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The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

891 Words4 Pages

During a period of economic prosperity in East America, people started leaving their homes and seek opportunities for a better life. The Roaring Twenties gave the young people enough courage to go to the unknown land of opportunities in order to achieve their American Dream. The American Dream represents a life of wealth through hard work, having a long-term relationship with a person you love and want to be part of your life and having the ability to be happy about yourself and what you have accomplished. It is your aim in life that you continuously chase until you lose the desire to be what you wanted. Being part of Gatsby’s life, Nick closely observes Jay’s way to the American dream and shares: “ I [Nick] thought of Gatsby's wonder when …show more content…

Nick is a typical guy from the Midwest who comes to the East so as to become wealthy. He shares that “The Carraways are something of a clan...the actual founder of my line was my grandfather's brother, who... started the wholesale hardware business that my father carries on to-day.“ (Fitzgerald 3). His family has its own business but that does not make him as rich as Tom Buchanan or Gatsby. Nick describes his family as “well-to-do”. This enables him to graduate from Yale which is an excellent start for achieving the American Dream. Nick lives on the West Egg, where the “new rich” live, in a small tiny house that he rents for $80 and is nothing compared to the palaces by which it is surrounded, Even though he is like a small poor mice among the rich giants, his decision to stay and live there reveals his desire to become wealthy and successful person, because living with the rich people would be a great source of motivation for him to work. He demonstrates his desire to work by sharing: “I [Nick] bought a dozen volumes on banking and credit and investment securities, and they stood on my shelf in red and gold like new money from the mint, promising to unfold the shining secrets that only Midas and Morgan and Maecenas knew. And I had the high intention of reading other books beside.” (Fitzgerald 4). Carraway’s words illustrate that he “had intentions” but did not do anything more to

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This quote suggests a very lowkey connotation about Nick, and his abilities to remain sober in a mature, professional way. Fitzgerald creates the image that Carraway as a follower not a man of action, or leadership capabilities. Nick is a man who is reactive to any situation, but patient. At one point in the book Nick realizes the affair between Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson, but never confronts Tom about the situation. Nick’s curious attitude toward Gatsby describes their relationship with one another.

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The idea of the American Dream is similarly constructed in Chimamanda Adichie’s anthology, “The Thing Around Your Neck” (2013), where the American Dream is described as a compromise; “You gave up a lot, but you gained a lot too” (pg. 115). However, the irony of Gatsby as a “great” character, constructs the American Dream as nothing more than a perpetuated myth. Gatsby’s

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During the 1900s, many Americans were striving to achieve a successful life regardless of their background, and all they had to do was work hard to be successful. This was known as the American Dream. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, this idea is presented through the characters Myrtle Wilson and Jay Gatsby as they pursue wealth and try to climb the social ladder. But as the story progresses, the ideals of the American Dream are slowly being challenged and exposed as corrupt. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel

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How Does Fitzgerald Present The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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There was only deception and immorality hidden under hard truths that were being concealed by the people of whom he had trusted and known. Carraway, having been disgusted with whom he had called family and friends, left the East and sought out to find his American Dream back in The MidWest. “After Gatsby’s death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes’ power of correction. So when the blue smoke of brittle leaves was in the air and the wind blew the wet laundry stiff on the line I decided to come back home.” (Fitzgerald

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At the Associated Press Annual Luncheon in April of 2008, when talking about the American people, soon-to-be President Barack Obama said, “We may come from different places and have different stories, but we share common hopes and one very American dream.” From this, stems the debate of “what is this american dream?” To, like Jay Gatsby, go from rags to riches? Or to live simply with no responsibilities, like Chris McCandless. Though neither character was able to successfully live out the American dream, Gatsby came the closest to living it because he was able to work his way up from nothing in order to become successful, live the life he always wanted, and almost getting the girl of his dreams.

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He has respect for others no matter how much money they have or their societal status. ‘ “ Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “Just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” ‘ (Fitzgerald, 1) This shows a lesson he was taught about respecting others and what he brought along with him. In all these cases money never led them to happiness. “Carraway, too, hopes to reconcile emotional ideals, like love, with the harsh realities of life, …

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“I shook hands with him, it seemed silly not to,” (Fitzgerald 189). Despite Carraway's knowledge of Tom Buchanan’s involvement in the murder of Jay Gatsby, one of his closest friends, when forced to face Buchanan in real life, Carraway does not confront him. Furthermore, Nick Carraway goes as far as to shake Tom Buchanan's hand despite his open loathing of the man. While this event may seem insignificant, when examined, it clearly represents the moral decay that stands alongside his nation's ideals. The American Dreams robbery of Carraway’s honesty is arguably one of the most brutal occurrences seen in The Great Gatsby, exemplifying the unexpectedly steep price that opulence

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Along with these people, Carraway witnessed many tragedies like Tom’s mistress, the lies of Baker, Daisy’s irresponsibilities, and finally Gatsby’s death. After witnessing these tragedies along with how people never truly cared for each other in the East, he realized the uselessness of his American Dream. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…” (Fitzgerald 162). Nick was not as ignorant as the others, it was unrealistic for him to achieve his dream in a society as brutal and toxic as the one in the East.

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The American Dream is a consistent theme that is shown by Gatsby’s life. Fitzgerald described Jay Gatsby’s, formerly known as James Gatz, early life by saying, “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” (Fitzgerald 98). This proves that the multi-millionaire Gatsby, despite the rumors of how he was brought up, came from poverty. Along his path to success Gatsby met Dan Cody and traveled the world with him. Dan Cody perished and that's where it was said, “And it was from Cody that he inherited money-- a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars.

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The American dream is something that every American hopes and dreams of. The Great Gatsby, a book by F. Scott Fitzgerald, shows the different aspects of the American dream. Jay Gatsby, the book’s main character, falls deep into his own personal Dream. This Dream happens to be his love for Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby is so blinded by his love for Daisy he doesn’t even see the problems that he is causing.

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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.

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Scott F. Fitzgerald is an old time writer who uses vocabulary that isn’t commonly used today. Throughout the whole book, the plot was a little harder to read. At times it was hard to understand what was going on and follow the whole plot. Since

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