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The great gatsby and american dream
The great gatsby and american dream
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The Great Gatsby is the story of one man's journey of trying to achieve what is commonly referred to as the American Dream. Fitzgerald successfully makes the reader become attached to Gatsby by giving the reader some elements of Gatsby’s back story to latch on to. He achieves this by using Gatsby’s love stroking heart to to capture the imagination of the hopeless romantic, and he then uses Gatsby’s deep seeded ambition of becoming better to capture the ambitious reader. Throughout the story Fitzgerald makes Gatsby out to be the hero, and he accomplishes this by having Gatsby’s goals in life become relatable to the common reader, because everyone wants to be able to change their lives around, everyone wants to someday fall so madly in love with someone else that they would follow that person to the ends of the earth, regardless of the obstacles, and Gatsby is the perfect embodiment of these hopes and dreams. What strikes a deeper chord is that the reader can tell that Fitzgerald truly loved his creation and this can be seen by the way he describes him. Sadly, like many other great writers do, Fitzgerald realised that this life like world that he has created, would need to have malevolent forces that are always conspiring against the main character in this case being Gatsby behind the scenes. Fitzgerald does this by embedding these forces into the society that surrounded Gatsby. Fitzgerald often depicts many of the characters as arrogant people. One of these characters being Tom Buchanan, he has in many instances shown his arrogance and sometimes ignorance. One of these instances being when Nick goes over to Tom and Daisy’s West Egg home for the very first time. While they are having their dinner Tom asks Nick if he had read a cer... ... middle of paper ... ...trays where you touch a spring, and a wreath with a black silk bow for mother’s grave that’ll last all summer.’”(36) One can agree that some of the things that she has listed off are useless, one can agree that she doesn’t really need “one of those cute little ash-trays where you touch a spring” does Myrtle really need, no she doesn’t, but she is going to get it because she is going to get it because she is with Tom and because of that she can get anything. In short, by having Gatsby killed off, Fitzgerald is showing the reader how society truly is, he shows its clear shallowness, he shows the materialistic behavior of many citizens he even shows how some believe themselves to be more intelligent than another for some reason or another. And by removing this shroud of false hopes and pretences Fitzgerald presents the reader a world in its purest form; an impure one.
Despite lacking recognition when it was first published, The Great Gatsby--by F. Scott Fitzgerald--is now regarded as both a literary classic and a great American novel. While well known for its use of symbolism, The Great Gatsby uses other literary techniques to an effective degree. One of the several techniques Fitzgerald used was one of creating mirrors between scenes. A good example of this is how chapter eight is a dark mirror to chapter two; several events that occur in chapter two appear again in chapter eight; however, when they appear again they do with a dark twist to signal the different tone the story has taken. By comparing how Gatsby, the advertisement of Doctor T.J. Eckleberg, and the theme-- the uninhibited pursuit of wealth
Themes of hope, success, and wealth overpower The Great Gatsby, leaving the reader with a new way to look at the roaring twenties, showing that not everything was good in this era. F. Scott Fitzgerald creates the characters in this book to live and recreate past memories and relationships. This was evident with Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, Tom and Daisy’s struggling marriage, and Gatsby expecting so much of Daisy and wanting her to be the person she once was. The theme of this novel is to acknowledge the past, but do not recreate and live in the past because then you will not be living in the present, taking advantage of new opportunities.
Gatsby makes many mistakes throughout the novel, all of which Fitzgerald uses these blunders as a part of his thematic deconstruction of the American Dream. However, Fitzgerald does not write Gatsby as a bad person whom embodies all that is wrong with western capitalism. Instead, Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as a good man who was victim of the qualities ingrained in him by an imperfect ideological system. It is this distinction which makes Fitzgerald’s argument all the more potent, and his audience’s ability to mourn Gatsby as a tragic figure all the more important. Whereas Fitzgerald’s opinion of Gatsby may otherwise have been misconstrued as a negative one, the scene of Gatsby’s funeral clearly conveys the character of Gatsby as a tragic and sorrowful one.
The Great Gatsby unravels in death and destruction due to one man’s need, for one girl. His admiration and ambition for this girl shows how the American dream can lead to so much havoc. Even though Gatsby has everything he wants, he still has a want for that girl. Fitzgerald does a wonderful job of expressing that through Gatsby and showing how a pursuit of that dream can lead to so much death and destruction. Fitzgerald shows how that American dream demands more than you have and causes harm to Gatsby and people around him. All the events connected well and tied in beautifully with the plot. It affects more than just himself and he was blind to that due to his passion for the American dream.
The occasional insights into character stand out as very green oases in an arid desert of waste paper. Throughout the first half of the book the author shadows his leading character in mystery, but when in the latter part he unfolds his life story it is difficult to find the brains, the cleverness, and the glamour that one might expect of a main character. The Great Gatsby is a parody of itself. While Fitzgerald tries hard not to make Gatsby and especially Daisy laughable personalities, this is where he ultimately fails. There's not enough ironic distance between his characters.
