The Great Gatsby Essay

The American Dream is the idea or belief that anyone regardless of wealth problems, gender, race, etc. can achieve their goals in America by hard work. Gatsby represents the American Dream by being almost an exact replica of what the American Dream is thought of to be; a regular person becoming successful and wealthy through dedication and hard work. Gatsby wanted to not be like his father and worked to keep his ego in check. “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,'' he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” (Fitzgerald 7). “I am still a little afraid of

For one, it was during the increasing prosperity of America, economic growth, and time. In the 1920s, America’s economy was booming to unspeakable heights because of the improving technology and working conditions. In chapter 6 of the Great Gatbsy, we learn that Gatbsy had a rags-to-riches type of life, similar to how America was like in the 1920s coming from war to growing economics. Nick says “I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.” (Fitzgerald 171). It foreshadows the downfall of the American economy and the Wall Street Crash of 1929. It symbolizes that not everyone can dream, or in Nick’s case, the green light. Gatsby’s continuous hope for better is similar to society’s desire for infinite growth in the

Gatbsy is trying to achieve the American dream of being wealthy and by doing that, he tries to erase time as if he was born with wealth and had it all along. Time plays an important role in The Great Gatsby as Gastby cannot buy or control it. Gatsby tries to erase the time he was away from Daisy, his love interest, and tries to continue from where they stopped. “Your wife doesn’t love you. She’s never loved you. She loves me. "She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except me! I told you what’s going on. "Not seeing," said Gatsby. "No, we couldn't meet. But both of us loved each other all that time, old sport, and you didn't know. I used to laugh sometimes to think that you didn't know.” (Fitzgerald 80). The quote shows Gatsby's illusion of Daisy and him thinking that time hasn’t passed him. Gatsby was in disbelief when Nick tried to tell him to move on. “You can't repeat the past," replying "Why of course you can!" Nick says that Gatsby "believed in...the orgastic future that year by year recedes." (Fitzgerald 180). “All I kept thinking about, over and over, was ‘You can’t live forever; you can’t live forever.” (Fitzgerald 26). Dreams is a theme showcased in the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy and how Gatsby had always loved Daisy