The novel The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald is the great American novel. It is full of the disillusioned, the skeptics, the hypocrites and the careless dreamers of high society New York. The characters are reckless in the way they live, hurting each other and having fake relationships, abandoning people. The characters betray each other, over and over throughout the novel, they question Gatsby’s sincerity, and they are horrible people. This novel truly breaks the traditions associated with the pureness of the American dream; it reflects the contemporary American experience. It does so by the carelessness of the characters as well as their hypocrisy and skepticism. In today’s world we celebrate the careless people, the reckless celebrities who get away with breaking the law, and the pharmaceutical companies who don’t care that what they do is killing people. It as if having money gives someone the right to be careless. This shown in every major character in the Great Gatsby one character, Jordan Baker, just comes right out and says that she is careless. Tom and Daisy are careless in the way they think their actions won’t have consequences,the sad thing is though, it is true, and Daisy is not sent to jail for running over and killing a woman and Tom gets awaywith having an affair. Not to mention Nick who does not say anything to his “friend” Tom about daisy and Gatsby, he doesn’t tell Gatsby the nasty rumors he hears about him, he is not noble or caring he just watches carelessly while these people destroy lives. Even Gatsby is careless, not just in the way he throws around money, but because he is overly confidant. He is careless in the way he completely acts like someone he isn’t, calling people “old sport” and flaunting ... ... middle of paper ... ...coected to the contemperary american expierence. The people who go to all of Gatsbys parties are hypocrites they say horrible things about their host, Gatsby who lets them come to his mavilous parties and end the end the dont even attend his funeral, even daisy did not go. She abondond true love. The Great Gatsby does not follow the traditional American Dream of beilf in progress or triumph of the indivudual, its grity, its modern. the charecters are careless and hypocritical. The novel relates more to the modern "American dream" or perhaps more apropriatly, the modern American expirence, where just because someone does not abide by their own morals or acts without thinking, does not mean they are not considered good people. While the charecters in the Great Gatsby maybe "terrible" they are just like the rest of American sociaty, they drink, party, lie and cheat.
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 American Dream is something that so many people will strive to have one day. Doing so, a person may want the perfect house, family, and job. For Gatsby, that American Dream is fading away faster than ever. He had the house and the job, but one thing was missing, Daisy. Gatsby’s fighting for Daisy made him lose everything that he had gained for himself. In the end, Gatsby’s optimism and hope for a life with Daisy ends up killing him. F. Scott Fitzgerald delivers in his book, The Great Gatsby, a great description of the setting and his thoughts and emotions to readers in using ideas that people can relate to in this day and age. The development of the characters helps establish why The Great Gatsby is considered “good
The Great Gatsby is a view into the society of the 1920's masterfully created my Fitzgerald. In this society the one and only Gatsby falls right into the middle. Gatsby is an exemplary example of one trying to live out the American Dream. "The American dream is the idea held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve prosperity." (Wikipedia) So basically the American Dream is to have money, and a family. Gatsby got his money, but what he really wanted was Daisy Buchanan.
The Great Gatsby could be referred to as a satirical criticism of the American lifestyle that showed the risks some would undergo for fame and fortune, even unto death. The wild, carefree, rambunctious, radical behavior of this period in American history was in part consequence to Prohibition, (The The times, like Daisy, were constantly changing and did not have a solid base (hence the forthcoming Great Depression). Daisy was reckless and she even claimed this recklessness for herself. “That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”
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 to his characters. As Gatsby, at least in the eyes of many critics, should represent the idea of the American Dream, the presentation of his character puts the whole concept in question again, without being intended as criticism. This is mainly the fault of another weak character in the novel, Nick Carraway.
Book Analysis F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of "The Great Gatsby," reveals many principles about today's society and the "American dream. " One of the biggest fears in today's world is the fear of not fitting into society. People of all age groups and backgrounds share this fear. Many individuals believe that to receive somebody's affection, they must assimilate into that person's society. In the story, Jay Gatsby pursues the American dream and his passion for being happy only to come to a tragedy and total loss.
The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, perfectly symbolizes many emerging trends of the 1920’s. More importantly, the character of Jay Gatsby is depicted as a man amongst his American dreams and the trials he faces in the pursuit of its complete achievement. His drive to acquire the girl of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan, through gaining status and wealth shows many aspects of the author's view on the American dream. Through this, one can hope to disassemble the complex picture that is Fitzgerald’s view of this through the novel. Fitzgerald believes, through his experiences during the 1920’s, that only fractions of the American Dream are attainable, and he demonstrates this through three distinct images in The Great Gastby.
