The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald writes, “‘Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.’...‘I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night,’ went on Jordan, ‘but she never did.’” This statement, made by Jordan Baker, reveals how Gatsby is pursuing his blind love for Daisy and creates a sense of admirable quality that justifies it as a good deed. It also shows that the only reason Gatsby throws his wild parties is because he expected Daisy to come one day. Additionally, Gatsby continues to show his love for Daisy by watching over her. Fitzgerald writes, “‘She’ll be all right tomorrow,’ he said presently. ‘I’m just going to wait here and see if he tries to bother her about that unpleasantness this afternoon.’” Gatsby sees this as a noble act, but it is mostly just reassurance that Tom does not hurt Daisy.

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.

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.

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald begins by portraying Gatsby as a wealthy, charming man; however, as time goes on, Gatsby’s real personality and intentions are shown, including his obsession with Daisy. This is first shown when Jordan Baker (a friend of Daisy’s) tells Nick, “It wasn’t a coincidence at all. Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (“Fitzgerald” 78). Even though Gatsby had not seen or talked to Daisy in over five years, he bought a house in West Egg that was located very near to her own residence. Therefore, he can know where she is, what she is doing, and try to see her once again. Another example of Gatsby’s obsessiveness towards Daisy is shown everytime he throws lavish, all inclusive parties. He reveals this to Jordan who then tells Nick, “I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night. Then he began asking people casually if they knew her, and I was the first one he found” (79). This shows that Gatsby is not only obsessed with Daisy but is willing to spend his time and money trying to lure her into his home. The whole reason that the parties are thrown and no invitations are given out, is that so anybody and everyone can come. He hopes that Daisy will hear about them, come to a party, see him in his mansion, and fall in love with him once again.

Gatsby purchased the home in hopes he could see Daisy again. This adds to the theme because Gatsby is taking action based on Daisy. He waits for Daisy to attend one of his parties, and when she doesn’t he makes a plan to see her. The scene displays foreshadowing, revelation, and pathos. Foreshadowing is shown by Nick agreeing to invite Daisy to tea. Revelation is shown by the past of Gatsby and Daisy being revealed. Pathos is shown by the readers feeling sympathy towards Gatsby because he longs for Daisy.

To begin, Gatsby worked as hard as he could to be good enough for Daisy throughout the book. To demonstrate the commitment Gatsby has to find Daisy again, he creates such enormous parties hoping his love would be there. Gatsby invites numerous amounts of people to his festivities, but it is all just a stent to win Daisy over. Specifically, Gatsby conveys this when Jordan exclaims, “I think he expects Daisy to stroll by one day through a party.”() All Gatsby wants is a chance to at least see her; making the end of the book extremely sad because Daisy acts as if she does not know Gatsby. Furthermore, to display the love Gatsby has for Daisy, he begs Nick to tell Daisy to come to his house. He is asking Nick to be the messenger in essence. Therefore,

Gatsby portrays himself as a generous and wealthy man who would keep away from trouble as much as possible. When Nick attends one of Gatsby’s parties for the first time, a guest named Lucille told him, “‘I never care what I do, so I always have a good time. When I was here last I tore my gown on a chair, and he asked me my name and address-- inside of a week I got a package from Croirier’s with a new evening gown in it’” (47). Because one of his guests’ evening gown ripped in his party, Gatsby expresses to the public that he is generous and responsible by buying that guest a “new evening gown”from Croirier’s.” He also wants to convey that he is quick to apologize for any inconvenience that he causes, which shows that he wants the public to ascertain that Gatsby’s true attitude to be kind and comforting. However, Gatsby reveals his true motive as he discusses the first party in which Tom and Daisy attend with Nick. Gatsby remarks, ‘“I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,” he said, nodding determinedly. “She’ll see”’ ( 110 ). Gatsby confirms his great need to “fix” his life problems to his liking, suggesting that Gatsby holds a great deal of power and desire. Craving for his perfect life with Daisy to be reestablished as it was in the past asserts the fact that Gatsby in fact wants more than just Daisy’s love-- Gatsby lusts for recognition and power. Gatsby’s love for Daisy conceals his desire for more than he could attain through an honest lifestyle, as he turns to the illegal selling of alcohol during the time of Prohibition to create a seemingly quick and easy fortune in order to satisfy his hunger for greatness and admission into society. Though Gatsby may seem to be a generous and responsible character who loves Daisy in the story, Fitzgerald unveils Gatsby to be a character filled with an insatiable thirst for approval and having the

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.

