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Argumentive essays
Bridging the gap in argumentative essay
Argumentative essays
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Rolls Royce's pulling up on driveways, pink suits, ravishing gardens, and parties that go from sundown to sunrise; this is Jay Gatsby’s life. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald Gatsby seems to have everything figured out, he lives the highlife. Gatsby though, is an enigma to all, but one thing that is known is that Gatsby doesn’t struggle with a divide between his power of wealth and his dream of being with Daisy, instead he uses his power to get his dream, and Gatsby comes to stand for America itself, in the American Dream. Money equals power and with power comes opportunities, in Gatsby's case this also applies. Gatsby uses his power of enormous wealth to achieve his dream of being with Daisy, leaving no divide between the two.
The Great Gatsby shows Fitzgerald’s view and portrayal of the effect of money on people’s lives. Fitzgerald implies that being wealthy can lead to many great things but that money is everything but happiness and even with Gatsby’s wealth and imaginative mind, he still can not satisfy the image of Daisy since she nor any other women could ever be the girl who he desires. (Durkin). Gatsby wishes that his wealth would bring him the happiness and satisfaction he desires but instead brings him to his deathbed.
It has long been said that money can’t buy happiness, but still people continue to use it’s acquisition to try to make themselves happy. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the title character struggles with this realization. The book is set in New York during the ‘Roaring 20’s’, a time famous for its parties and lavishness. The book examines the attitudes toward money within the upper particularly through the lense of the new-money title character, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby dedicated his life to the acquisition of money with the goal of eventually acquiring the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan.
Those who desire wealth often build an invalid image of themselves that masks their true identity. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a prosperous man, Jay Gatsby, moves to the West Egg community to live in a new, wealthy home in New York during the 1920s. Gatsby fantasizes about a past relationship, involving a woman named Daisy Buchannan, trying to earn her love. While Gatsby is in desperate measures trying to create a connection with Daisy, he finds himself in some trouble due to his obsessive acts. Gatsby uses his wealth and dishonesty as a manipulative tool just to achieve his dream of winning Daisy.
We have all been guilty of wanting more, when we already have plenty. Whether it’s another piece of cake, a fourth pair of converse, or a few extra phone covers, we don’t consciously think about everything we’ve accumulated in the short span of our lives. Instead, we think ‘why not?’ and add it into our collection of stuff. But does buying more, owning more, and having more, necessarily guarantee happiness?
How does having money lead to material gain? In the Roaring Twenties, people from all social classes suddenly became aware of the class differences. This awareness is a result of the jump on the Stock Market and the World War1. There were clear distinctions among social classes according to location, amount of material possessions and the way one acted. Fitzgerald explains these differences by giving the characters in his novel the Great Gatsby different social classes and he also shows these social divisions in the way the characters behave.
In his novel The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald shows the rich elite's obsession with wealth and their inability to overcome the past. Gatsby's lavish parties and pursuit of Daisy represent his delusion about recapturing what he once had with Daisy. Daisy's marriage to Tom exemplifies her rush of status and wealth over actual love. Although Gatsby has all this money, he feels alone. The author depicts the consequences of dwelling on the past and not enjoying the present through the lens of wealth and status.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald characterizes the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values. One of the major themes explored in this novel is the Hollowness of the Upper Class. The entire book revolves around money including power and little love. Coincidentally the three main characters of the novel belong to the upper class and throughout the novel Fitzgerald shows how this characters have become corrupted and have lost their morality due to excess money and success and this has led them to change their perspective towards other people and they have been portrayed as short-sighted to what is important in life. First of all, we have the main character of this novel, Gatsby who won’t stop at nothing to become rich overnight in illegal dealings with mobsters such as Wolfsheim in order to conquer Daisy’s heart.”
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald is very meticulous on how the novel is shown as more satirical rather than romantic. The visionary of the American Dream is the most coveted life during this time period, so Fitzgerald used this lifestyle to mock and expose the vices of others. Fitzgerald uses certain aspects of this lifestyle to show characters satirical impulsiveness or materialism, which ridicules them and the ideals of the 1920s. During the time period in which this novel took place, the American Dream was perhaps the most sought after lifestyle. The American Dream during the roaring twenties is the pursuit of wealth regardless of morals.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is highly relevant in the modern world, despite being written during the Jazz Age. This American classic tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire, who yearns to rekindle his love with Daisy, a wealthy married woman. Fitzgerald uses symbolism and intricate storytelling to teach readers not to value material wealth, while also criticizing America’s glutinous and greedy way of life. For example, Gatsby pushes himself to become a self-made millionaire for the sole purpose of winning Daisy back, but at the end of the book readers learn his pursuit was all in vain. Despite his affluence, their love is not rekindled; Daisy stays with Tom, who has a more secured social status.
This idea is further reinforced when Jay Gatsby’s version of a better life is motivated by the amount of money he has. To Gatsby, Daisy becomes a symbol of wealth, he describes her voice as “full of money” (115) and rich life that “increased her value in his eyes” (141). Furthermore, Daisy becomes the ideal person to fulfil Gatsby's idea of wealth and she is reduced to only play a role in aiding Gatsby’s success. However, the more Gatsby believes his perfect life lies in his assets, the more willing he is to ignore the truth. The truth being that wealth in life is not fulfilled through an amount of money but rather the riches of life that make a person happy.
Wealth and greed can easily change a person’s lives. One of the major changes is that you can destroy your life in a way that can affect your decisions in the future. Just like how Tom and Daisy are, in The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, that follows Jay Gatsby, a man who orders his life around one desire: to be reunited with Daisy Buchanan, the love he lost five years earlier. Gatsby's quest leads him from poverty to wealth, into the arms of his beloved, and eventually to death.
The American dream states that any individual can achieve success regardless of family history, race, and/or religion simply by working hard. The 1920’s were a time of corruption and demise of moral values in society. The first World War had passed, and people were reveling in the materialism that came at the end of it, such as advanced technology and innovative inventions. The novel The Great Gatsby exploits the theme of the American Dream as it takes place in a corrupt period in history. Although the American Dream seemed more attainable than ever in the 1920’s, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby demonstrates how materialism and the demise of moral values in society leads to the corruption and impossibility of the American Dream.
The American dream is an illusion that is deeply implanted in the minds of the people, it sets a bar for life achievement and offers hope to work hard to achieve their dreams. As for Americans, they are raised in a society to where they are expected to make lots money and to have a healthy family. After all in our society success is largely based off positions of power and financial stability. For example, in The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there were multiple interpretations of the ideal American dream in the 1920s. In the 1920s, due to the growth of materialism, people advertised and fancied the power of money to fulfilling their dreams.
The characters in the novel pretend that they have their lives all figured out, but through their successes their downfalls and emptiness can be seen, to prove that money cannot buy happiness. Jay Gatsby is the newest and upcoming star in New York during the 1920’s. Through his business and inheritance he is one of the richest men of his time. One may think that his abundance of wealth would lead him to be eternally happy, but he is the opposite. Gatsby longs for his love of Daisy, which is his personal American Dream.