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

A green light at the end of the lake shines as a beacon of hope for what could be. Love, betrayal, desire, and hope are feelings that people experience throughout life. This is what comes from the ashes of Jay Gatsby. The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel that represents society during the time of its publication, the roaring 20s. Throughout the story, Fitzgerald demonstrates how greed and wealth can take over society, leaving morals behind. Jay Gatsby transitions from a life of poverty, to a life of riches and extravagance. After reaching his successes, Gatsby had hoped the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan, would desire him after his rise to fame. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a psychoanalytic approach

Jay Gatsby spends his life working towards this idea of the American Dream. To Gatsby, the American Dream was so much more than just wealth and fame. He wanted enough monetary stability to keep Daisy happy.“'I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night,' went on Jordan." (Fitzgerald 63) Gatsby wanted fame to draw attention to himself in hopes that Daisy would find him once again. At a young age, he finds the love of his life and realizes he can not provide her with the treasures she desires. From then on, he made it his life goal to achieve everything Daisy yearned for, which he believed was a life of luxury. He did whatever he had to get there even if it was not within the law. The narrator, Nick Carraway, recalls times when Gatsby would confide in him about things he lost while searching for Daisy. “He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy”

He spent years working towards everything Daisy wanted and this was only achievable because of his constant love for her and his hope for their future together. Once reunited with Daisy, he expected her to come running to him without looking back. But, Daisy struggled to so easily leave the life she created without Gatsby behind. She knew her husband, Tom Buchanan, was unfaithful and she knew how strong her emotions were for Gatsby. But, he wanted her to admit things that she knew weren’t true. He couldn’t believe that she could love anyone other than Gatsby. “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: 'I never loved you.” (Fitzgerald 116). He expected too much from her so soon. Gatsby was blinded by his love for Daisy; he thought she must have felt the same way. But Gatsby’s overbearing love and never ending hope for their future was what inevitably killed him. "Can't repeat the past?" he cried incredulously. "Why of course you can!" He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand.” (Fitzgerald 128) Gatsby is continuously naive and optimistic about everything in life, frequently getting determination confused with