ipl-logo

The American Dream Is Not Existent And Hardly Ever Was

941 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gatsby idealization of daisy

Hudsyn Anderson
Mrs. Kigar
Honors English 10
22 March 2023
The American Dream is Not Existent and Hardly Ever Was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, illustrates the American culture in the roaring 20s along with values and beliefs of the decade summing up the American Dream. The American Dream differs from person to person based on what they desire. For some, it’s everyone having equal rights and opportunities, for others it might be becoming extraordinarily wealthy and pursuing what you’re passionate about. The main idea is granting the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved. The novel focuses on Jay Gatsby’s American dream of becoming rich and running away with the woman of his dreams; Daisy. The author shows a shallow …show more content…

The novel portrays Gatsby as morally corrupt while attempting to achieve his ideal American Dream. Although Gatbsy appears to have a perfect life from the outside, he is not eternally satisfied. He committed many crimes such as bootlegging and conducting business unethically to climb up the social ladder while supporting his lavish lifestyle. While he not only taints his moral code with his money schemes but again with chasing after the love of his life, Daisy, even though she has built a life without him with her husband Tom Buchanan, and daughter Pammy. Daisy is a personified version of his American Dream, his feelings for her were very strong as “he knew that when he kissed this girl and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God” (Fitzgerald 57). Daisy and Gatsby fell in love years before but were forced out of contact when Gatsby left for war. He requests that she wait for him to return from war as he’ll never fall out of love …show more content…

“‘The measures of the American Dream that brought about a sense of comfort and control and pride,’ Benenson said, ‘became symbols of debt and risk. And that has people becoming a little more cautious, weighing risk more carefully in their lives’” (Sullivan). The Great Gatsby heavily anticipates the future concepts of how dishonesty and tainted moral codes lead to a corrupt economic system as well as unequal wealth distribution making the American Dream a false hope. “On top of the issues with economics, the United States also lacks social insurance and has lower labor union penetration than most countries. The nation struggles with maintaining high rates of upward absolute income mobility. With all of the issues in today’s economy restraining the idea of pursuing happiness along with economic prosperity, as shown in the novel, being wealthy doesn’t always mean achieving the American Dream” (Robert). Gatsby never felt fulfilled because of the fact that he couldn’t pursue Daisy, even though he was one of the wealthiest characters in the

Show More
Related

Chapter 6-7 Analysis: The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

573 Words | 3 Pages

Tien Le AP Lang Ms. Kim November 21, 2017 Chapters 6-7 Analysis Throughout the book The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby’s only dream is to be with Daisy a beautiful and lovely girl to him. Gatsby believes that being wealthy with lots of money, have lots of luxury stuffs, and throw big parties will make make Daisy impress and get her back. However, Gatsby never know the real side of Daisy ambitious, and selfish girl, to him Daisy is his “American dream". Furthermore, the American dream system is corrupt because it makes Gatsby to do illegal things to become rich and achieve his dream.

Read More

Great Gatsby Dbq

2259 Words | 10 Pages

Kier Keith Stele AP English Language and Composition March 8, 2023 Gatsby’s and America’s Dream The American dream is an idea perceived as an ideal society for humanity as a whole which has become increasingly falsified with time. Whether it is through racial violence, economic disparity, or living better off as a human, these factors describe the American ideals as impossible. This inflated view of the American dream has led to a definite destruction economically or socially of people who place too much faith in the American Dream. Fitzgerald's vision of the American ideals in the Great Gatsby is similar to today's ideals of the American dream.

Read More

Dbq Essay On The Great Gatsby

1712 Words | 7 Pages

The American dream is much more than what meets the eye When people think of the American dream, their heads automatically go to the novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby is famously known for its portrayal of the American dream and it has become the stereotypical story for every American dreamer. It has done many wonders in American literature; however, people are starting to forget that it is all solely fictional and to not strive for their lifestyles. They also seem to forget the true nature of the American dream and its powerful significance of it. The critically acclaimed Novel, The Great Gatsby does not portray the real American dream because modern society has changed its expectations.

Read More

Why Is The Great Gatsby Unattainable

837 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Gatsby is frequently split between East Egg, West Egg, and Valley Of Ashes. East Egg represents the old money, West Egg represents new money, and the Valley Of Ashes shows the social decline and failure of the American Dream. Though some characters of higher class display that the “American Dream” is attainable in “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it ultimately proves itself impossible for the mainstream public and other key characters, due to the lengths of which that the wealthy had to go through, just to end up in considerably worse situations than standard citizens. In contrast to the American Dream being unattainable, Fitzgerald shows that it is possible for anyone to access and achieve the American Dream, if they

Read More

How Does The Great Gatsby Relate To Today

1203 Words | 5 Pages

Nonetheless, the economy has not only conveyed both Gatsby and the modern American dream on the surface, but they also share the same values. Even though Fitzgerald's American Dream depicts a few more distinct aspects of the American dream, the standards for achieving the American dream are established in a modern context as the contemporary interpretation. 63% of young adults aged 18 to 34 believe the American dream is a pipe dream, according to Source E. Making dreams accessible to everyone is one of the most important aspects of being eligible to set a standard for them. If a large proportion of the population believes it is impossible to achieve, then the bar has been raised. According to source A, The Great Gatsby's pursuit