F. Scott Fitzgerald was an unknown author who only received great acclaim for his book The Great Gatsby after his passing. He was always a keen believer that the pursuit of a dream was much more rewarding than the achievement. In this novel, Nick Carraway recounts the tale of James Gatz’s a poor farmer’s son’s transition to Jay Gatsby an affluent grandiose man. Gatz unlike the other central characters is new money. He overcame the conditions that he was born into. His parents were mere farmers but he has been able to reinvent himself both figuratively and literally. His achievements cannot be dismissed because of such factors as luck or wealth. The medal of honor Gatsby earns from serving in the war and the mansion he owns on West Egg are a consequence of his enduring persistence. Although Gatsby’s objectification of women is displeasing, this novel is considered a great American novel because it convinces its readers, at least briefly, of Niccolò Machiavelli’s ideal that "the ends justify the means." Gatsby transcendes the wealth gap through dealings with alcohol, gains fame, buys a mansion across from his Daisy’s house all in aggregate to be with Daisy Buchanan once again. His perseverance and his rise to fame and riches from nothing are the keystone of the American Dream.
The void that the characters of The Great Gatsby constantly attempt to fill is one of a pit of sorrow and disparity. Whether it be love, sex, fame, or fortune, the motivation of these characters is a blind search into filling the empty void in their hearts. Furthermore, these characters use the proletariat an effort to validate themselves. The working class works for the upper class in a never ending cycle that never really pleases anyone. There are other means by which characters, such as Jordan and Tom, try to please themselves. Moreover, Gatsby has a shady background that he accepted in order to achieve his American Dream. The lavish spending and immoral behavior of the bourgeoisie portrayed in The Great Gatsby puts physical and emotional
Gatsby’s wealth did not bring him happiness nor did it bring him Daisy. Gatsby was so devoted to his love for Daisy that when she ran over her husband’s mistress, he took the blame. It was that last act of gallantry that cost him his life. In a mad rage the husband of the woman Daisy ran down killed Gatsby. It was only then that the truth that Gatsby’s new life was superficial came to light. His so called friends were users. His love affair a farce. Instead of staying by his side Daisy returned to her husband. None of the hundreds of people who came to his parties ventured to his funeral. Not even his partner in crime, Meyer Wolfsheim, cared about him in the end. He was no longer of value to any of
Scott Fitzgerald has been one of the most famous and recognized author during the “Jazz Age”. One of his most famous works that has become a classic novel in the American culture is called “The Great Gatsby”. In the novel, Scott Fitzgerald created many resemblances between himself and both Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway. Fitzgerald was born in the Midwest, just like Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway. Carraway with his high standards represented Fitzgerald's perfect self, as for Gatsby, he represented Fitzgerald's actual self. This novel has a brief picture of what the wealthy society of the United States was becoming in the 1920s. Fitzgerald was a wonderful example of the American Dream idea, as his main character in The Great Gatsby many critics believe that Fitzgerald’s characteristic was portrayed by Gatsby in this novel. Jay Gatsby was a farmer ‘son who dreamed of having lots of money, being able to throw unexpected parties and gain the lost love of an upper-class women. In this novel, the American Dream idea becomes a part of Gatsby who can make his dreams come true but with fraud living a twisted dark truth about this dream. Each character in the story can provide an example of this unrealistic idea of the American Dream. Each character throughout the novel is represented through their own personality. Fitzgerald was about to use his characters to tell the story that not many people could be able to
The Great Gatsby is an American novel of hope and longing, and is one of the very few novels in which “American history finds its figurative form (Churchwell 292).” Gatsby’s “greatness” involves his idealism and optimism for the world, making him a dreamer of sorts. Yet, although the foreground of Fitzgerald’s novel is packed with the sophisticated lives of the rich and the vibrant colors of the Jazz Age, the background consists of the Meyer Wolfsheims, the Rosy Rosenthals, the Al Capones, and others in the vicious hunt for money and the easy life. Both worlds share the universal desire for the right “business gonnegtion,” and where the two worlds meet at the borders, these “gonnegtions” are continually negotiated and followed (James E. Miller). Gatsby was a character meant to fall at the hands of the man meant to be a reality check to the disillusions of the era.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, explores the themes love, lawlessness and fraud, three prominent themes throughout America during the 1920’s. The novel delves into the life of Jay Gatsby and its triumphs and tragedies, as narrated by Nick Caraway. Descriptive language infatuates the audience with Gatsby and leads them to believe he is great. However, some revelations via first person narration soon throw into question whether he is indeed great or not. Through the application of irony, the audience is led to believe that great does not deserve to be called great.
In conclusion, The Great Gatsby reveals the carelessness and shallowness of the characters in the upper class. Society is totally corrupted and the character’s lives revolve around the money and extravagant lifestyles. All of the characters are surrounded with expensive and unnecessary itms, which in turn, dulls their dream of actual success. Scott F. Fitzgerald provides a powerful and everlasting message of a corrupt, materialistic society and the effects that it has on the idea of the American dream.
‘The Great Gatsby’ is social satire commentary of America which reveals its collapse from a nation of infinite hope and opportunity to a place of moral destitution and corruption during the Jazz Age. It concentrates on people of a certain class, time and place, the individual attitudes of those people and their inner desires which cause conflict to the conventional values, defined by the society they live in. Gatsby is unwilling to combine his desires with the moral values of society and instead made his money in underhanded schemes, illegal activities, and by hurting many people to achieve the illusion of his perfect dream.