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The Role Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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What would you do to get to your American Dream? In the novel, The Great Gatsby it took many twist and turns. It showed the true emotions of people when money is goal in peoples lives. In The Great Gatsby the American dream is a motif shown throughout the story. It unleashed the true side of what people would really go through to get what they want. Jay Gatsby born James Gatz was born the son of poor farmers. He had goals and dreams to one day become a wealthy man. One dream in particular was to one day get back his forever love Daisy Buchanan. After Gatsby served his time in war Daisy began to trail off and find new love. Gatsby didn’t come from the proper social class according to Daisy, because of this it led him to want to become a wealthy upper-class man. Everyone had their own American Dream. Gatsby’s dream was to become a wealthier man to get back the love his life. Despite him already owning the best things money could, he still wanted that one priceless item, Daisy. In chapter five Daisy says to Gatsby “We haven’t met for many years” Gatsby responds to her by saying “Five years next November.” (Fitzgerald 87) His response to her shows that he has not lost count on their last encounter. He has been focused for five years on trying to get Daisy back. Gatsby’s love …show more content…

Her husband Tom Buchanan was socially and economically stable. Tom was at the top of the food chain opposed to Gatsby. Jay Gatsby wants to prove to Tom that Daisy still loves him. In chapter seven Gatsby says to Tom “She never loved you do you hear? ‘She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except for me” (Fitzgerald 130-131). Gatsby wanted to show Daisy’s husband Tom that she only truly loved him. Jay could never get over his love for her, he’d risk it all for

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Gatsby does not think that things like money or a child should get in the way of what Daisy really wants. That is why he becomes impatient with her and decides that he will have to tell Tom himself that Daisy never loved him. When Gatsby tells him, he demands Daisy to sit down, “what’s been going on? I want to hear all about it”, but Gatsby interrupts, “I told you what’s been going on. Going on for five years – and you didn’t know” (131).

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Another example of his lasting love for Daisy Buchanan is when they reunite at Nick Carraway's house, per Gatsby’s demanding request. Gatsby, understandably nervous, is “pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pocket” (Fitzgerald 86). Though he's lived just across the bay from Daisy, it’s been years since they’ve had any interaction. Anxious as ever, he likely would’ve never anticipated the awkwardness that's yet to come. He’s always hoped in the back of his mind that Daisy would have carried him in her memories like he did with her.

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Many of them never accomplished their goal and alongside them was Gatsby due to his tragic death in the prime of his life. An article written by Carla L. Verderame, titled “Social Class in The Great Gatsby”, further reinforces this thought when she says, “Gatsby’s determination to achieve great wealth and to shift from lower to upper class is all done in an attempt to reclaim Daisy,” (Verderame “Social Class”). Gatsby single-handedly took himself from lower to upper class only to impress the one girl that he cared about in his life. It did not matter how he reached that or what stood in his way, he just knew he needed to make it happen. At the very end of the book, the author proves this again by writing, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year

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794 Words | 4 Pages

They each benefited from their wealth in completely opposite ways. Jay Gatsby used his wealth to impress the woman he loved, Daisy Buchanan. He became a self-made wealthy man in order to fit into what people sought acceptable in American society and culture. Once able, he showed his riches off to Daisy. It is revealed that Daisy is a

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Gatsby only loved one female his entire life, and that was Daisy. Daisy was an exciting girl, but she wasn’t his anymore. He spent many years trying to find Daisy. After the war he basically contributed his life into finding her.

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Due to this obsession with his previous lover—Daisy— Gatsby fabricates a character and engages in questionable behavior in an effort to get her back. Fitzgerald ultimately uses Gatsby's tale to demonstrate that the past cannot be recreated and that trying to do so can result in disaster. To win back his former love, Daisy Buchanan, Jay Gatsby deals with the uncertainties of his past by reinventing himself as a wealthy and cultured individual. James Gatz was raised in a rural area of North Dakota as the son of struggling farmers. From an early age, he resented being poor and yearned for riches and elegance.

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Tom and Gatsby were arguing over Daisy when Gatsby blurted, “She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except me” (130). This also shows that Daisy is also only in love with Tom & Gatsby because they have money. This further supports the idea of different American dreams, but in this case it’s Daisy’s goal. Some people may say that this relationship tells us that love has no limits and can be with whomever.

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The American Dream has been around for centuries. Its the idea that anyone, regardless of their background can achieve succes in the United States. However the American Dream has changed drastically for today's generation. In F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby”, Fitzgerald explores the American Dream during the 1920s. In his novel; Jay Gatsby's American dream is to obtain his love interest, Daisy Buchanan.

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He had been the one man whom Daisy loved and he imagines himself and Daisy getting back together again. Gatsby is trying to convince himself that Daisy loves him and that she will leave Tom for him but he soon finds out that she would never leave her husband. Daisy even shows her love for both men when she says that, “I did love him once—but I loved you too”(Fitzgerald 132). When Gatsby says that, “She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me”(Fitzgerald 130).

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Kasper 1 Thomas Kasper Mr. Vettoso English 11 4/22/16 The American Dream The American is an myth and an idea that people struggle for but can never be achieved. It cannot be attained because it is an endless race for perfection and better than oneself. People follow the American dream because they believe it has been accomplished before. And that all Americans believe that are we are all equal.

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Gatsby is a self-made man who has achieved wealth and status through hard work and determination. He is driven by his desire to win back Daisy, whom he believes is the embodiment of the American Dream. However, Gatsby's pursuit of the dream is ultimately futile, as Daisy is unable to return his love and Gatsby's wealth and status are not enough to make her love him. This theme is further explored through the character of Tom Buchanan, who is born into wealth and privilege and is unable to understand Gatsby's ambition and drive.

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We all want the perfect life. A fast car, a mansion on the hills, a beautiful life partner and all the money in the world. All of these ideas integrate themselves into one glorious life plan: the american dream. While these things are all part of the american dream, the idea is subjective and ultimately a lie as no one can have a perfect life. F. Scott Fitzgerald does a phenomenal job of taking these fantasies and integrating them into a timeless novel.

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"The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream." In this quote, by Azar Nafisi, it explains how dreaming can be tainted by reality, and that if a person doesn’t compromise they may suffer. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is one the many themes present. The American Dream that most people in this book hope to have involves wealth, status, a fun social life, and someone to lust after. It is the life they all strive to have until they obtain it and see its meaningless composure.

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He accepted jobs that paid well, even if the jobs were of questionable integrity. Jay Gatsby is in love with a woman by the name of Daisy Buchanan. Daisy comes from a wealthy family that is of noble standing in society. Jay Gatsby chased money in an attempt to become worthy of her. Daisy is the woman of his dreams and all he wants is to live a happy life with her.

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“Great men are not born great, they grow great (Puzo)”. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the protagonist Jay Gatsby comes from a poor background and strives into a wealthy individual because of his hard work and determination. In the Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway, the narrator, reflects on how Gatsby hails from a lower-class family in North Dakota surviving with nearly nothing. Eventually after returning from World War I, he moves to West Egg New York to attempt to win the love of his life back, Daisy Buchanan whom lives in East Egg and is married to Tom Buchanan. Unfortunately, it is obvious to Gatsby she is not able to accept him for who he is because of the difference in social status and wealth between them.

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