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What Does Gatsby Criticize American Society

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The Great gatsby written by f Scott Fitzgerald criticizes American society from nick carraway's perspective. He designs the book so that Nick watches people's lives that should have been “the American dream” actually become a wreck and destroyed. The American dream is the belief that anyone regardless of race, class, gender or nationality can be successful in America if they just strive and work hard enough. With this definition in mind, the American dream paints a very pretty picture of the way American society is viewed, while underneath the materialistic and extravagant nature of the 1920s as we can see from gatsby's extraordinary parties American society deals with problems like racism, misogyny, tax evasion, and income inequality. The idea of the …show more content…

Gatsby spends all his time chasing his American dream, Daisy. this dream results in his death at the end. For example Daisy accidently kills Myrtle in Gatsby's car and Tom tells Wilson that Gatsby was the one who hit her. This then causes Wilson to go to Gatsby's house and kill him while he is swimming. After he killed gatsby Wilson killed himself. “It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the Gardner saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the Holocaust was complete.” (ch.8 pg 152 Fitzgerald) In the end Gatsby and Daisy were never brought back together. The “holocaust ending” is symbolic of Gatsby's fantasy life in which money can buy him his love and his friends to be over. After Gatsby dies the people he thought to be his friends left and skipped town before Gatsby's funeral. “But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them.” (Fitzgerald chap 9 pg 164). This quote backs up the idea of the false reality wealthy Americans lived in the 1920s. Tom and Daisy break away from the holocaust and simply move on with their

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812 Words | 4 Pages

For example, Daisy’s lack of agency and her role as a passive object of desire for the male characters allowed her to maintain her social status and wealth. At the same time, Jordan’s actions led to her being ostracized by society. While it is true that Daisy maintained her social status and wealth for lack of agency, it is essential to note that Daisy’s lack of agency is not a choice but a reflection of the societal constraints and expectations placed upon women during the 1920s. Daisy herself expressed how “she was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented ‘place’ that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village—appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing. She saw something awful in the very simplicity she failed to understand” (Fitzgerald 43).

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Fitzgerald displays that Gatsby really wants to be back in Daisy’s life in Chapter 7 “‘She never loved you, do you hear?’ he cried. ‘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!’” (Fitzgerald 139).

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All he wanted was Daisy, and he was willing to wait and do anything he could to get her back. Coming back as a veteran and finding out he was abandoned would have been a huge, devastating blow to Gatsby and his sanity. This war hero, a man who got medals for fighting in the war, a famed hero, left by the person who he thought loved him. Ultimately, the chase down for Daisy would evidently lead to Gatsby’s death. If Daisy hadn’t left him in the first place, if Daisy had waited just like she promised, Gatsby would have been able to live out the rest of his life.

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Gatsby’s one goal was to live a happy life with Daisy, just like he did all those years ago. This doesn’t end up happening since Daisy doesn’t leave Tom to go and get back with Gatsby. During Gatsby and Tom’s argument Daisy pleads with Tom to take her away and for them to leave, saying, “Please, Tom! I can’t stand this any more”(Fitzgerald 134). This was the moment where Gatsby’s dream life with Daisy began to slip out of his hands, as Daisy chose to stay with Tom.

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Kier Keith Stele AP English Language and Composition March 8, 2023 Gatsby’s and America’s Dream The American dream is an idea perceived as an ideal society for humanity as a whole which has become increasingly falsified with time. Whether it is through racial violence, economic disparity, or living better off as a human, these factors describe the American ideals as impossible. This inflated view of the American dream has led to a definite destruction economically or socially of people who place too much faith in the American Dream. Fitzgerald's vision of the American ideals in the Great Gatsby is similar to today's ideals of the American dream.

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Wilson shoots him dead, his ideals finally crumbling on top of him. To elaborate, “It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete” (Fitzgerald, Ch. 8). Despite his ideal world view, Gatsby still ended up getting murdered. This proves that Gatsby’s actions caught up to him, and that his ideal world view led to his

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Gatsby would end up passing away at the end of the book due to being shot. Daisy did not come back for the funeral, “sent a message or a flower,”( Fitzgerald 174). Daisy had to continue her life with a man that did not make her happy.

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The historic American dream (the one in The Great Gatsby) was more achievable back then but now we can not achieve it due to countless problems that have developed over the years. Overall Fitzgerald's' version of the American dream in The Great Gatsby is very different from today’s version because of the attainability, happiness, economically, and

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The author explains that Gatsby did all in his effort to get better for Daisy, but ended up dying in the midst of it. The author depicts this by stating, “Furthermore, his success obviously doesn’t last – he still pines for Daisy and loses everything in his attempt to get her back” (Wulick). The author also brings in the idea of George and Myrtle Wilson trying to achieve the American Dream. It is mentioned that George wants a better life just as much as Myrtle does. However, Myrtle seeks a better life through Tom and having him buy her materials.

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In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald is very meticulous on how the novel is shown as more satirical rather than romantic. The visionary of the American Dream is the most coveted life during this time period, so Fitzgerald used this lifestyle to mock and expose the vices of others. Fitzgerald uses certain aspects of this lifestyle to show characters satirical impulsiveness or materialism, which ridicules them and the ideals of the 1920s. During the time period in which this novel took place, the American Dream was perhaps the most sought after lifestyle. The American Dream during the roaring twenties is the pursuit of wealth regardless of morals.

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The Great Gatsby Naturalist Criticism of Society The American Dream is the opportunity for all Americans to live a life of personal happiness and material comfort, but is it actually achievable? F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, is a story of characters working hard to achieve the American Dream, but ultimately they are unable to ever realize their perfect life. The novel makes a naturalism argument about about the rigid class system in society and disillusionment of the American Dream.

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660 Words | 3 Pages

The novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitz Gerald embodies many themes. A major in the story is the pursuit of can be labelled the American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes and a happy family symbolizes the American dream. The Great Gatsby shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons.

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The American dream states that any individual can achieve success regardless of family history, race, and/or religion simply by working hard. The 1920’s were a time of corruption and demise of moral values in society. The first World War had passed, and people were reveling in the materialism that came at the end of it, such as advanced technology and innovative inventions. The novel The Great Gatsby exploits the theme of the American Dream as it takes place in a corrupt period in history. Although the American Dream seemed more attainable than ever in the 1920’s, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby demonstrates how materialism and the demise of moral values in society leads to the corruption and impossibility of the American Dream.

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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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The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis “They were careless people…” says Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby. In a story depicting the 1920s during a time of prosperity, growth, and the emergence of the America as a major global power, this statement may seem to be contrary. But in reality, Nick Carraway’s description of his friends and the people he knew, was not only true, but is an indication of those who were striving for the American dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream is foolish, the people who pursue it are immoral and reckless, and this pursuit is futile. First, F. Scott Fitzgerald proposes that the American dream is foolish.

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