Gatsby stopped throwing his parties and almost gave up on his American Dream. Gatsby politely asked Nick to do him a favor and he agreed. Nick invited Daisy over for tea and Gatsby was there. “Nick arranges for Daisy to have tea with Gatsby, and Gatsby thinks his American Dream is in hand” (Adamson 26). This event in the story gives Gatsby false hope and ultimately leads to his death. Gatsby got very nervous when he knew Nick had invited Daisy over for tea. At the same time, he was very excited because he knew it was what he needed to do in order to achieve his American Dream. “... the American Dream for Gatsby seems to have been an astonishing success: He became fabulously prosperous,

“In his blue gardens men and women came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Fitzgerald 39). In his character, his relationships, and his gatherings, Jay Gatsby epitomized the illusion of a perfect romance. When Gatsby and Daisy met in 1917, he was searching for money, but ended up profoundly falling in love with her. “[H]e set out for gold and stumbled upon a dream” (Ornstein 37). Only a few weeks after meeting one another, Gatsby had to leave for war, which led to a separation between the two for nearly five years. As “war-torn lovers” Gatsby and Daisy reach the quintessential ideal of archetypical romance. When Gatsby returned from the war, his goal was to rekindle the relationship he once had with Daisy. In order to do this, he believed he would have to work hard to gain new wealth and a new persona. “Jay Gatsby loses his life even though he makes his millions because they are not the kind of safe, respectable money that echoes in Daisy’s lovely voice” (Ornstein 36). Gatsby then meets Daisy’s cousin, Nick Carraway, who helps to reunite the pair. Finally being brought together after years of separation, Gatsby stops throwing the extravagant parties at his home, and “to preserve [Daisy’s] reputation, [he] empties his mansion of lights and servants” (Ornstein 37). Subsequent to their reconciliation, Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, begins to reveal sordid information about Gatsby’s career which causes Daisy to

In addition to juxtaposition, Fitzgerald utilizes setting to depict the vast differences in perception between the two characters, Gatsby and Nick. Fitzgerald creates a surreal atmosphere to reveal the unrealistic extent to which gatsby would go to fill the daisy shaped void of loneliness in his life. Fitzgerald describes the exuberance that is gatsby’s life,The immaculate parties with the influx of people, the grand house, the alcohol, the money, all of which was for Daisy . Gatsby had these spectacular parties, and he bought his house so, “ Daisy would be just across the bay” he did everything just for Daisy, “it wasn’t a coincidence at all” (78). This portrayal of Gatsby’s unrealistic determination to fill this void, yet again shows his

He believed he could get her attention with his parties and that she would fall in love with him again if she saw his wealth. Jordan Baker explains to Carraway Gatsby's love for Daisy, saying, "Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay," (Ch 4). The location of Gatsby's mansion allows him to be close to Daisy and keeps him hoping she might notice him and their relationship would start again. Gatsby does not give up on her despite her marriage; he is determined to gain her love back and he starts that process by moving close to her. Before reuniting with Daisy, Gatsby stood outside his mansion admiring it's lights, and Carraway narrates: "So I didn’t know whether or not Gatsby went to Coney Island, or for how many hours he 'glanced into rooms' while his house blazed gaudily on," (Ch 5).

The American Dream can be different for each person. In Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, we see many people reaching for their dream. Three American Dreams we see the most include Daisy trying to lie her way through life, Gatsby trying to pursue the girl of his dreams, and George trying to escape The Valley of Ashes with his wife. Though each dream is different, we see that they are forever reaching for something they will never have; like a dream where someone is running as fast as they can, but not going anywhere.

Fitzgerald communicates profusely the detrimental effects of love through Gatsby as the dependence of his happiness upon Daisy causes him to no longer have a will of his own. Gatsby bases his choice of residency off its proximity to Daisy not his own desires. He bought his mansion purely “so that Daisy would be just across the bay.” He hosts parties not for his own enjoy but in hopes of reconnecting with Daisy as well, as Jordan explains, “he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night.” Hence, his parties are “spilled with prodigality” for the sake of attracting the attention of Daisy because truly Gatsby’s wealth does not matter to him. He only strives for such wealth in the first place in order to “earn” Daisy’s love. It is evident that Gatsby believes this when he exclaims, “She only married you because I was poor.” Fitzgerald thus insinuates that for the past five years Gatsby has been acting not of his own accord, instead he acts with purpose of pleasing Daisy. He wants to please her, in hopes of rekindling their romantic relationship because Gatsby loves Daisy and believes that her love is the only thing that will allow him to achieve happiness. Fitzgerald expresses this idea when

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.