Pursuit Of Happiness In The Great Gatsby

The Pursuit of Happiness

America, for many, has long been a country of opportunity, where it was believed that you control your own destiny and prosperity. By means of determination, hard work, persistence and struggle, success found in the “American Dream” can and will be achieved regardless of past social statuses and financial shortcomings. “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and narrated by Nick Carraway, gives the readers an impression of how things were in the 1920’s. At that time, the American dream was affected by wealth and the pursuit of happiness something that Gatsby was so consumed by worth.

Dreaming to make it big is the vision Jay Gatsby had for himself. He represents the American Dream because he came from 'nothing'

The Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote, increased immigration and the country was also in the midst of an economic boom, which fueled the belief that anyone could “strike it rich” on Wall Street. This was a time of corruption and the degradation of moral values. According to the history book, The Roaring Life of the 1920s. “America changed dramatically in the years before 1920, as was revealed in the1920 census. According to figures that year, 51.2 percent of Americans lived in communities with populations of 2,500 to more than 1 million. Between 1922 and 1929, migration to the cities accelerated, with nearly 2 million people leaving farms and towns each year. “Cities were the place to be, not to get away from,” said one historian. The agricultural world that millions of Americans left behind was largely unchanged from the 19th century—that world was one of small towns and farms bound together by conservative moral values and close social relationships. Yet small-town attitudes began to lose their hold on the American mind as the city rose to prominence” (chapter 21 page 643). The role of American women changed at that time, they were beginning to have a voice, people had extra money to spend on cars and they had a lot of under the table organized crimes. “Researchers have repeatedly found that in the United States, there is now less economic mobility than in Canada or much of Europe. A child born in the bottom quintile of incomes in the United States has only a 4 percent chance of rising to the top quintile” (web). In the 1920s’ Gatsby wanted a better opportunity than his parents had, although the article states, his changes were slim to nothing with only 4 percent, to make it in life. He accomplishes what he set out but his unexpected death makes you wonder, was it worth