The Great Gatsby Daisy

656 Words3 Pages

The American Dream drives many people towards success and achievement, and the novel The Great Gatsby portrays the nature of chasing this dream through its titular character: Jay Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it follows Nick Carraway and his time in New York as he befriends his rich, mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Nick helps Gatsby reunite with Daisy Buchanan, his former love who is now in an unhappy marriage. However, through betrayal, corruption, and greed, the reader sees Gatsby’s downfall. These are all themes in the novel, yet the theme of the American Dream is the most influential in the novel, with Gatsby showing this theme throughout the novel. The theme of the American Dream is shown in the very first chapter of the novel. After Nick gets back from a meeting with Tom …show more content…

As Gatsby reaches out towards it, he shows how he tries to take hold of the American Dream. Daisy is also Gatsby American Dream, his true love–him reaching out for something on her dock shows his dream is upon her again. Gatsby also showcases the theme of the American Dream when he reunites with Daisy. Gatsby invites both Daisy and Nick to his house to show them around, and he tells Nick that “‘It only took me just three years to earn the money that bought it’ ‘I thought you inherited your money’”(Fitzgerald 57). This shows how Gatsby was able to become rich in a short time by earning it himself, an example of achieving the American Dream. Yet, there is more to Gatsby’s wealth as he had told Nick before that he inherited his wealth and when Nick mentions this Gatsby tries to explain it away. When Nick inquires about how he truly earned his money, Gatsby snaps at him and claims it’s only for him to know. Their conversation foreshadows what we later learn about how Gatsby truly achieved the American Dream–by being a bootlegger and selling illegal