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The American Dream In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Throughout The Great Gatsby, the concept of the "American Dream" is significantly used. The "American Dream" is a happy way of living that is thought of by many Americans as something that can be achieved by anyone in the U.S., especially by working hard and becoming successful (Webster). During the book, many characters perceive the "American Dream" differently. Gatsby is an excellent example of this because he came from nothing and reached the top. Gatsby was by himself and poor as a young man. He learned to make money as a young man by bootlegging. Gatsby then made a living off bootlegging and became rich. Tom and Daisy were trying to maintain their image as "a happy couple" and living the "American Dream". Their relationship was not working, …show more content…

Throughout The Great Gatsby, the American dream is portrayed in different ways, including Gatsby's journey from the bottom to the top, Tom and Daisy's attempts to maintain the image of their marriage, and Nick's pursuit of his career as a middle-class citizen. Gatsby always wanted to live the "American Dream" and live as a wealthy person. For the whole of Gatsby's early life, he was faced with many problems considering wealth. Gatsby had had enough of it, so he started working for a man named Dan Cody on Lake Superior. Gatsby learned his ways and became a professional bootlegger. Gatsby became rich from this, and money was no longer a problem. Gatsby was homeless while living on Lake Superior. He was desperate for a job and barely had enough money to survive. Gatsby explains, "For over a year, I had been beating my way along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam-digger and a salmon-fisher or in any other capacity that brought me food and bed. Then I found out that he was my neighbor, but he never even seemed to consider he was my neighbor" (162 Fitzgerald). Gatsby explains the ways in which he has to live and how life could soon get better for …show more content…

Nick explains, "Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known" (7 Fitzgerald). Nick describes how, throughout his life, he has been the only honest person. This also shows his humility and the ability not to be so haughty. Nick is a very kind person who is not insulting or harmful in the book. Nick has set almost a rule for himself, and he explains, "In consequence, I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores" (33 Fitzgerald). Nick explains that he is trying not to be judgemental towards anyone and tries to be the kindest person possible for the duration of the book. Nick has an excellent attitude toward everything and is not jealous of anyone else's wealth. This reflects his patience and contentment as a middle-class citizen. Nick is very patient because even though he is not rich, he knows that opportunities will come up to give him the ability to become wealthy. Nick's "American Dream" is honestly him being content with his life as it is, but he will not waive down an opportunity that will enhance his

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Gatsby puts on a facade and tells everyone that he inherited his money, but in reality Gatsby has other means by which he earns his money for the sake of Daisy. He stoops to a level that shows that he has no care for his morals and he will go to any extent if it means making Daisy happy and earning money. He commits multiple crimes including buying “side-street drug-stores in Chicago and [selling] grain alcohol over the counter” (Fitzgerald 133). He doesn’t care about getting in trouble with the law because he is no longer living for himself, and it seems like he is only living for Daisy, who embodies the wealthy lifestyle Gatsby has wanted his whole life. Gatsby got rich out of a sense of “desperation and crazy hopefulness, out of refusing to get over a broken heart and give up the love of his life” (Voegeli).

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An Accurate Depiction of Gatsby There has always been the saying “The American Dream” because America is supposed to be the land of opportunity and where everyone in the world wishes they could go so they can have a life by having proper education, health care, and vocation. When the saying became popular in the 1920s, giving the world their first idea of what living in America was like, it not only brought people to America but it gave the social classes that we see represented in The Great Gatsby. That’s where we get the idea of the American dream in Gatsby time of the 1920s. The American Dream is the main theme of the book that everything else is based off of. The American Dream in the book is said to be hope for success and the chance of getting rich; this is

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From a young age, Gatsby decided that he was going to get ahead in life. He created a strict daily schedule to lead him to success. His means of acquiring wealth are rather unconventional and immoral, but bootlegging allowed him to get rich quick instead of being trapped known as a poor farmer’s boy. Gatsby experienced failure, and his past allowed him to build character to facilitate the acquisition of his American Dream. His determination and potential is admired by Nick, who likes to feel inspired and hopeful.

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Gatsby felt ashamed of his origin and for that reason, he invented a different version of his life, a lie that he told to those he met. His desire for wealth and power took him to work in something illegal at that time, sealing alcohol, which in the end helped him to achieve his dream but still that did not make him a “real nobility” of American society. When Gatsby meets Tom, Daisy, and their friends, Tom mentions the origin of Gatsby and his money, and the reader could see how ashamed Gatsby felt, they made Gatsby feel that he would never be like them.

