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The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis Essay In the novel, The Great Gatsby, there are many different plot points that drive the story, but one in particular that acts as a driver is the American Dream. In the book, among the plot points, there are Love, Wealth, Lies and Deceit, and The American Dream. The American Dream acts as a driver for most of the main characters, showing that they want to pursue happiness in their own ways. Sometimes they are similar, and sometimes they are different, but they all center around the American dream. All of the characters view success in their own way; they all just want to have their dreams come true. One of the most prominent characters that pursue the American Dream is Jay Gatsby. Throughout the book, Gatsby …show more content…

The people of East Egg just use their money as a tool to do what they want. "The Buchanan's live on one side, East Egg, and Jay Gatsby lives on the other side, West Egg. The Buchanans belong to the socialites, yet their lives have no meaning, Gatsby tries to chase the American Dream, yet his idea is tarnished." Atlantic Monthly: April 16, 1998: pgs. 23-25). The adage is a sham. The values of all of these people are closer to how Gatsby values his money than the people of West Egg. All of the characters on West Egg and all the characters on East Egg are exact contradictions of each other, except Gatsby who seems like he would belong on East Egg. In the story, you can tell that Gatsby's driving action is his love, not his money, it is love. That shows that in Gatsby's eyes, getting his love is his own success, his own American dream. Throughout the whole book, Gatsby references his love for Daisy and how he looks over to her dock over the water, and near the end of the story, once he archives it, he has finally achieved his dream. He stretched out his arms toward the dark water. . . . I. . …show more content…

When I looked once more at Gatsby, he had vanished. . . ." The Great Gatsby pg. 24. The aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid afore In the story, it is not just the main characters pursuing their dreams, many of the side characters also have some sort of dream for success. For example, Jordan Baker is a more important character among all of the side characters, she seems like someone who has achieved their dream, she has all that she wants and only wants more for convenience. She only likes Nick because he entertains her. Jordan is the example character that has achieved everything that she wanted and doesn't need any more. The last person to talk about is Nick. Nick is the main character of the Great Gatsby. His only dream is to be successful in his own life, he wants to be rich by earning his wealth doing only what he loves. Nick idolized Gatsby because he wanted to be in the same situation as him, he wanted to be Gatsby. Nick, in the story, also worries for Gatsby, he wants to have what Gatsby has, but he doesn't want to become him. He stretched out his arms toward the dark water. . . . I. . . distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away. . .

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Despite the stories that went around about Gatsby, Nick looked past them to learn who he truly was. “He smiled understandingly… it was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced… the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself… I'd got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care” (Fitzgerald, 49).

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In the novel, there are two cities: East Egg and West Egg. East Egg is home to the wealthy that come from “old money” the families that have always been rich. West Egg is home to the wealthy that come from “new money.” Gatsby and Daisy share different social statuses due to the cities they live in. Daisy comes from East Egg, having a huge mansion and tons of money.

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The people of West Egg were of “new money”. The population in East Egg inherited their families’ riches making them of “old money”. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the houses owned by Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan depict each one’s personality and how they want to be perceived by others; overall these homes show the need to display one’s social class in the 1920s.

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Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water, and the history of the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there to have dinner with the Tom Buchanan’s. Daisy was my second cousin once removed, and I’d known Tom in college. ”(The Great Gatsby page 5). This explains the difference between the East and West Egg. People who lived in East Egg were valued more over the West Egg.

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West Egg is full of drinking and partying, or the more rebellious type of people. We can see that Gatsby moved here on his own because if not, then he would probably be living in East Egg. Nick works on Wall Street and seems to be barely getting by. Nick earns everything and is never given anything.

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Through-out the story readers come to the senses that Gatsby wants to be seen as “one of them.”, as well as trying to achive the american dream. In the great Gatsby, there is alot of talk of the “West egg and East egg”. In the novel, the East egg represents the old money and West egg new money; the East egg is considered superior to West egg. On page 5 it says, “i lived at west egg, the—well, less fashionable of the two...”

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F Scott Fitzgerald exerts this idea in The Great Gatsby by contrasting East Egg and West Egg. Families that inherited and consumed money, as if it was a prize, settled in East Egg. Their White Georgian mansions “glittered along the water,” to flaunt the fashionable statement of affluence. On the surface, East Egg is seen to portray a traditional and formal lifestyle. The people of East Egg appear to be living a fantasy.

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The elements of East Egg, Old Money vs. New Money, and Daisy’s character prove that the theme of Money and Materialism is evident in The Great Gatsby. Daisy Buchanan’s luxurious home in East Egg makes her materialistic because she loves places that are full of wealth. In the novel, Nick says, "Across

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The American dream is a major theme in Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," exploring whether it is realistic or unrealistic. Fitzgerald dives into the aspirations for wealth, symbolism, and the results of chasing such a dream through characters like Jay Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy Buchanan. The book's protagonist, Gatsby, is the personification of the American dream. At the beginning of the story, it is clear that he wishes to be with Daisy, in addition to his social status and wealth. His constant ambition is shown many times throughout the book.

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The characteristics between the wealthy is a theme that is exhibited multiple times through the main characters in The Great Gatsby. The first major distinction in class within the wealthy is the description of the West Egg , people who have recently become rich, and East Egg, people who have inherited money from past generations. The distinction is made at the start of the novel to show how social status affect Gatsby’s reputation and relationship with Daisy. Although both are places resided by the more economically advantaged, within the rich, social expectations are different on each egg, “She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented “place’” (Fitzgerald 107).

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The Great Gatsby is about a self-made wealthy individual, Gatsby, who is in pursuit of his long-lost love, Daisy. The story carries the reader through the complications and journeys of Gatsby trying to get to Daisy. The reader sees these journeys through Nick's eyes, who is the narrator. The American Dream is also a big topic that appears in the book because people want to be able to make money, no matter their background. Every main character, Gatsby, Nick, Daisy, and Tom, displays a different “American Dream” they wish to fulfill, which helps shape their stories throughout the book.

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The American Dream in The Great Gatsby was a motif; one motif is geography as represented by East and West Egg. One symbolic way in which he shows he’s disillusioned with the "American Dream" is his stark contrast between the haves and the have-nots. West Egg is where the "new rich" live, those who have made a lot of money by being criminals or entrepreneurial in the years after WW1 ended. Jay Gatsby is on the West Egg. East Egg is filled with those who have always had money; old money.

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