Jay Gatsby And The American Dream

180 Words1 Pages
The Oxford dictionary defines the “American novel” as a novel that shows the culture of the United States at a specific time in history. A true American novel encompasses the true dream of those living in America at that particular time. Some of these themes included man’s relationship with nature such as Tarzan, written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Other criteria of these novels are, racial and class issues, a change of moral, danger, a quest for betterment, not fitting in, and a journey. In the 1920’s, Jay Gatsby’s American Dream was to become a wealthy, mysterious heroine obsessed with love. The American Dream changes over the centuries as customs, fads, food, and fashion change. Today, the American Dream mostly centers around economic gain.