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Truth About The American Dream In 'The Great Gatsby'

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Tyra Ngoc Nguyen AP Lit Mrs. Paff 3/18/23 The Truth About The American Dream In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, he illustrates Jay Gatsby’s American Dream of becoming wealthy to find happiness. Gatsby comes from a poor family who failed as farmers. He fantasizes about a better future and is driven to turn himself into a perfect man to erase his past and failures. Through his pursuit of a better life, he falls in love with Daisy, who is of a higher class, knowing she is someone he can not have. Losing Daisy’s love was the spark that caused Gatsby’s American dream to shift into focusing more on Daisy and how to impress her. Fitzgerald presents the American Dream as empty and corrupted, bringing a sobering reminder …show more content…

Even with Gastby’s lavish lifestyle, he had no one by his side in the end. His once full house now has “an inexplicable amount of dust everywhere, and the rooms were musty, as though they hadnot been aired for many days….” (147). Showing how even though Gatsby surrounded himself with people, no one was there to know him personally but there to immerse in Gatsby’s wealth. Therefore, exposing the moral corruption of the American dream. Gatsby’s death is disregarded because his passing means the loss of his wealth, making him less important. As Gatsby's dream was based on his past desires, Nick Carraway, the novel's narrator, concludes that we must “ … beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaelessly into the past '' (180). This illustrates how the American dream is about difficulties and obstacles. Highlighting that to achieve anything and move on in life, the past should be left in the past, ultimately the obstacle to the American dream. Nick also expresses how “Gatsby believed in the green light” (180). At the beginning of the novel, the image of the green light is also portrayed, “-he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a cutious way [...] Involuntarily I glanced searwar- and distinguished nothing except a single green light[...]” (20-21). The green light illustrates how Gatsby dreamed of something he could not have. It is clear that Dasiy ultimately would not end up with Gatsby, for she valued the stability of money and status. For her, going back to her husband would provide these needs. Therefore, the green light was Gatsby’s illusion of the American dream. Gatsby's death speaks to the human condition of striving for something better but ultimately being unable to escape the weight of the

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The green light represents Gatsby's dreams and hopes, especially reunited with his prior love, Daisy. Gatsby believed in the idea of the American dream but was unable to achieve his dream and instead was “borne back ceaselessly into the past” meaning that the American dream can be difficult to achieve no matter how hard you

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The last line of the book says “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter - to-morrow we will run faster, stretch our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning-- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” (Fitzgerald 180) This unforgettable quote shows just how hard someone has to fight to achieve the American Dream.

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In chapter four when Jordan Baker says, “ Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay”(78). Gatsby is portrayed as someone who is willing to do anything to reach his unattainable goal: to have Daisy. Before Nick had ever met Gatsby, he saw him standing alone on the dock gazing at the green light. Nick describes the scene as, “And distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far way that might have been at the end of the dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished”(21).

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Gatsby‘s American Dream was to obtain his former lover Daisy Buchan. His main motivations and ambitions come from his unsophisticated belief that he can repeat the past he had with Daisy five years ago. Gatsby can be perceived as naïve as he has a difficult time understanding that many changes occur in five years and he cannot just pick up where he left off. Nick even warns Gatsby, “You can’t repeat the past,” and Gatsby replies, “Why of course you can!” (Fitzgerald 69).

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The American Dream is the idea that Americans can achieve anything they want, starting from any distance, as long as they work for it. One symbol, present in chapter 1, is the green light. “Involuntarily I glanced seaward--and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 152). The green light symbolizes that Gatsby always wanted more, even when he had everything he wanted. A green light for Gatsby was Daisy, the woman he had wanted to be with for a long time.

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The green light is a symbol for hope that Daisy will be his and that his life will be complete. The green light also demonstrates our constant search to reach the American Dream. Gatsby’s ambition to be a successful, true American sets him apart from the rest of the upper class. His constant chase of being with Daisy is present from the moment at the dock to his final days on Earth, even thought she has already moved on.

