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Literary Analysis Of ' The Great Gatsby ' Essay

Decent Essays

Sameet K. Mann
Ms. Rowe
IB English
7 September 2016
Literary Analysis: The American Dream
The century old concept of the American Dream is the belief that no matter what race, gender, religion or background a person is from, she/he has the ability to become successful through the means of hard work and determination. Unlike today, Americans during the 1920s lived in the illusion that achieving the American Dream involved immoral actions and only the satisfaction of their greedy pleasures. This led to the compromise of moral values and noble actions and in turn allowed their vices to control their character. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, it is revealed how the corrupt American Dream resulted in consequences for both the good hearted and self-absorbed people of the East. Throughout his novel, Fitzgerald conveys his views on how the illusion of the American Dream influenced the actions, beliefs and dreams of the People during the Roaring Twenties.
The use of the green light as a motif helps to symbolize Gatsby’s version of the American Dream and shows that Gatsby does not have a yearning for the usual 1920s American Dream of wealth and money. His version of the American Dream is Daisy, but to her the American Dream is money and wealth. In order to achieve Daisy he made a goal of becoming the 1920’s embodiment of the American Dream, even though materialistic things could not bring him happiness. Since Daisy is at the green light it symbolizes all he had been through to be

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