ipl-logo

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

772 Words4 Pages

We all hope to accomplish a perfect existence in the near future, a life that is ideal, filled with opportunities and everything falling into place; the American dream. No matter what it takes to achieve the perfect life, we are willing to sacrifice everything. Although we dream to someday have the perfect life, we don’t truly know the reality of it and what it might take to get there. F. Scott Fitzgeralds’ novel, The Great Gatsby, shows the actuality behind obtaining the American dream. Although Gatsby may be living the most luxurious and desirable life, his virtues are also his vices, keeping him from fulfilling the life of his dreams. Jay Gatsby has always been driven to succeed, the ambiguity has blinded him, making it impossible for him …show more content…

Gatsby, a newly wealthy young man hosts the most lavish parties where the flashiest guests attend and boast about their own money. Gatsby has grown partly ignorant and oblivious to life's true morality because of people he associates with and all that he has done. At his party, Gatsby always keeps to himself and only talks with those who can be of benefit to him. Gatsby rarely bothers to strike up a conversation since he is solely concerned with achieving his goals and getting Daisy back. He’s become so egocentric that he only considers matters that concern him. Gatsby wants everyone to know he has a “perfect” status, especially wanting to fool the ones he is “close” with, “I don’t want you to get a wrong idea of me from all these stories you hear.”(69). Wanting Nick to think well of him, he takes Nick to New York City to meet up with one of Gatsbys business partners and friend, Mr. Wolfsheim, who tells Nick, how honorable of a guy Gatsby is. Throughout the novel, we see how Gatsby has only cared about getting what he wants, whether it hurts someone else or not, whatever it takes to make his dreams come true. This becomes clear around the time of the disagreement between Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby, “It doesn’t matter any more. Just tell him the truth– that you never loved him–and it’s all wiped out forever.”(139), Gatsby knew how

Show More
Related
1920 Words | 8 Pages

Gatsby knew that the only way to get Daisy back was to become rich, but in doing this, he lost his values and his morals in hopes of gaining what he thought would make him happier. Gatsby even knows that what he is doing is wrong because when he told Nick that Meyer Wolfsheim is a “gambler, he hesitated” (Fitzgerald 73) Gatsby knows that his ways are wrong which is why he conceals them from the public eye, but internally, Gatsby is going against the morals he has set for himself. To Gatsby, “money and authority is the most important to [him]. [He] oppress[es] the public or

Read More
604 Words | 3 Pages

After meeting Nick, Gatsby sees an opportunity to reconnect with Daisy through her cousin Nick. When chasing a dream the typical human will use any resources to get closer to achieving that goal: in this case, Gatsby uses Nick as his resource. As a reader you can sense the potential excitement Gatsby has after realizing he may actually have a chance now at getting Daisy back. Sometimes when chasing a dream we as people do not actually consider whether or not it is attainable, this very thing is the reason for Gatsby’s downfall and eventual death. There is a battle between whether or not we should pursue our dreams and it is a rather complicated one especially in Gatsby’s case.

Read More
1601 Words | 7 Pages

Gatsby himself becomes entangled in this world of wealth, power, and corruption as he relentlessly pursues the American dream. His extravagant parties, involvement in illegal activities, and questionable income of money reflect the dominant societal values of the time. The society's embrace of materialism and disregard for ethical considerations play a significant role in Gatsby's eventual downfall and tragic fate. Following Gatsby's murder, Nick grows increasingly disillusioned with the lifestyle surrounding him, particularly with the Buchanan couple. In Chapter 9, Nick states, "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.

Read More
1281 Words | 6 Pages

Despite all that has happened, Gatsby cannot perceive Daisy’s basic insincerity, and clings, instead, to the fragile hope that the dream will prevail. Having lived with the same illusion for so long, Gatsby is unprepared for its inevitable dissolution and can only reel against the harsh reality of a world without love, a world without hope. Nick states, “No

Read More
1573 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout this book section, Gatsby's parties are described as bustling and the atmosphere is lively since so many came, although uninvited. On the outside, the parties hosted by Gatsby seem like he enjoys having people over and party at his wondrous mansion, he has the money and time to host them which meant that people would love Gatsby as well as his parties; They were given the most lavish items and the people immersed themselves into his rich world. But Gatsby himself wasn’t all that present in the atmosphere itself, Nick begins, “‘This is an unusual party for me. I haven’t seen the host. I live over there.

