ipl-logo

The Great Gatsby Research Paper

592 Words3 Pages

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, “The Great Gatsby,” he demonstrates the demise of the American Dream through the tragic character of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s relentless pursuit of Daisy’s love, believing it could be reclaimed through accumulating wealth and hard work, eventually ends in failure and inconvenient death. The novel vividly portrays the prevailing belief in the power of wealth and the fervent desire to relive a past era. Set in the opulent West Egg, where Gatsby resides alongside Daisy, the narrative searches into themes of wealth, ambition, and the elusive nature of love. Gatsby’s demise serves as a poignant reminder of the failure of comparing material success with true fulfillment, and marks a profound commentary on the disillusionment inherent in the American Dream. …show more content…

Firstly, the tragic ending of the novel, with Gatsby’s death and the collapse of the dream, serves as a symbol of the end of the American Dream. As Nick reflects on Gatsby’s death, “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 180). This quote demonstrates Jay Gatsby’s inability to attain the ultimate goal of winning Daisy’s love back due to a tragic ending. Gatsby's failure to achieve the goal represents the end of the American Dream. Gatsby's poignant statement to Nick, "Can’t repeat the past.why of course you can'' (Fitzgerald 110) underscores the desperate attempt to rewrite history to make mistakes right. However, Gatsby’s inability to let go of the past and accept reality highlights the relentless pursuit of an end to dreams. In the end, the demise of Gatsby and shattered dreams symbolize the end of the American Dream. Moreover, the Great Gatsby showed the end of the American Dream through wealth and social

Show More
Related
1206 Words | 5 Pages

​F. Scott Fitzgerald views the American dream as something that can’t be achieved no matter how hard you try, you’ll always hear about and think about it but never get a taste of it. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby and Daisy as a way to represent America’s affair and obsession with the dream; Gatsby wants to live his life with Daisy but pursuits only lead him down a downward spiral. Fitzgerald uses several literary tools portray his view on the Dream, The green light that sits on Daisy’s dock symbolizes Gatsby’s hopes and dreams of living a life with her, and the Valley of Ashes is the ugly consequences of our obsession with wealth. What makes Gatsby’s life so interesting is the secretive nature around his life and his wealth, no one truly knows his past and anything that is known is probably just another rumor.

Read More
498 Words | 2 Pages

In The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby achieves the American Dream of success through his hard work and dedication after the war like many others. The reader first identifies Gatsby’s devotion to achieving his American Dream during a conversation between Nick and Gatsby. Nick asked Gatsby, “I thought you inherited your money.” (Gatsby replied,) “I did, old sport,” he said automatically, “but I lost most of it in the big panic- the panic of the war” (Fitzgerald 90). In connection with the time period when the economy was at a low, Gatsby had lost all the money he had inherited.

Read More
854 Words | 4 Pages

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby the extravagant lifestyle of the wealthy in the 1920s are shown through the story of Jay Gatsby, a millionaire, who mysteriously throws extravagant parties every weekend. Regardless of Gatsby wealth and status, he dies alone and unfulfilled, which highlights the illusory nature of the American dream, the superficiality of society, and the consequences of living a dishonest life. For that reason Fitzgerald's decision to have the main character, Gatsby, die was not only significant but also needed to emphasize these themes throughout the novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald's “The Great Gatsby,” tragic ending of Jay Gatsby Serves as a reminder that the American dream is an illusion, the superficiality of society, and the terrible outcome of living a dishonest life.

Read More
550 Words | 3 Pages

Gatsby Living The American Dream Many people attempted to live the American Dream during the 1920’s and were often unsuccessful with it. In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby faces the challenge of pursuing the American Dream. Throughout the novel the author gives a brief history of Gatsby’s early life leading up to his life later on.

Read More
199 Words | 1 Pages

On the surface, the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, acts as a tragic and fruitless love story, however, it most commonly serves as a critique on the most desired spirit the world has to offer, the American Dream. In the novel, the mysterious and charming Jay Gatsby earns his way from a simple farm boy to the epitome of a successful and respectful man, or so it seems. He gains an incredible amount of money through his intuitive realization of opportunities at hand in the market, only to continue receiving rejection from the old money of East Egg. Gatsby serves as the personification of the American Dream, however, his efforts are not what Daisy’s heart desires.

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

In a time of opportunity and despair, the 1920s were filled with lavish lifestyles yet also devastating unfulfilled prosperity. This perception is acknowledged all too well in the unfortunate novel of Jay Gatsby, a millionaire harboring secrets, who is head over heels in rekindling the light he once had 5 years ago with Daisy Buchanan, a married woman from his past. Gatsby is determined to win over Daisy’s love through ostentatious parties and over-the-top gestures, but his approach is ultimately declined. Overall, Gatsby's actions and conflicts during the novel uncover the illusion and reveal the other perspective of the American Dream in the 1920s. In his novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses his characters to critique the American Dream through their moral choices.

