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The Great Gatsby Response Essay

1865 Words8 Pages

Gary Williams Mrs. Seeck Honors Junior English 2/25/23 R.I.P. To “The American Dream” The Great Gatsby is an early 20th century novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald which takes a deep dive into many subjects in America at the time. One of the many topics the novel discusses that still remains relevant to this day is what is the current role of the American Dream in today’s society. When people think of America, they usually default to the idea of a white picket fence and a family of four with their German shepard barbequing in their backyard. However, in The Great Gatsby the audience asked if the idea of a society they once thought of may be dead? One of the many ways The Great Gatsby references the American Dream is through its many interesting …show more content…

The bridge the audience sees the citizens walking on is cracking and shows signs that it’s falling apart, and these citizens are in danger, and yet there seems to be no support in sight for them (see Fig. 1). This shows us what struggle for many Americans in the middle class may look like. Not only are they walking up this cracking bridge to try and reach some sort of success for them or their families. They are heavily encouraged by the bright flashing sign, a staple of advertising in modern day America. The use of the sign is used to show us that even though Americans want what is best for them and their families and they will fight every tooth nail and bone to get theirs, those in the higher classes will always regulate the system to make sure that the American Dream is dead and will stay dead. Another great piece of evidence that illustrates the Dream and its current state is the image from Katie Fish that helps to visualize the American people's feelings about how their thoughts and needs feel like trash, and it is taken literally in this image (see Fig. 2). The milk carton is a clear interpretation of how those at the higher levels of wealth essentially throw what the middle class. They’ve surpassed what the middle classes strive to be and instead of helping those who are below them they essentially put them down farther in society, which essentially helps to argue against James Truslow’s idea of life that is better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or

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