Read More
539 Words | 3 Pages

Gatsby tries to rekindle his and Daisy’s old relationship by trying to relive the past while Tom is out having an affair. Nick is a people watcher, he observes anyone and everyone and gets to know them before he feels inclined to make a judgment. To start, Nick reserves judgment in multiple situations but the first example is when he meets Gatsby and is at his party. Nick was the only person invited but at the party, he heard rumors about Gatsby

Read More
830 Words | 4 Pages

His unrivalled magnetism could permeate even the most jaded of facades. However Gatsby was always shrouded in a film of garish fog, a protective layer of mysticism. Perhaps it was a concoction of those qualities that allowed him to claim a position of indisputable infamy so quickly. Or perhaps it was simply the liquor that leaked through every pore of his lavish household. Jay Gatsby possessed a quality so unique that I recall every minute detail of our first meeting, his magnificent posture, his sense of indelible splendour all wrapped up in a bundle of hope that ceased to be quenched.

Read More
1329 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Gatsby is seen to go through what seems to be a life in a matter of months. He makes a new friend and sparks a relationship he thought he had lost. To any person looking in and just seeing the action that Gatsby takes and the way he looks he seems to be living the “American Dream” though this is far from the truth. Though Gatsby is portrayed as living the American Dream he still has much inner turmoil making him the embodiment of the American Dream rather than the idea of it. To many people, the American Dream has everything you want with life, but all people that are seen to live the “American Dream” have much more going on in their lives and inside of them than meets the eye.

Read More
483 Words | 2 Pages

The character of Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is both mysterious and intriguing. Nick Carraway titles the book after him, which suggests that he holds Gatsby and thinks of Gatsby as “Great”. However, whether Gatsby deserves to be called "Great" is debatable because there are both positive and negative qualities that make up his character. In this essay, I will argue that Gatsby is both great and flawed, and that in the end, the mediocrity of his life wins out.

Read More
1016 Words | 5 Pages

Gatsby’s obsession for Daisy Buchanan compels him to commit various actions and have different beliefs that a great man would not have. Gatsby dedicated his life to attaining a status that of a man that Daisy would respect and admire. He threw great parties only for the small chance that Daisy would one day attend. Gatsby seeks reassurance from Nick that Daisy will attend one of his parties, probingly saying that “‘I suppose Daisy’ll call too.’ [Gatsby looks] at [Nick] anxiously, as if he hopes [Nick would] corroborate this.

Read More
2783 Words | 12 Pages

As he appears to be set in his ways by following a strict schedule, his obsessive thoughts about Daisy and rekindling his relationship with her force him to become disorganized and psychotic. Gatsby should have someone to talk to and while he has Nick Carraway, he still finds a way to fabricate the truth in order to look superior to others in his life. He should focus on finding confidence within himself and learn to respect himself without the pressures of society plummeting on him. Gatsby is a successful and wealthy man, despite his

Read More
738 Words | 3 Pages

American patriots celebrate the United States as a beacon of opportunity for people looking to escape poverty and begin a new life of fortune achievable by hard work. However, the American Dream is nothing more than a fantasy that corrupt individuals destroy. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Nick Carroway, an affluent Minnesotan spends the summer on the rapidly urbanizing East Coast and involves himself with the life of his ambitious neighbor, Jay Gatsby, and his rich cousins, Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Exploring their chaotic lives, Nick discovers the grave consequences of capitalism and the American Dream. Through displaying these consequences, The Great Gatsby rejects the American Dream.

Read More
1606 Words | 7 Pages

Gatsby thought so badly that his dream would succeed, so he never had any more dreams to rely on. He never really moves on from her to find someone else he is and will always be in love with the girl he thinks she is (F. Scott Fitzgerald). He never even tries to make friends, the only person he was friends with was Nick, and he kinda uses Nick to get to Daisy. Gatsby uses Nick by asking him to invite Daisy over for them to hang out (The Great Gatsby 55). Gatsby never really cares how he views himself; he only cares about how others view him.

Read More
1034 Words | 5 Pages

The Facade of the American Dream The American Dream is the opportunity for all Americans to live a life of personal happiness and material comfort, but is it actually achievable? F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is a story of characters working hard to achieve the American Dream, but ultimately they are unable to ever realize their perfect life. The novel makes a strong naturalism argument about the rigid class system in society and the disillusionment of the American Dream.

Read More
1873 Words | 8 Pages

Gatsby knows that Daisy is a high-class individual who cares very much about status and wealth, so his entire life has been dedicated to being the best so that she will notice him. When Daisy, Gatsby’s one desire, and Nick, Gatsby’s

Read More

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

Related Topics

Open Document