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The Great Gatsby Research Paper

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Sam Parupudi Dr. Paskali H English 3 6 March 2024 Gatsby’s Tragic Odyssey The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald introduces a wealthy but enigmatic figure named Jay Gatsby whose meticulous rise to wealth reflects the societal pressures of the 1920s, exposing the disillusionment inherent in the pursuit of the American Dream, which James Truslow Adams defines as “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller.according to ability" (214-215). Within the tragic journey of an Aristotelian hero, the intertwined forces of Hamartia and hubris shape their downfall, with Hamartia embodying the inherent flaw and hubris representing excessive pride. This potent pairing propels the narrative into peripeteia, a sudden reversal …show more content…

Gatsby's pursuit of wealth contrasts with Tom's inherited privilege, revealing the limitations of the American Dream. While Gatsby's ascent to wealth and status stems from relentless labor and a calculated desire for acceptance, Tom's effortless enjoyment of inherited privilege underscores the entrenched inequalities of the era and challenges the meritocratic ideals of the American Dream. On the other hand, Gatsby's tragic downfall exposes the myth of meritocracy, while Tom's entitlement showcases the moral decay accompanying wealth. Through Gatsby's relentless pursuit of wealth and status, juxtaposed with Tom Buchanan's inherited privilege, Fitzgerald delves deep into the complexities of ambition, morality, and societal decay. Unlike the conventional tragic hero, Gatsby's downfall is the consequence of societal barriers and the inherent emptiness of material success, rather than stemming from hubris. Gatsby's meticulously crafted persona not only reflects the societal pressures of the time such as displaying opulence in his parties but also exposes the superficiality of relationships and the disillusionment that accompanies the pursuit of the American

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Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby served as a warning, illustrating the decay and moral corruption that seeps into American society. One example of this is the character Jay Gatsby who embodies the Reckless Chase for wealth and status. As Nick Carraway notes Gatsby's Mansion is “ a copy of some fancy building in Normandy, with a tower on one side, brand new under a thin layer of green ivy” (Fitzgerald,5). Gatsby’s extravagant display of wealth is nothing but an illusion hiding his moral emptiness and the shallowness of his existence. This corruption extends beyond Gatsby himself to the privileged class that attends his parties, engaging in superficial interactions and pursuing selfish desires, unconcerned with the suffering around them.

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750 Words | 3 Pages

F.S. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby contains many people and events that triggered the death of the protagonist, Jay Gatsby. The death of Jay Gatsby is like a snowball because it keeps adding up and eventually it took Jay. However, Daisy was the biggest contributor to the snowball. On the other hand, George is the one who murdered Gatsby. Although George is the one who physically Gatsby, it was Daisy who could not choose between Gatsby and Tom, and Daisy who ran over Myrtle that led to Gatsby’s death.

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593 Words | 3 Pages

“The Great Gatsby” is a wonderful novel showing us the type of drama that happened over a century ago in the golden city of New York. Jay Gatsby, the generous man of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," is a character shaped by various identity factors that prove that he has a complex mind. From his origins to his self-made wealth, Gatsby's identity is influenced by his love for the American Dream, his obsession with the past, and his desire for social acceptance. Gatsby's love for the American dream is one of the reasons he worked so hard to become a millionaire. His desire for the American dream was the reason he is doing everything he can do to be with Daisy.

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1007 Words | 5 Pages

Albert Bai English 2 3/29/2024 The story of Gatsby's success and failures showed the fallacy of the American Dream, which is the idea that anyone can move up the ladder of American society if they work hard enough, regardless of their background and status. The portrayal of Gatsby's empty pursuit of the American Dream mirrors the current phenomenon of social media influencers who usually show their audience an idealized version of happiness and success that may not show the harsh realities and challenges in real life. Gatsby himself is the embodiment of the fallacy of the American dream. For Gatsby, the American Dream is almost entirely intertwined with winning Daisy back, which goes beyond social status and money. " He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to

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748 Words | 3 Pages

The Great Gatsby takes place in the roaring twenties and follows a young stockholder, Nick Carraway, and his journey moving amongst the fashionable elite. Here, Nick learns the truth about the American Dream whilst examining his peers' ignorant behaviors. One of the characters whose presence caused a ripple effect throughout the entirety of the novel was Gatsby. Through Gatsby’s actions, the reader is able to examine the behaviors of a man who achieved the “American dream” through years of hard work. Although Gatsby’s persistence and naivety are what defines him as “great”, it is also these qualities that led Gatsby to his demise.

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1306 Words | 6 Pages

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a book about wealth, image, and love. It is a reflection of the pursuit of happiness in America’s Gilded Era while dealing with corruption in the American dream. This book starts with the golden outer layer of the 1920’s, but it slowly shifts to a book full of deceit, immortality, and destruction. Here, we meet Jay Gatsby, a man draped in mystery and challenge, whose main focus and dream is the relentless pursuit of love and what is considered the “American Dream”. Through his eyes, Fitzgerald dives us into a world where wealth is alluring and exploitive, love is fragile, and where there are consequences of living life built on this illusion.

