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

Money is a powerful weapon that ultimately leads people to their predetermined deaths. F. Scott Fitzgerald is the brilliant writer behind The Great Gatsby. He is a member of the lost generation and he decided to write the novel in dedication to his wife Zelda. The purpose of his book is to publicize how the American dream is in reality to how he envisioned it. Baz Luhrmann directed The Great Gatsby based on the novel. He focused on the subtle details in the novel and warped them to develop an endless number of perceptions people could have about both the film and the novel. Luhrmann uses his interpretation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby to create a film accentuating rebellion against social standards, the reality of social class,

The color green is associated with society and what would be deemed “normal” in a perfect world. Fitzgerald creates Gatsby’s character to reach for a green light throughout the book. As the book nears the end, the reader can assume the green light is Daisy Buchanan. Nick leads readers to believe this when he says, “Gatsby believed in the green light…So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald 189). Daisy is the embodiment of a perfect American woman during the 1920's even if her fallacious personality was a mask to questionable morals. She was considered the “golden girl” with a voice “ full of money” according to Nick(Fitzgerald 127). Daisy is like a dream controlled by the demands of society. Gatsby died reaching for that unattainable dream.Wasting life trying to obtain something that does not exist will do nothing but put them in an endless time loop. Gatsby symbolizes all civilians in society reaching for a perfect world only to find themselves dead one morning. Luhrmann decided to keep the green light in the film, but change what makes it symbolic. He

Wealth is shown through material assets. Necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and other accessories were used to boast about which social class they belong to. The day before Tom married Daisy, he took her to the Seelbach Hotel. It was there that he “gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars”(Fitzgerald 80). Wealth is shown through material assets. Necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and other accessories are used to boast about which social class they belong to. The price of the necklace outweighs the meaning. Daisy does not care about the necklace whatsoever which is why she later tosses it in the wastebasket and tells Jordan to go return it. She was ready to throw away her entire status knowing Gatsby did not have enough money to give her the life she dreamed of. In the film Tom, Daisy, Nick, Gatsby, and Jordan go into town on a hot summer day. Tom takes Nick and Jordan in Gatsby’s car and Gatsby takes Daisy in Tom’s car. They rent a room in a hotel and soon start a heated argument. While their argument is escalating, Luhrmann diverts the audience’s attention to Wilson confronting Myrtle about her affair. He found out because of the pearl necklace Tom gifted her. As Wilson is confronting Myrtle, she runs out into the street because she sees Gatsby’s car thinking it is Tom, but she has no idea that Daisy is actually the one driving. Without stopping,