The American Dream, a long standing ideal that embodies the hope that one can achieve financial success, political power, and everlasting love through dedication and hard work. During the Roaring 20’s, people in America put up facades to mask who they truly were. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys that the pessimistic American Dream is simply an illusion, that is idealist and unreal. The story reveals how main character, Jay Gatsby, overcomes his poor past to gain an incredible amount of money and a limited amount of social cache, only to be rejected by the “old money” crowd. Through the use of symbolism and allusions, Fitzgerald explores the American Dream, and how it is an illusion that corrupts and destroys lives. …show more content…
Daisy Buchanan, the most enigmatic and disappointing character, is symbolized to Siren from Greek mythology. Sirens were said to be sea nymphs, with the bodies and legs of birds, but the heads, chests and arms of beautiful women. Sirens, using their voices, would enchant sailors and make them crash into the rocks near the island shore. Daisy resembles the Sirens because Siren is a dangerous creature, whose voice catches people’s attention. In chapter one, Daisy is described wearing a beautiful white dress and it gives an innocent look to her. Daisy is Gatsby’s siren temptress that lures him like a sailor temptress with a sailor, and then like a temptress she destroys her victim. “It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down as if a speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again” (Fitzgerald