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1071 Words | 5 Pages

Gatsby's greatness lies in his relentless pursuit of his dreams, his ability to reinvent himself, and his extravagant lifestyle. He is not only “great” in his material wealth, but also in his capacity to dream and strive for something greater than himself. Unfortunately, the relentless pursuit of the American Dream ultimately leads to his downfall, as he becomes consumed by his obsession with the past and his inability to accept the reality of his

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2028 Words | 9 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby” illustrates the idea of the American dream in the 1920s by narrating how wealthy people in New York spend their summers recklessly partying. A side character, who does not see himself as a member of the upper class, observes his environment and tells the story of his self-made millionaire neighbor Jay Gatsby. Oftentimes glorified, the upper class is also presented as careless and their misuse of power in many different instances is revealed. Fitzgerald portrays the recklessness of the upper class through different speakers to point out various aspects of how they misuse their power and privileges. Disregarding Daisy’s attempts to explain herself, Gatsby tries to convince Tom Buchanan that his wife doesn’t love him.

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998 Words | 4 Pages

Ethan McKindley Mrs. Melberg English 3H Period 1 23 April 2024 America’s Dying Dream In the modern day, everyone wants to be wealthy and live in a big house surrounded by comfort and luxury, and to most this has become the ideal “American Dream.” However, the American Dream was not always about attaining fame and fortune. Instead, the American Dream used to be the idea that anyone, regardless of status or origins, could succeed in America if they worked hard enough.

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1008 Words | 5 Pages

Nate Eggleston Ms. Jesky English 300 March 6 2024 Gatsby’s American Dream The American dream is a personalized concept. Meaning that despite having a few similarities between definitions, every single person has a different and personalized idea of what it means. The Great Gatsby tackles these themes of the American Dream, how it is different for different people, how people strive for it, how people lose it, and at the center of this story and these concepts, is Jay Gatsby himself. James Gatsby is someone who gains an idea of his dream throughout the story, takes the path required to achieve his dreams, yet loses it due to his hyperfixation on a certain aspect.

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657 Words | 3 Pages

Gatby’s obsession with wealth makes his strive for the American Dream unattainable. Gatsby throws parties almost every night in the summer. The parties are full of life, roaring,

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798 Words | 4 Pages

In a time of prosperity and opportunity during the 1920, America was sitting on the edge of a booming economy and diminishing success. This notion is seen all too well in the story about Jay Gatsby, a rich gentleman, who desires a woman named Daisy but is already married to Tom Buchanan. Gatsby tries to attract the attention of Daisy through over-the-top parties and the flaunting of his wealth, but nothing seems to bring her to his side. Ultimately, Gatsby's actions and conflicts during the novel uncover the illusion and reveal the dark truth of the American Dream of the 1920s. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses his characters to critique the American Dream through their moral choices.

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595 Words | 3 Pages

The Great Gatsby, The American Dream, and You The Great Gatsby, a tragic realist novel written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, contains themes generally centralizing on the American Dream. However, it seems that from my perspective one of the central themes of this work is how, even if someone achieves the “cookie cutter” life, which was the focus of the American Dream in the 1920s, they may still be unfulfilled due to the infiltration of class division within the upper class, making the American Dream essentially unachievable. One of the main examples of this concept in The Great Gatsby is the character Jay Gatsby, formerly known as James Gatz, and his relationship with another titular character Daisy Buchanan. This relationship helps to develop

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822 Words | 4 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota and died December 21, 1940, in Hollywood, California. Growing up, his father, Edward Fitzgerald, was a salesman for Procter & Gamble which caused his family to move back and forth between Buffalo and Syracuse, New York until Fitzgerald was twelve. In 1908, Fitzgerald’s father lost his job so they moved back to St. Paul and lived off of his mother’s, Mary McQuillan’s, inheritance. As a child, Fitzgerald was wise and his parents were proud of him. An article published by A&E Network says, “Fitzgerald was a bright, handsome and ambitious boy.”

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789 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was written in the twentieth century, during the "Jazz Age" of American literature. The author examines a number of morally and socially significant subjects in the novel, such as love, friendship, class differences, and riches. However, the main theme of the book deals with a less emotive and relatively larger subject. Although The Great Gatsby is set in a restricted geographic area near Long Island, New York, and spans only a few months in the summer of 1922, it is a profoundly symbolic reflection on America in the 1920s, particularly on the fall of the American dream in the midst of an unprecedented age of material excess and prosperity. Scott Fitzgerald's text explores the theme of the quest for the

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