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The Role Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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F. Scott Fitzgerald and the American Dream The Great Gatsby what you could call an extended critique of what the American dream is perceived to be. This critique is much more effective by being personified by the people that pursue the American dream. A dream is simply nothing but well, a dream. No one actually reaches a point of fulfillment, no matter how hard they try. The characters’ lives are shallow and somewhat meaningless. In the book, Gatsby’s fortune is built on nothing but crime, and while he appears to be happy with his popularity, hardly anyone shows up to his funeral. His whole life was, like the American dream itself, simply just a mirage. A mirage that holds out everything you think you want, only to just destroy you in the process. The pursuit of …show more content…

Her relationship with Gatsby is shallow. She thinks she is in love with him, while she is swept away by his wealth and charm. But, Daisy has no real depth to her feelings for Gatsby. She has more emotion for his shirts than she actually does for him. But, the East Eggers weren’t the only ones sucked into the delusion that is the American dream. The people who live in this valley of ashes also go for a ride. Myrtle is using her affair with Tom to try to better her own life. She feels tired of being married to someone she thinks of as a loser. She wants to be fancy, and go to high-class parties with fancy clothes and feel more like an upper class instead of a lower class. Both the East and West Eggers are more concerned with how they look instead of their personal well-being. Fitzgerald suggests the American dream of becoming wealthy is futile because those who chase the dream end up unhappy. This is shown through Gatsby’s dream to be rich and successful and reuniting with Daisy. He was willing to do whatever it took to try to attain this dream. Which ironically at the same time helps to destroy his dream of being with

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