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1629 Words | 7 Pages

As this ideology is developed throughout the book, we are reminded of this instance as we gain the true meaning of the light, “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 further. And one fine morning—So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” This captures the essence of this focus on the American dream. Nick finally grasps Gatsby's continuous effort to reclaim what's lost, however there is also an ironic undertone as he comes to realize that the more we strive for our ultimate future, the more we're pulled back to our past desires and

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However, as now Gatsby is dead, Nick visits the porch and looks across the water. Green light will still exist because Gatsby is not the only one who always try hard to reach dreams. It applies to the era of the whole book (1920s), and to us. People during the 1920s had the dream to become rich from the “American dream”, and we too, will also have dreams we would like to

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Azar Nafisi, an Iranian-American writer, and professor, once said, “The negative side of chasing the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream”. This quote, on the surface, appears to suggest that chasing the American Dream is a bad thing. However, upon closer examination, it reveals that sometimes people lose sight of their goals by prioritizing success above all else, causing them to move further away from their initial dreams. This concept is explored in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, set in the roaring 1920s, where the characters' glamorous lives are ultimately shown to be empty and unfulfilling. Through the character of Nick Carraway, the narrator, Fitzgerald delves into the dangers of following the American Dream, illustrating how the desire for wealth and status can lead to emotional isolation and dissatisfaction.

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1756 Words | 8 Pages

This indicates that Gatsby was a man who believed in the “orgastic future” and a world that was superior to the one he found himself in. Furthermore, Gatsby 's attempt to pursue the American Dream is seen through his struggle to reach for the “green light” which symbolizes Gatsby 's dream of being with Daisy, This is demonstrated when: He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness (5).

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772 Words | 4 Pages

And one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" (Pg. 182). Dreams tie to places or people previously in everyone’s lives, or tirelessly enduring optimism that blinds and obscures the truth. However, Gatsby shows that although these qualities may hold people back, it is one’s past that shapes their future. Through the love, heartbreak, money, fame, liquor, and revelry, Gatsby keeps hope for his future with Daisy. It is the disconnect between dreams and reality that causes the wishes of the past to swell up like waves on the bay and threaten to capsize the vessel of hope bearing the emblem of

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1133 Words | 5 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is a reflection of the American Dream. Written in 1925, the book tells the story of a man named Jay Gatsby, whose main driving force in life is the pursuit of a woman called Daisy Buchanan. The narrator is Gatsby’s observant next-door neighbor, Nick Carraway, who offers a fresh, outsider’s perspective on the events; the action takes place in New York during the so-called Roaring Twenties. By 1922, when The Great Gatsby takes place, the American Dream had little to do with Providence divine and a great deal to do with feelings organized around style and personal changed – and above all, with the unexamined self .

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405 Words | 2 Pages

Despite his best efforts, Gatsby realizes that his dreams of winning back Daisy and achieving a better life are unattainable. The reality of the social class divide between himself and Daisy, as well as the corruption and moral decay of the era, makes it impossible for Gatsby to achieve his aspirations. The green light becomes a reminder of Gatsby's unfulfilled desires and the cruel emptiness of his life. Furthermore, the green light can be interpreted as a symbol of the American Dream itself.

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923 Words | 4 Pages

First, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, further depicts this idea through the bygone love shared between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. As Gatsby and Daisy wrap up their first time back together in five years, the narrator explains, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams (…)” (95). Fitzgerald’s inclusion of Gatsby’s and Daisy’s relationship within the novel ultimately furthers the development of the idea that the American Dream deters people’s minds to the past. In the novel, the two characters depicted fight for a love that is lost and unattainable, very similar to the American Dream.

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1170 Words | 5 Pages

This green light, though minute and far away, symbolizes Gatsby hopes and dreams. Although he lives the life mistakenly viewed as the American Dream, he yearns for more. This lack of contentment disproves any notions of Gatsby having

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