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During Gatsby’s childhood, “his parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” (Fitzgerald 98). Gatsby did not grow up in a financially stable family and had to figure out how to make his own money. At the age of 17, “for over a year [Gatsby] had been beating his way along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam-digger and a salmon-fisher or in any other capacity that brought him food and bed” (Fitzgerald 98). Gatsby was constantly working as a way to provide for himself. Eventually he saved up enough to buy a nice house and not have to worry about money anymore.

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However, this wasn’t always the case. Gatsby grew up in a poor family of farmers in North Dakota. Although, his way to success wasn’t necessarily a proper route, he goes to many extents to obtain his wealth to acquire the heart of Daisy Buchanan by flaunting his luxuries with his nice house and hosting huge parties hoping one day she’ll wander in. Those said extents being extreme due to the illegal measures of bootlegging he was partaking in, resulting in where he

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He is the pinnacle of the American Dream because, through hard work and dedication, he rose the social and economic ladder to become one of the richest men on Long Island. However, like Tom and Daisy, Gatsby’s lifestyle is not what it seems. Gatsby tells Nick that he is, “the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West (.), educated at Oxford,” (Fitzgerald 65), and came to money after his parents’ deaths.

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The concept of the American Dream can be defined as everyone having an equal opportunity to achieve wealth and attain happiness. The Great Gatsby shows that for at least a century this has been a far away concept as throughout the book the reader sees how those who already have money are able to keep the lower class from climbing the social and economic ladder, and those that are able to rise out of poverty are treated unequally and are unable to achieve happiness due to the pressures of upper class society. This is best seen in the character of Gatsby himself as he worked extremely hard doing whatever it takes to achieve his dream but was never able to attain happiness. Although Gatsby was able to start from poverty and gain wealth he represents

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Gatsby is a clear-cut example of the American dream. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald shows that Gatsby came from nothing when he says, “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people – his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all.” (Fitzgerald 99). This shows that Gatsby comes from a poor and low-social-status family. It also shows that Gatsby was never really satisfied with his family background, and Gatsby even fantasized about having a better life ever since

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Gatsby thought by living the American Dream is to be rich. He did start out being a poor kid but eventually he achieved his goal. Although he didn’t work as hard to get the money he wanted. Gatsby’s other dream was to have Daisy in his life. Even though Gatsby didn’t live up to her expectations he never gave up.

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724 Words | 3 Pages

The American Dream has many meanings for different people. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald tells many different stories throughout the novel and how much the American Dream means to each character in the 1920’s. Gatsby is a character who would do whatever it takes at whatever cost to achieve success. The American Dream is supposed to portray hard work and determination, but as each character attempts to achieve their success, many tragic events begin to occur. As harsh realities start to stand in the way, the American Dream becomes more unattainable and destructive over time.

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One of the many ways The Great Gatsby references the American Dream is through its many interesting

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Unlike the Buchanan’s, Gatsby was not lucky enough to be born into a family with infinite wealth. This means that he has to work hard for everything he receives. The reader learns later in the story from Gatsby’s father that as a child he was always trying to improve himself in any way possible and achieve what he did not already have. Obviously, the determined mindset that Gatsby possessed aided him in the end because things turned out much better than just okay for him. Through various illegal activities, Gatsby becomes an extremely wealthy man, but he only does this to capture the attention of Daisy, the woman he loves.

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It stopped being about working hard and keeping your morals, and Gatsby shows this by obtaining his fortune through lucrative, illegal means. Nick Carraway is also incredibly important in illustrating the allegory of the American Dream and how it is vapid and dying in the current age. Nick reveals how lonely and empty Gatsby is, and how he tries to fill that hole with money and love, and tries to gain love through money. The Great Gatsby shows how the American Dream isn’t really a goal of success and happiness and fulfillment, it’s a goal of power and vanity and luxury.

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The Great Gatsby: American Dream The American dream has similar definitions by a plethora of people. The dream of being wealthy, the dream of having a better quality of life, the dream for better opportunities, and sometimes even love or a perfect, stable family. All of these factors are embedded into“The Great Gatsby” through characters such as Gatsby himself, Tom Buchucanan, and George Wilson. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream presents itself vividly throughout the story; Fitzgerald elucidates the achievability of the American dream through the lives of his characters who some of which live in depressing industries along with the social, moral decay and materialism.

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