...The Deceit of The American Dream in The Great Gatsby Many strive for success through strenuous amounts of hard work and dedication. However, once this success is achieved, they are still unhappy. In the 1920s, the majority of people had one dream to achieve particularly the American Dream. In essence, the American Dream is the idea of anyone being able to achieve success if they put in a lot dedication and hard work. The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a classic twentiethcentury story that revolves primarily around the theme of the American Dream. The characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson are prime examples of characters who represent this theme. The Great Gatsby gives a vivid peek into the lives of Americans who live the American Dream, and proves it to be rather a deceptive fallacy. This deceit results in the downfall of many characters within the novel as they try to obtain the unachievable goal of the American Dream. Tom and Daisy Buchanan represent what many lowerclass citizens in the U.S. strive to be: wealthy and highstatus socialites. This facade is what tricks many into thinking that the American Dream results in a greater and happier life. However, Tom and Daisy’s happiness only goes so far. Apart from being successful, this couple encounters many debacles both within and out of their marriage. Like many who live in East Egg, Tom came from a wealthy family and made sure he stayed that way...
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...The American Dream describes the desire for one to achieve a sense of fulfillment and happiness through hard work and determination. Each person has their own version of The American Dream and their attitude of achieving it can vastly vary. In the novel, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author displays The American Dream through a corrupt love and the idea of becoming wealthy and having the ability to acquire anything. Jay Gatsby does not truly love Daisy, rather he sees her as an object he must acquire in order to achieve his personal vision of the American Dream. First of all, Gatsby wants success and views Daisy as the means to achieving it. Second, Daisy is treated and viewed as a possession that Jay Gatsby has to attain under any circumstances to fulfill his American Dream. Lastly, Gatsby is trying to set up an image and reputation for...
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...“The best work of literature to represent the American Dream is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It shows us how dreaming can be tainted by reality, and that if you don't compromise, you may suffer.” Azar Nafisi (BrainyQuote). The Great Gatsby is a famous american novel that tells a story about a man, Gatsby, constantly trying to pursue his version of the American Dream. As much as he strives for his dream, the American Dream is an unrealistic expectation that cannot be achieved In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s dream is for things to be like how they were in the past, and get back together with his lover, Daisy. We are first introduced to Gatsby at the end of chapter one when he is standing on his lawn with his arms stretched out towards...
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...Gatsby In the book The Great Gatsby by some guy, the American Dream is depicted as something that can be either achieved or neglected by several characters of different age and personality. Through the novel readers can learn how hard it is to obtain this dream because at any given moment, individuals can be faced with obstacles and barriers. Despite the great amount of wealth that he inherited, Jay Gatsby never truly achieves his American Dream because his love for Daisy is never rekindled after he returns from war since Daisy is never able to fully let go of Tom and his money. First and foremost, Daisy’s love for Gatsby is never rekindled after he comes back from war. Jay Gatsby says that he embraced the war and it gave him a new life...
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...We all have dreams. Everyone can say that there has been a time in their life where they have yearned to acquire or achieve something. Dreams can be about everything or anything; however, depending on the dream, it can sometimes be devastating to one’s morals and personality. A lot of times it is the body’s vivid and frequent imagination of dreams that lures oneself to their desires. Once a person’s desire has been fulfilled they may attempt to recreate and relive them over and over again. This obsession can have severe consequences by affecting the reality of one’s life. In American Gangster and The Great Gatsby the protagonists have underestimated the power of imagined desires. Frank, a leader of a Harlem gang in American Gangster, quickly...
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...Future Gatsby’s Lost Dream "The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement."(Adams 1931). In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald criticizes the American Dream. In The Great Gatsby, a lonely man named Gatsby started out with no money, but he did a series of illegal acts in order to achieve his success. Despite his success, he was still unhappy because he had no one to love. In the end, Gatsby’s ultimate dream was to marry a beautiful and rich women, and acquire the American dream, which is to be rich and have power or importance. However the American dream forced Gatsby to seek materialistic...
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...February 2012 The American Dream The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald set in America during the 1920’s. During this time, the county had just gotten out of World War 1 and the Eighteenth Amendment was mandated. This Amendment outlawed the buying and selling of alcoholic beverages, also knows as prohibition. Many Americans began producing their own alcohol in their home and selling it illegally. Since there was such a high demand for alcohol, these bootleggers became extremely wealthy. This is how Jay Gatsby gained his fortune and pursued the American dream. The American Dream can be described in many different ways. It may vary depending on the person and their current status. During the 1920’s owning property and being wealthy was the main goal for most Americans. The unemployment rate was very low and people had a steady income. Many new inventions were also coming out during this time such as the automobile, washing machines and other machines that made life easier. Buying items on credit was also an option that allowed customers to pay for an item on a monthly basis. However, there was one major issue that caused many problems and that was prohibition. With the inability to purchase alcohol, it caused people to want to drink even more. Bootleggers sold alcohol to bars that were operating illegally known as speakeasies. Despite it being illegal, police turned a blind eye to this activity since they were being paid off and did not approve of the...
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...In The Great Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzgerald’s cynicism about the American Dream in the 1920’s is represented by the characters Gatsby,Daisy, and Tom. The Roaring Twenties was 10 years of madness in America. The economy during the twenties were very unpredictable. A lot of criminal activity went on during the Roaring Twenties like bootlegging which helped Gatsby become famous. Parties and jazz music was also very popular which is evidenced by Gatsby big parties. Gatsby was trying to impress the girl he loves by throwing parties constantly so he could finally get to marry her. Gatsby was a very wealthy man who did not achieve his wealth fairly.F.Scott Fitzgerald saw that has the American Dream. But things like laws and depression kept him from that goal. F.Scott Fitzgerald attitude represented in the Great Gatsby was pretty bad since the 18th amendment banned alcohol and that’s what ended up causing F.Scott Fitzgerald view to be pretty bad. Gatsby was a very wealthy man who achieved wealth as a gentleman gangster. Gatsby dream was to marry Daisy Buchanan who was already married to Tom Buchanan. Gatsby constantly...