The book, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a great book that captures multiple aspects of the young rich life of Jay Gatsby and his love for a girl that got away, Daisy Buchanan. This brings us to the thesis statement that Gatsby will do almost anything he can to get back with Daisy, who he lost before, such as move very close to her, throw huge parties, have someone else invite her to his house, and even argue with her husband.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald is criticizing American society of the 1920s. He uses the characters to demonstrate the power than men had over women during these times, as well as their mindless, self-indulgent actions, where consequence was only an afterthought. The attitude towards and the role of women is shown throughout the novel. Fitzgerald also shows how many people in America during this time were delusional and had meaningless existences.
...the Great Gatsby the disintegration of modern society and culture can be seen through the absence of religion, commitment, and honesty. People in this time period have turned away from all religion and have embraced unholy lifestyles. Both men and women are fickle, void of fidelity, without remorse or conscience. Finally, no one is able to say the truth to each other. Fitzgerald also brings to light how ineffective the American dream is because no one is able to achieve it. Gatsby has the quality of being a hard worker with diligence, but he is unable to hold on what he cares most deeply about, Daisy. He pursues with full force Daisy, his American dream, which leads to his own death. Fitzgerald questions the validity of the American dream and communicates it is unattainable. Therefore, he leaves the reader pondering their moral values and how it will affect them.
There are many things that can influence someone to write, including feelings, emotions, and even life experiences. Life experiences can influence people because of what is felt at certain points in life, whether it is hate, happiness or betrayal. Fitzgerald uses his emotions to present a piece of work that allows his readers to get an insight into his life. The time period influenced him because there was much of change and he demonstrated this very well by showing it in his characters. The Great Gatsby is a representation of Fitzgerald’s life and the time period; it shows how he can incorporate his life into his writing.
The great gatsby is a classic american novel that is not afraid to look at the negative sides of society. In fact, that is the main basis of the whole novel. People so disgusting, but yet still so very real. People are not always so relatable in their faults. In fact, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s world of dazzling colors and extravagant parties, it is probably the more untouched part of society that people try to shove in the back of their minds. Fitzgerald shows the less than beautiful nature of the glamorous people in his stories through character development, or lack of it. With this along with his overarching themes of decay, a reader can see the message the author is trying to convey.
My thesis today is that Gatsby’s appearance, in the film the Great Gatsby, exposes the reality of the American Dream between the new money and the old money after the end of World War I. The obvious theme of the film is the failed relationship between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. However the underlying, major theme is the exposure of both classes lifestyles displayed in the film, these being the newly rich and the established rich. They have both succeeded in acquiring everyone’s aspiration of the American Dream.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald is known as America’s great novel, “The Great Gatsby is a classic piece of American fiction. It is a novel of triumph and tragedy, noted for the remarkable way Fitzgerald captured a cross-section of American society.”(Cliffsnotes Editor) The novel is set in New York City, more specifically in long island; East Egg and West Egg, during the prohibition era in the 1920’s and was then published in 1925.(Bruccoli Joseph.) Distinguishing similarities exist between Fitzgerald, Carraway and Gatsby, one being; Fitzgerald used Carraway and Gatsby to exquisitely represent his character in the real world. Gatsby the protagonist of the story is considered a tragic hero, and his life consumed of earning as much money, because in his eyes money had limitless power, and he used that power to attempt to win the love of his life; Daisy Buchanan back. Nick Carraway is the narrator of The Great Gatsby, his moral sense and personal integrity helped to set him apart from the other characters in the book. Daisy Buchanan is commonly know as a charming, selfish, hurtful women and The Great Gatsby’s most disappointing character. If The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is known as the Great American Novel then maybe the historical context, biographical overview, the characters is what makes the novel so important to American culture.
The 1920’s were a time of social and technological change. After World War II, the Victorian values were disregarded, there was an increase in alcohol consumption, and the Modernist Era was brought about. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a perfect presentation of the decaying morals of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald uses the characters in the novel--specifically the Buchanans, Jordan Baker, and Gatsby’s partygoers--to represent the theme of the moral decay of society.
The Roaring Twenties is considered to be a time of excessive celebration and immense corruption. The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a criticism of American society and its values during this era of history. This criticism is first apparent in the people who go to Gatsby's parties. They get absurdly drunk, do not know who their host is and are rude by excessively gossiping about him. This commentary is also shown in the corruption of the police. Gatsby is able to pay off the police so that the activities going on at his home will go unnoticed and so that he may behave as he wishes. This criticism is finally shown in the corruption of friendship and love, the simple fact being that there is none. People use Gatsby and then throw him away. Fitzgerald's criticism of American society and its values during this time period is first shown in the behaviour of people at Gatsby's parties.
Fitzgerald keeps the reader alert and on their toes as Gatsby, his identity, and his relations remain unknown. When Gatsby is brought up in any conversation, it’s immediately cut off as someone is about to deliver information about him, By doing so, Fitzgerald is able to keep Gatsby unknown to