dream varies for people. People still struggle to find opportunities of employment and

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The wealthy continue to grow as they get more of everything and the lower class continue to get less. The average wealth has increased over the last 50 years, but it has not grown equally for all. “ Families near the bottom of the wealth distribution (those at the 10th percentile) went from having no wealth on average to being

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1712 Words | 7 Pages

The American dream is much more than what meets the eye When people think of the American dream, their heads automatically go to the novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby is famously known for its portrayal of the American dream and it has become the stereotypical story for every American dreamer. It has done many wonders in American literature; however, people are starting to forget that it is all solely fictional and to not strive for their lifestyles. They also seem to forget the true nature of the American dream and its powerful significance of it. The critically acclaimed Novel, The Great Gatsby does not portray the real American dream because modern society has changed its expectations.

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Nonetheless, the economy has not only conveyed both Gatsby and the modern American dream on the surface, but they also share the same values. Even though Fitzgerald's American Dream depicts a few more distinct aspects of the American dream, the standards for achieving the American dream are established in a modern context as the contemporary interpretation. 63% of young adults aged 18 to 34 believe the American dream is a pipe dream, according to Source E. Making dreams accessible to everyone is one of the most important aspects of being eligible to set a standard for them. If a large proportion of the population believes it is impossible to achieve, then the bar has been raised. According to source A, The Great Gatsby's pursuit

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776 Words | 4 Pages

Several people may assume that selfishness is both unhealthy and wrong. A selfish person usually puts his own needs before the needs of other people. Selfish people need to be able to draw the line between when they need to worry about themselves, or when they should be concerned about other people. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the view of Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, it is evident that the nature of man is showing selfishness through cruelty, greed, and manipulation. Cruelty is just one way that the nature of man shows selfishness.

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842 Words | 4 Pages

Scott Fitzgerald would say that the American dream is a concept that you can achieve greatness or better circumstances by any means that you can. Also, the real dream is not riches because then people would become reckless, but the real goal is to reach ultimate happiness. He would say this because when people desire for something they are not, they go to measures the affect others and the outcomes are not often positive. The novel and Gatsby’s story show that the failure of achieving his dreams proves the the foolishness of short-cutting the dream by corruption without hard work, integrity, or real love. Fitzgerald’s version of the American dream would say that all have the ability to gain more success with hard work and being true to yourself.

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The view of the American Dream is different for everyone. The Epic Journey, by James Truslow Adams, views the American Dream as a dream of attaining one’s fullest stature regardless of one’s social status. Similarly, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s American Dream relates to Adam’s dream but limited to materialistic wealth- a dream that seeks for motor cars, higher wages, and to impress the people of high status. Both Adams and Gatsby believe that everyone has an equal chance of achieving their dream. Adams says “The dream is that dream of land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”.

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Kids in low income families tend to go to low quality schools and are not able to go to college. This causes the workforce as a whole to be less productive. Now here is the real mind-bender. “As income inequality grows, more and more resources are concentrated in the hands of the wealthiest. So, the idea goes, the wealthiest are better able to steer policies in directions that protect inequality at the expense of growth.”

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Gatsby Thematic Essay In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, lots of connections are drawn through various thematic subjects presented in this novel. One of these connections is between love, wealth, and social status, which are all very prominent subjects within The Great Gatsby. The relationships between various characters within the pages of this written work make one message very apparent: Love can be regarded as flimsy and deceitful when it is dictated by one’s wealth and social status.

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‘A Sense of Self’ Essay A Sense of Self is a unique quality that differs from one person to another and yet may involve multiple identities. Explore the extent to which the protagonists in the texts you have studied appear to possess one or more identities. Refer closely to the texts in developing your response. This essay will revolve around four main texts, namely ‘The Great Gatsby’, ‘Twelfth Night’, ‘New Selected Poems’ and ‘The Lost Continent’ by Scott Fitzgerald, William Shakespeare, Carol Ann Duffy and Bill Bryson respectively. ‘The Great Gatsby’ is a highly symbolic meditation of America in the 1920s.

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The novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitz Gerald embodies many themes. A major in the story is the pursuit of can be labelled the American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes and a happy family symbolizes the American dream. The Great Gatsby shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons.

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Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is the author of the twentieth century American classic, The Great Gatsby. It is a story of the American dream, settled down in the 1920’s, with issues of the time period being, prohibition, women, class structure, crime, and many more, The Great Gatsby has a taste of each. Fitzgerald incorporated subjects of his time and his very own experiences into the story to portray an era of social and moral values. The 1920’s were a time of breaking morals Class structure and wealth were among the highest pleasures achievable. The 20’s were an era of Jazz; with extravagant music playing throughout all hours of the night.

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As the novel progresses, and the extent of the materialistic behavior of each character increases, the imagery of decaying flowers becomes increasingly more prevalent. Decay is analogous with death and the end of something magnificent, while flowers continue to symbolize love. In The Great Gatsby, the horrific assassin of romance is materialistic yearnings. This concept is presented extremely clearly in Nick’s comparison of a young Daisy to an older version of herself. While describing how immensely Daisy missed Gatsby while he was away at war it states, “Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids” (Fitzgerald 151).

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