Why Is The American Dream Important In The Great Gatsby

523 Words3 Pages
“His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him.” The Great Gatsby is a classic novel which offers insight into American culture while still understandable to readers. It shows a pocket of “roaring twenties” culture. The language style is comprehensible, but still offers rich examples of literary devices such as motifs, symbols, and irony. Many of the themes still apply to current day issues, i.e. the American Dream. The Roaring Twenties was a decade of decadence and shifting societal ideals. Prohibition had been set in place with the 18th Amendment in 1920, and although drinking was still a fixture in upper class life, people had to use trickery to gain access to it.