Read More
764 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells the story of Gatsby’s pursuit of his old love, Daisy, from the perspective of the 1st person narrator, Nick Carraway. Fitzgerald paints a pessimistic picture of the state of the American Dream in the 1920s, suggesting that no matter how hard someone worked, they had little chance of becoming rich and fully achieving the American Dream through upward social mobility. At first, Fitzgerald seemingly suggests the idea that the American Dream is attainable through the character of Gatsby, who came from a poor, humble family and managed to become very rich in a short period of time. However, this perfect image is crushed when it is revealed in the novel that Gatsby gained all his money through criminal means rather than hard work in accordance with the original definition of the American

Read More
752 Words | 4 Pages

Jacob Aki Mr, Hubbard English 11/ P. 2 5, April 2024 The American Dream The Great Gatsby is a novel that represents what it was like to live the American Dream in the “Roaring 20’s”. In the story, F. Scott Fitzgerald really shows us many characters living a wealthy and luxurious life where they have no worries. We can take the American dream one step further than wealth though and see how they live and their emotions throughout the story.

Read More
666 Words | 3 Pages

By the end of the story Nick Carraway says that we are all “borne back” into the past meaning that there is always something pushing us back to our pasts that we must overcome. Gatsby is driven by his memory of the past and cannot escape it and this leads him to tragedy. In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is supposed to stand for independence and the ability to make something of one's self with hard work, but it ends up being more about the selfish pursuit of money and material items. No amount of hard work can change where Gatsby came from. Determination and hard work aren't enough, and so the American Dream collapses, just like” the ballooning dresses” of Jordan and Daisy when Nick sees them that first day in Daisy’s

Read More
249 Words | 1 Pages

The main character Jay Gatsby depicts the decline of the American dream in the novel “The Great Gatsby”. Grasping on an illusion for whom he cared dearly, he is merely a puppet in a world ruled by wealth. Gatsby is the perfect example of the American dream because he has acquired wealth and it seems that everyone likes him, however, it is merely an illusion. Although his life appears to be perfect from the outside, he is miserable and alone within. Gatsby acquired his fortune after serving in the war, with the simple motivation: regaining Daisy back.

Read More
1718 Words | 7 Pages

Research Paper In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses literary devices such as foreshadowing and metaphors to examine the American dream and the baggage that comes with it. Each of the characters within the novel has their own vision of the American dream. For some, the dream is everlasting wealth and high social status, while for others the dream is an opportunity to achieve great success with hard work and determination. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald introduces characters who have inherited the dream, and others who are working hard to achieve their dreams and goals.

Read More
614 Words | 3 Pages

Does all dreams come true? A dream is something beautyfull that you all the time think about but can you always get it? The Great Gatsby .F.Scott Fitz General. The Great Gatsby is about a man named Gatsby how has a big American Dream and his dream is to be with Daisy, Daisy is the love of his life and his wealing to do everiting he can to have her.

Read More
448 Words | 2 Pages

The American Dream has existed for longer than the United States itself, serving both as a beacon of hope and opportunity, and a reminder to the poor that great riches and dreams are achievable in America. But as author F. Scott Fitzgerald argues, the Dream remains largely out of reach for those without a significant advantage. Even in the case of wealth, financial success does not necessarily result in happiness– something that reveals the illusory and inaccesible nature of the Dream. In his 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses symbolism, imagery, and character development to warn the reader about the lack of achievability of dreams, destructive nature of materialism, and the inherently artificial means through which we may pursue them.

Read More
372 Words | 2 Pages

Within the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author is able to use the idea of the American Dream and how inevitable this social idea lead to the downfall of the main character, therefore showing the readers how destructive these ideals can be. The novel describes how the American Dream impacted the lives of many, especially Jay Gatsby, in the sense that that is the reason why he couldn’t be happy with his life and past choices. Due to the belief that he messed up his past, Gatsby decided to make something of himself, become wealthy, and become a better man than he was. In order to do this, he lost many of his morals and became a completely different person from his past therefore restricting him from the one thing that could’ve made

Read More
1124 Words | 5 Pages

The Great Gatsby, a classic novel that interprets the American Dream in the 1920’s, by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows how dreams can guide and fulfill but may eventually destroy a person who is unwilling to let an unattainable dream go. Gatsby’s dream to win back his previous love leads him to give the appearance that he is portraying a character that he is truly not. Gatsby foolishly convinces himself that he can be an equal match to Tom Buchanan, his lover’s husband. Gatsby’s death is a cause of him never allowing himself to let go of the past. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel conveys the message that wealthier people will most likely take advantage of his or her money for his or her own selves.

Read More

More about The Great Gatsby Research Paper

Open Document