The Great Gatsby Research Paper

The Fall of the American Dream

Many historians are firm believers that the 1920’s encompassed the broad totality of the American Dream. In a time of wild parties, economic prosperity, and growth of booming the stock market, It appears to be one of the most successful decades in U.S history. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald challenges these gilded beliefs with his award-winning novel— The Great Gatsby. It is in his book that we see just how corrupt the country had become; blinded by greed for wealth and status.

Under the pretense that the United States symbolized endless opportunities of wealth, success, and social mobility, the national ethos of the American dream enticed all of its countrymen. This attracted the young protagonist James Gatz

He felt as if he was too good for the struggles of the poor, even “never really [accepting his}parents.”(Fitzgerald, 98). Gatsby was a “son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty.”(Fitzgerald, 98). When he ran away and met sailor Dan Cody, he travelled the entire world , experiencing the wonders of endless wealth and what it could do. However, when Mr. Cody suddenly died, and Gatsby was denied his portion of money from the will, He seeped back into the abyss of poverty. After being drafted to fight in the World War I, he served as a travelling officer, eventually meeting the love of his life, Daisy. However, uncertain of his chances with the young heiress, and called back to duty, Gatsby was never able to secure his relationship with her. After rising through the ranks and finishing the war in honorable fashion, Gatsby returned to the U.S broken both in his heart—as Daisy had married Tom Buchanan— and in his pockets as

Daisy Buchanan, was the only piece missing from his perfect, incorruptible, dream of life. Yet, for some reason, he could not grasp the fact that her heart and mind belonged to another man. A man not of good character, but of “fine breeding” (Fitzgerald, 72) who was born into his fortune. His affluent background and honest wealth set him above Gatsby in the eyes of Daisy. She feared the danger and negative opinions surrounding Gatsby, and the perception of “new money” settlers in West Egg could only serve to lessen her reputation. Unfortunately, Mr. Gatsby was all but aware of Daisy’s superficial affection. She slept with him and told him that she loved him, but it was obvious that once hearing these sweet nothings, “his count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.”(Fitzgerald, 122) He only cared for Daisy, and consequently, he began to lose focus on his business affairs, became an even more suspicious figure to the media, and lost many of his trusted staff and