The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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.

The author Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby as a novel that talks about and covers American issues in the 1920s. He shows in the novel the carelessness and selfishness of everybody at the same time by portraying all of them in the location of west and east egg. Fitzgerald talks about a couple different topics throughout the novel. One of those is," the Attainment of a dream may be less satisfying than the pursuit of it" and the second one is"the American Dream is corrupted by the desire for wealth". He uses those themes to show how americans lived at a different time.

It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it” (George Carlin). George Carlin, criticizes the dream of prosperity, a promise to any individual for happiness and material success, if they try hard enough, Carlin realizes the reality of the unobtainable dream. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald offers an insight to the lavish life of the 1920’s, or as he coined, The Jazz Age. The novel follows the character of Nick Carraway as he learns the tragedy of an excessive lifestyle that is lived by Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald is able to see past all the luxury and grandeur to expose the unhappiness and misery that tells the reader that money does not bring true joy. The novel describes

shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel… Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. ‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds” (Fitzgerald 92). Daisy had married Tom and he was wealthy but when she went to Gatsby’s mansion, she realized the extent of his wealth. Gatsby and Daisy’s main focus in their lives was money. Money was all they really cared about. “Jay Gatsby’s quest, the wealthy Daisy, represents the emptiness of an American society focused on money, a sordid but accurate view of the American Dream” (Adamson 25). The American society is basically empty with a large focus on money rather than the significant things in life.

According to Lily Rothman from TIME, “People whose annual income is between $50,000 and $74,999 are happier than people who earn between $75,000 and $99,999.” This startling statistic relates to how Gatsby, a very rich man, felt. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is revealed that even if you are successful and rich, you may not be able to find happiness. This reveals the idea of the “American Dream” is a complete myth, because even if you succeed in life, it doesn’t mean you will be happy. Fitzpatrick shows this theme by making Jay Gatsby unable to get Daisy Buchanan, the girl he wants, when he is a poor, young man.

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.

The Great Gatsby depicts The United States in the 1920s. While originally, this period depicted the Great American dream with people pursuing their goals and seeking happiness, it contained an unfortunate turn with people running after money, riches and materialism. Towards the final stage of the story Nick states "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy -- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made." This clearly displays how most of the upper society had surrounded themselves with lavish cars, posh houses, and extravagant parties forgetting the true value of life. Fitzgerald displays that the "American dream" is not all that people see from the outside, but that a majority of these individuals lived shallow lives, with narrow mentalities. Everything on the outside was glistening, but the inside held many dark, and upsetting secrets. Throughout various themes, symbols and motifs, the underlying meaning that Fitzgerald wants revealed becomes evident.

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.

The American Dream is a concept that the United States is built on. The United States promotes it as everyone having an equal opportunity to be successful in life. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American dream is shown through Gatsby’s life. It makes his life better, but does not solve all of his problems. The American dream can be defined from this story, Gatsby represents the dream, and Fitzgerald makes a point in showing that living out the dream is not as great as it may seem.

Throughout his novel The Great Gatsby, Francis Scott Fitzgerald depicts how, regardless of if someone is living The American Dream and looks happy from the outside, they may be deeply unhappy if they feel something is missing from their life. Main character Jay Gatsby exemplifies this idea because, as a man who has achieved The American Dream and lives a life of extreme wealth, he ultimately dies unhappy because he does not have the woman he loves and longs for from his past. Jay Gatsby lives a life of extreme wealth and fortune and often even throws extravagant parties. To an outsider, it looks like Gatsby is enjoying his life to the fullest. As a living success story of The American Dream, it seems like there is nothing in life that he doesn't have.

changed drastically over the past century. It used to mean moving you and your family

The American Dream is something every American wants to have in life, even those outside of America. Everyone thinks that they have a dream that once they achieve it everything about life will be so perfect and nothing could go wrong. In The Great Gatsby it shows how it is not always perfect. Fitzgerald’s idea of the American Dream was depicted in his book. It shows how his American Dream never made him happy.

People have been traveling to the United States of America for years on end now. The biggest reason why foreigners leave their home country is because they would like to pursue their personal dreams in a land where anything is possible. Although the american dream seems like a well oiled machine, there are a few kinks that could use some fixing. In the novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, some of those pros and cons of the american dream could be recognized within each character.

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.

Bling, cars, mansions, money. This is what the American dream means to most people and it is what Gatsby wants too. The American dream is the feeling of making your own choices and choosing your own path. The book The Great Gatsby by Ernest Hemingway confirms the existence of the American dream because Gatsby starts from nothing to becoming a millionaire and using that money he persuades Daisy to give her love completely to him and not Tom Buchanan.