The Great Gatsby Comparative Essay

1470 Words6 Pages

Valeria Martinez
Mrs.Stele
Ap English
3/9/2023
The new perspectives of today
The former description of the American Dream is not a dream but rather, a personal level or accomplishment held to a person’s standard. Historically, people are sent to pursue an ambition, where happiness and success are defined and measured by the amount of money and materialistic things possessed. The Great Gatsby portrays this by depicting what the dream is imagined to be. Many assume wealth or living in riches produces the pathway to a satisfied, prosperous life. The American Dream Fitzgerald illustrates is different from the perspective of others today, due to the changed priorities and views on money over authentic accomplishments and contentment.
The American …show more content…

The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald portrays this exact idea by comparing characters such as Daisy and Tom who came from wealth to Jay Gatsby and George Wilson who worked for their money. What this means is that characters like Tom and Daisy use money to avoid problems and buy pleasure. This influences the irony of avoiding difficulties with money because, throughout the story, money is what attracts problems. According to source a ¨Gatsby's case, he very quickly acquires a large amount of money through crime.¨ In other words, the concept of the dream is contradicted by the fact that Gatsby did not work intensely for his wealth, but instead went into crime. This connects to how not only did he use the money to create problems with Daisy and Tom, but brought them onto himself as well. Critics might say that ¨he is a perfect avatar for the American Dream.¨ because Gatsby searched for any way to accomplish the dream even though it was out of reach and unimaginable, though that was not the case because he complicated what the dream meant. He went to the extent that throughout the story showed that the value of money causes individuals to forget their moral values …show more content…

This all means forgetting about the American dream and the meaning behind it because working hard should only be towards a personalized goal a person has set for themselves to succeed. This is significant because the views of the dream have changed. After all, the actualization of what the dream means discloses that there is no point in chasing nothing, living in riches but no contentment while spending all the