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...“Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” (Adams 214) The Modern Day American Dream- Has it Changed? The American Dream has long been the ideal that every American has an equal opportunity to achieve success and fortune through hard work, regardless of origin or ethnicity. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby story of success, primarily represented through his possessions such as his mansion, demonstrates how the American Dream during the 1920’s is similar to the American Dream of today because origin remains irrelevant and possessions represent success. The key component of the American Dream is that it is achievable regardless of origin, motives,...
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...The American Dream, fueled by ambition and hopes of success, can often be exposed as a nightmare in disguise. Set in the roaring twenties, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby demonstrates such a point, criticizing the American Dream as well as the dishonest values of characters attempting to achieve this dream. When Nick Carraway moves to Long Island's West Egg, home to the newly rich, he is not expecting to get dragged into an atmosphere of depravity and deceit. Next door lives the elusive Jay Gatsby, a self-proclaimed Oxford man who throws extravagant parties at his mansion with the sole intention of reuniting with Daisy Buchanan, his lost love and true desire. The American Dream was traditionally the belief that anyone, regardless of background, has the opportunity to be happy and successful through hard work, yet as America evolved, the dream did too. The once virtuous ideal modernized into a plot for materialistic power. By the end of the novel, Fitzgerald is trying to project the idea that the American Dream is not only an unattainable ideal, but in addition, corrupts those who seek to obtain it. Firstly, Gatsby's unrealistic dream of Daisy is used to portray the unattainability of the American Dream. In Gatsby’s mind, Daisy is perfect in every aspect and the object of his greatest desire. He becomes so engrossed with the image of Daisy from his memories, that even she herself cannot fulfill his expectations: "There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy...
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...The American Dream is represented through many books and texts that we read throughout our high school years. Three of the main text that highlight the American Dream as a whole are The Crucible, The Great Gatsby, and Of Mice and Men. These stories although very different still have a similar message from the author who wrote it. The time frame for each story is different to express how the American Dream has always been there and will always be something that Americans can thrive for. These stories show how they had religious freedom, personal freedom, and material aspirations. All the characters in these stories all wanted something even if they were poor or rich. They pursued happiness and wanted to achieve the pronounced “American Dream”....
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...Main Thesis Gatsby and Tom represent the corrupt American Dream of the 1920’s through their selfishness, and narrow minded attitudes of getting what they want without considering the consequences. Body paragraphs Gatsby goes to great lengths to win Daisy’s love, which consumes his life. Little does he realize, that that dream has ended many years ago, and that he needs to wake up and see it for himself. After Gatsby’s death Nick sits on Gatsby’s lawn and reflects in everything that happened that summer. “ He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. Little did he know, that dream was already behind him… back where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under...
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...The idea of the American Dream has been around for as long as literature in America has been.The American Dream; an idea that an individual can come to the United States, from anywhere on the planet. People coming to the United States with nothing but his or her name, and the clothes on their back, can become successful and wealthy through hard work and determination, over the course of time. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is a classic example of a rags to riches man, but learns the hard way that money and materialistic things cannot fill one’s need for happiness. Not only that, but F. Scott Fitzgerald also portrays the corruption of an individual's American Dream through their foolish pursuit of wealth and physical...
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...Great Gatsby Essay In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows the change in people’s morals during the 1920’s era. It also shows the how society corrupts the “American Dream” and alters it to what it should be like. He shows this in his characters like Daisy, a materialistic woman who cannot live without attention and Tom, a reluctant jerk who lets his riches and ego get the best of him. Daisy and her fiancé Tom are about to get married. While there relationship is going on, Gatsby reunites with Daisy and tries to convince her to leave Tom for him. Daisy ends up staying with Tom because he can provide the things she needs. This shows that back in the 1920’s era people did not marry for love but only for riches. It showed the rich as dominate over the poor. It also showed the altercation of what the “American Dream” should be rather than what it really was. He also shows this corruption in Gatsby as well. Gatsby’s “American Dream” was Daisy. Gatsby’s death can be used as a symbol for the death of the “American Dream”. Gatsby spends his whole life chasing after his “American Dream” he forgets about everything around him. He changes himself completely only to try and achieve this “American Dream”. When Daisy decides to stay with Tom this ends Gatsby’s “American Dream” and coincidently, Gatsby’s life. This shows how people back in the 1920’s would alter their life style in order to achieve the idea of this typical “American Dream”. No matter what the dream was, people...
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...The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is filled with multiple themes such as, love, power, money, reality, illusion and immortality, but the main focus is on the American dream and the downfall of those who attempt to reach it. Everyone has a dream of what ones future will look like, a future that includes something one might not have now. The novel is largely based around the so called American dream which embodies material items as a way of being successful. Jay Gatsby symbolizes the so-called American dream as he acquires popularity, wealth and love however falls short of this dream. Jay Gatsby is a fabulously wealthy young man living in a gothic mansion in West Egg, New York. He is famous for the lavish parties he throws every Saturday night, but no one knows where he comes from, what he does, or how he made his fortune; making him a very popular person. Acquiring popularity in this fashion did not necessarily guarantee Gatsby had true friends because it was the parties themselves that were popular, not he himself. Nick, Gatsby's neighbor, who was invited to one of his elaborate gatherings; says that they, "conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with amusement parks," again stressing the carefree, stereotypical roaring '20s atmosphere. Much to the partygoers discredit, "sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all." (Fitzgerald 21). This shows not only, that people just arrived to his mansion because his house was the "hot...
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