Read More

Why Is The American Dream Unattainable

1140 Words | 5 Pages

54 percent of American adults believe there is an American dream, but 28 percent think it is unattainable. The 20s were a time of prosperity with the economy rising, with many get-rich-quick schemes that made people strive for their American dream. Gatsby was able to use the prosperity of the time to get rich and climb the socioeconomic ladder, which led him to have his American Dream within reach. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald there is a constant similarity between Gatsby’s American Dream and that of most people in the 20s because the novel shows that people will do anything to get to their American dream no matter how corrupt it is, most American dreams equate with social status, and the attempts to reach the American dream

Read More

Immigration In The Great Gatsby

539 Words | 3 Pages

The American Dream is a vision held by the working class of America: a dream in which one can achieve all that he desires through hard work and perseverance. The reader sees Gatsby as a self-made man: a man with everything you could possible want in life, a man who has achieved the American Dream to its fullest, and yet, this image is marred by his unhappiness. A barrier between the inherently wealthy and ‘new money’ blocks his ability to win back the girl he loves, placed there by by the embodiment of the upper class in America - Tom Buchanan. Tom never saw Gatsby as his equal because Gatsby was not born with money, calling him a “Mr. Nobody from Nowhere” (130). The working class sees this statement as an example of why the American Dream is not worth the effort.

Read More

Gatsby Socioeconomic Class

747 Words | 3 Pages

In the Great Gatsby, the American Dream is posed as “withering away” (Eble 36). Eble describes the American Dream of withering away and that all people striving for their American Dream are coming up short. People that desire to be one of the upper class, or the American Dream, will now struggle more than they already do. Likewise, Eble portrays critics as the cause of the “portrayal of the naive American Dream in a corrupt society”(Eble 35). Kenneth Eble initially says that people cannot go any further with the American Dream because we live in such a corrupt society.

Read More

Effects Of The Great Gatsby

1145 Words | 5 Pages

Chasing Fairy Tales The true effect of the American Dream and its effect on American society 13th of March 2023 __ Tasman Bunkum __ Gatsby and his green light The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a sarcastic critique of America in the 1920s and its transition into a morally deficient culture that solely focused on the pursuit of wealth and power. It seeks to ask its audience whether the American Dream is actually real and challenge the belief that anyone can be successful through hard work alone. Alex Gibney’s documentary, 740 Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream is also a critique of America and its lack of morals concerning the divide between rich and poor but with the backdrop of the modern day.

Read More

Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

907 Words | 4 Pages

The American Dream can be defined as the belief that every citizen of America should have an equal opportunity to achieve success through enough work and perseverance. This dream, however, is nothing more than an impossible concept. As residents of the United States know all too well, bills aren’t paid with the amount of ambition you have. No work of literature has ever scrutinized the American Dream as much as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. By using a great deal of symbols such as the Valley of Ashes, the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg, the books within Gatsby’s library and the green light, Fitzgerald is able to communicate the fictitious nature of the American Dream.

Read More

The Great Gatsby American Dream

660 Words | 3 Pages

The novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitz Gerald embodies many themes. A major in the story is the pursuit of can be labelled the American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes and a happy family symbolizes the American dream. The Great Gatsby shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons.

Read More

Materialism In The Great Gatsby Analysis

1558 Words | 7 Pages

The American dream states that any individual can achieve success regardless of family history, race, and/or religion simply by working hard. The 1920’s were a time of corruption and demise of moral values in society. The first World War had passed, and people were reveling in the materialism that came at the end of it, such as advanced technology and innovative inventions. The novel The Great Gatsby exploits the theme of the American Dream as it takes place in a corrupt period in history. Although the American Dream seemed more attainable than ever in the 1920’s, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby demonstrates how materialism and the demise of moral values in society leads to the corruption and impossibility of the American Dream.

Read More

The Negative Side Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

772 Words | 4 Pages

"The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream." In this quote, by Azar Nafisi, it explains how dreaming can be tainted by reality, and that if a person doesn’t compromise they may suffer. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is one the many themes present. The American Dream that most people in this book hope to have involves wealth, status, a fun social life, and someone to lust after. It is the life they all strive to have until they obtain it and see its meaningless composure.

Read More

Examples Of Unhappiness In The Great Gatsby

1873 Words | 8 Pages

The characters in the novel pretend that they have their lives all figured out, but through their successes their downfalls and emptiness can be seen, to prove that money cannot buy happiness. Jay Gatsby is the newest and upcoming star in New York during the 1920’s. Through his business and inheritance he is one of the richest men of his time. One may think that his abundance of wealth would lead him to be eternally happy, but he is the opposite. Gatsby longs for his love of Daisy, which is his personal American Dream.

Read More

How Does Jay Gatsby Fulfill The American Dream

723 Words | 3 Pages

They were once in love, before the war. But, after Gatsby leaves Daisy finds a new man. A man with money that could give her anything she desired. Everything except love that is. Gatsby could give her love at the time, but not money.

Read More

More about The American Dream Is Not Existent And Hardly Ever Was

Related Topics

Open Document