The Great Gatsby Achieving The American Dream

How does Fitzgerald relate Gatsby’s dream to the American Dream? What seems to be his message about the American Dream as expressed in the last two paragraphs of the novel?

All Americans wish to attain the American Dream. It is never easy to accomplish because it demands a lot of hard work. “The American Dream has been popularly defined as the belief that, through hard work and thrift, all Americans can improve their social status and achieve wealth and success” (Noble 19). Americans can work hard to achieve what they want to achieve, such as wealth and social status. Some would say that Gatsby worked very hard to gain his wealth and social status. Others would say it just came to him and he didn’t really have to do anything for it. Even when things are just given to you, you have to be smart and make responsible decisions to attain the American Dream. “In essence, Gatsby is not educated, and in an attempt to win Daisy, he grasps at the most superficial

The American Dream in the 1920’s revolved around the accumulation of wealth. Jay Gatsby believes he can buy happiness, which to him, consists of having Daisy to himself. He believes he can do this by achieving a level of respect in East Egg; known for new money. His goal was to make fortune to please Daisy.

The American Dream, is an idea that all Americans are familiar with, no matter what age they are. It is the dream that everyone has an equal opportunity, to use hard work and integrity to achieve success. The American Dream is an integral aspect of Jay Gatsby’s life in the novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The novel follows Jay Gatsby, as told by Nick Carraway, through the trials and tribulations that correspond with newfound wealth and the quest to find true happiness in a cynical and testing environment. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream has the power to corrupt individuals, through his depictions of wealth, materialism, and the consequences they inflict in the character’s lives.

The American Dream and Gatsby’s Dream in the gigantic city of New York during the roaring 20’s have many similarities. Gatsby becomes lost in his journey to his dream through life when getting re-acquainted with a young “golden” girl by the name of Daisy. He falls in love with her at such a young age it seems that this is the only girl for him. His only dream is to get Daisy. It’s sad to say due to Gatsby's tunnel vision and isolation, he struggles to create or maintain close relationships in the present because he is trapped in the past.

1. The green light, situated at the end of the Buchanan’s dock, represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby associates the light with Daisy and in Chapter one, he reaches toward it

The idea of American Dream as presented by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Great Gatsby novel involves rising from poverty or rags to richness and wealthy. The American Dream exemplifies that elements such as race, gender, and ethnicity are valueless as they do not influence the ability of an individual to rise to power and richness. This American Dream makes the assumption that concepts such as xenophobia are non-existent in America a concept that is not true and shows vagueness of the American Dream. In his novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the Great Gatsby to demonstrate the overall idea of living the American dream. Gatsby leaves his small village of farmers and manages to work his way up the ladder although some of the money he uses to climb the ladder is associated with crime “He was a son of God and he must be about His Father's Business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty” (Fitzgerald 6.7). This phrase shows that Gatsby wasn’t meant for a life similar to that of his father but rather destined for greatness. However, his dream his short-lived and he doesn’t make it to the top as Daisy who is a symbol of his wealthy rejects her and a series of events transpire that result in his death before he could live his American Dream alongside everyone else who was working up the ladder to live the American Dream.

When he asked Nick to have lunch with him, he picked him up in his best, biggest, and most expensive car and told Nick about his so called “childhood”. Gatsby wanted Nick to know how rich he was and where he got all his money so he could go tell Daisy. He also arranged that he and Daisy would be invited to Nick’s house one afternoon. On the day they were going to meet up, it starts raining outside and Gatsby becomes very nervous. At first, their reunion was terribly awkward. After a while they start talking and laughing and become very happy. Gatsby invited Nick and Daisy to his house. Gatsby showed Daisy his outstanding rooms, priceless antiques, and his finest collection of English shirts. She is overwhelmed by his luxurious lifestyle. She begins to cry when she sees all his fine shirts. “They’re such beautiful shirts,” she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before.” (Page 92) Her reaction to all his wealth reveals that not only Gatsby makes her happy, but his wealth makes her even happier. Recall that Daisy said she wouldn’t marry Gatsby because rich girls can’t marry poor boys. This is significant because it is saying that even though love should be most important in a relationship Daisy chooses money over

One of the most influential writers of the early 20th century was a man named F. Scott Fitzgerald. The biggest topic that he wrote about was the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses many different aspects of writing to get his opinion across, such as the outcome of stories like The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams”. He also uses the setting and to explain his beliefs. Based of his work, Fitzgerald believes the American dream is not only unrealistic, but also unattainable.

In the United States' Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers "…held certain truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." This sentiment can be considered the foundation of the American Dream, the dream that everyone has the ability to become what he or she desires to be. While many people work to attain their American dream, others believe that the dream is seemingly impossible to reach, like F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby examines the "Jazz-Age" generation's search for the elusive American Dream of wealth and happiness and scrutinizes the consequences of that

Symbolism is a big part in how people express certain feelings or represent important items. The American Dream is a huge achievement that everyone wants to reach. Whether people want to admit it or not, it is a symbol all it’s self. It can be anything really, a great job, a family, white picket fence, even music or attending concerts of your favorite band. The American Dream is something that makes you so happy and what you can achieve or want achieve in your lifetime. The main AMerican Dream is money, a family, and happiness. In The Great Gatsby the american dream is a green light.There are several different colors for the different symbols in the book which are portrayed throughout the book often, and in the right context. Each character is put with that color and in different scenes for different reasons. Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Nick Carraway all portrayed the same color symbol; yellow which stands for death and or/ corruption.

The Great Gatsby philosophical main idea comes from one of the great philosophers of the 1600’s, John Locke. John Locke didn’t create the American dream, however he did mold it through his theory explaining that all men are evil but rather kind hearted and affectionate. Along with his idea of natural rights which stated that all men are entitled to: Life, liberty and property. Now if we examine the interpretation that Thomas Jefferson had upon Locke’s theory of natural rights including in the declaration of independence famously he states “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” This is the key philosophical idea behind Gatsby’s desire for Daisy. For throughout the entire novel Daisy is what he pursues and happiness is what he hopes to

The American dream is an ideology, a vision that’s form varies from individual to individual, based upon one’s own experiences. Although the one thing that remains constant in every single definition is that this ideology, just as the name states, is only a dream. It is meant to merely drive people to unlock their hidden potential and become their best self, for the sole purpose of living one’s out one’s own definition of success. In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is Jay Gatsby’s inspiration and his opportunity, however, as the book progresses it becomes more evident that not all people share the same opportunity.

With money, Gatsby believes that anything is possible. He does all he can to buy his happiness, yet he lacks the foresight to see the worthlessness of his efforts.

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