The Great Gatsby Quote Analysis

“No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man can store up in his ghostly heart…” was a quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald, written to revolve the story of The Great Gatsby directly around it. Fitzgerald made it very present in his writing of this novel that “not all that glitters is gold.” His interpretation of the American dream wraps this theme up in an extravagant bow with how it presents the roaring twenties, rich by both definitions or so it is thought. The novel tells the tale through a character named Nick Carraway who, despite being the storyteller, is not exactly the main character himself. He goes on to state how he moved to West Egg, New York to work in the bonds business, but he stops to see his cousin Daisy Buchanan for dinner,

It flows through the writing, like a downhill stream. This is expressed through his character’s dreams. Some examples would be Daisy’s desire to represent true perfection in her social standing, Tom’s idea that he must surpass the masculine stereotypes set before him, and Myrtle’s hunger for what high-class society has to offer. The majority of these dreams vary; however, all of these characters look at their dreams with greed and obsession. Gatsby is the main character who is a renowned specimen of the American dream. James Gatz builds himself up from nothing to one of the most iconic and affluent members of West Egg, known as “The Gatsby.” Gatsby’s stairsteps to his true dream are constructed; still, his dream never comes to fruition. Gatsby desires to have the same relationship with Daisy as he did when he was young. Unfortunately, he is unable to see that she has changed. This is later stated when Nick expresses his opinion of Gatsby’s dream of the past by declaring, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past…” (180). His dream is the very thing that navigates him to his doom. This represents how the American dream can build up false hope to create a veil around true reality. These dreams originate from the strength of the human will; however, they are later tainted by greed and

F. Scott Fitzgerald shows the control it has on the story through the often mention of a character’s economic status or where their family falls in line financially. Nick is mentioned to be able to wander around throughout the novel, due to his family coming from a line of old money that is in connection with Daisy. Gatsby, a figure who is extremely wealthy, also takes to Nick because of both his relationship with Daisy and their shared war experiences, which in turn allows Nick to experience the lavishness that is Gatsby’s parties. Every character is controlled by the idea of either economic gain or maintaining their materialistic power. Tom turns his nose down to new money-makers, believing that only those with previous high status are of higher social standing. Myrtle desperately wants to climb the social ladder, which in turn starts her affair with Tom. Daisy refuses to leave with Gatsby, due to the idea that it may diminish her high-ranking status among the wealthy. Gatsby forms both his economic empire and his philosophy of materialism as a form of trying to win back Daisy’s heart. The idea of wealth harshly divides the minority of the rich from those who are poor or rising in rank. It is also shown metaphorically through the ash town between West and East Egg. Even though Gatsby is now rich, he will never be a natural East Egger. Even though Daisy once loved Gatsby, she has always