The Great Gatsby Research Paper

The Great Gatsby: The Reality of the American Dream Lavish parties. Designer clothing. Grand Estates. Status. The. Wealth. The. These are some aspects of what the American Dream consists of. Many people fall victim to the pursuit of the American Dream. The illusion that money can buy happiness perpetuates the chasing of a dream that is often unattainable. It causes one to wonder whether the American Dream can be achieved without happiness, or if fulfillment is possible in the absence of true love. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald captures the illusion of the American Dream through the grand yet tragically flawed and unhappy lives of Jay Gatsby and the Buchanans, as they use wealth to seek love and hide their realities. Gatsby, a wealthy bootlegger,

Their unhappy marriage is based on social norms and not true love. The Buchanan marriage is an illusion in itself. They seem to think they exemplify the American Dream, while they better personify the Valley of Ashes and the associated moral decay. The illusion of the American Dream is portrayed in many characters and symbols throughout the novel. The green light from Daisy’s home (seen at Gatsby’s dock) represents the false hope that lures people into the never-ending cycle of the American Dream. When Nick reflects on Gatsby’s life and death, he realizes the impossibility of the situation and that "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. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night. Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.