Great Gatsby American Dream Essay

799 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: American society in the 1920s great-gatsby

Dreams and Promises of The Great Gatsby

The dream and promise of America would best be described as the American Dream. The American Dream came about in the 19th century and is defined as having money, power and high social status. The importance of the novel The Great Gatsby to the dream and promise of America is to show the reader it is not always attainable. There is always going to be something someone thinks they need for the next step to achieving the American Dream. An example of this is in the case of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan.
In his youth Jay Gatsby dreamed of having money, power, and high social status. Nick Carraway mentions in chapter six “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people — his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all.” Gatsby had always seen himself being a rich man and after the death of his rich, high-class friend Don Cody, Gatsby did everything he could to achieve his American Dream. He
The novel The Great Gatsby shows the reader that the dream of America is not always promised no matter how hard you work. The main example of this is in the case of Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby spends all his life working to secure his social status, but his dreams get out of reach and he realizes he forgot to enjoy the little things. An example of how the dream and promise of America differs between each character is shown by Nick Carraway. He was less concerned about being in the upper class and having social status and more concerned with finding himself and having happiness. The last example of the American Dream shows that sometimes people are born into it. Daisy had always had money, power, and high standings among the classes and didn’t have to work to get what she wanted. The overall importance of The Great Gatsby was to tell the reader the American Dream is not easy to do, and sometimes no matter how hard someone works it will never be

Show More
Related

  • Gatsbys Pursuit Of The American Dream

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Dream had always been based on the idea that each person no matter who he or she is can become successful in life by his or her hard work. The dream also brought about the idea of a self-reliant man, a hard worker, making a successful living for him or herself. The Great Gatsby is about what happened to the American Dream in the 1920s, a time period when the many people with newfound wealth and the need to flaunt it had corrupted the dream. The pursuit of the American Dream is the one motivation for accomplishing one's goals, however when combined with wealth the dream becomes nothing more than selfishness.

    Read More

  • Unhealthy Pursuits in F. Scott Fitzgerald´s the Great Gatsby

    623 Words  | 2 Pages

    Literature has been portraying the idea of the American dream in many different stories throughout all of history. This dream can be defined as someone rising from the bottom and finding wealth and love in their everyday life. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the storyline illustrates the life of several characters pursuing the American dream in New York City. The characters are all by intrigued Jay Gatsby, the man who lives across the bay with the biggest house in the city. Every person wants to gain the wealth that Gatsby has. The corruption of this desired American dream develops throughout the novel as the characters pursue love and money yet ultimately end up broken-hearted, empty-handed, or dead. During the time period of The Great Gatsby, the empty and superficial way of life was masked by the glamour and wealth that the people were absorbed in.

    Read More

  • How The Great Gatsby Relates to the American Dream

    951 Words  | 2 Pages

    "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. Gatsby spent his whole life striving for one thing.

    Read More

  • Essay On The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    1872 Words  | 4 Pages

    The American Dream is a powerful thing in the lives and hopes of its citizens, as shown in Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby. It is, and was, faith in individualism, expectation of progress, and mainly the belief in America as a land of opportunity. However, it also is differs from person to person. This plays a great part in Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby. His book took place in the 1920 's, which is also called the 'Roaring 20 's '. During this time, many Americans were freely spending. Moreover, the economy was doing extremely well and thus provided citizens with a sense of security and intense freedom. Many used that freedom and economic boom to become rich in business.

    Read More

  • Examples Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    1500 Words  | 3 Pages

    The American Dream is a concept in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success. All of this is achieved through the efficiency of hard work and dedication to reach that dream. People are lured into thinking they can have that dream if they live in America because it is the land of opportunity. The novel The Great Gatsby, is centered around the American Dream and how unachievable it is. Fitzgerald 's novel comments on how bad society is and how people dream unrealistically. The American Dream is hard to attain and hard to keep in any social class. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows, through Daisy 's dream, Wilson 's dream, and Gatsby 's dream, just how hard it is to obtain and fold on to the American Dream.

    Read More

  • Great Gatsby American Dream Essay

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    F. Scott Fitzgerald was a romantic character in both his fiction life and his real life and “…was perhaps the last notable writer to affirm the Romantic fantasy, descended from the Renaissance, of personal ambition and heroism, of life committed to, or thrown away for, some ideal of self"(Voegeli). The inspiration for The Great Gatsby came from the experience Fitzgerald had with a Jewish bootlegger and his symbolism for the book is “never more ingenious than in his depiction of the bankruptcy of the old agrarian myth” (Trask). The realization that America had been changed and transformed into a new world arose. America has become a new world with a new set of traditional beliefs. The beliefs were onset by the growing fields of industrialization and urbanization. America is now a place in which “a revolution in manners and morals was inevitable” (Trask). The trend of this new life style and tradition was reinforced by World War 1 and the writers critiqued the traditional faiths. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald paints a story about love and intrigue. He shows the possibility of movement between the different social classes during the Roaring Twenties in the United States. The American dream was the thought that people who had talent in the 'land of opportunity' could gain success if they followed a set of well-defined behavioral rules. During this time period, Americans believed that satisfaction would automatically follow success. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald raises many important political questions: "What does it mean to live well, and on what terms people can live together?” and it shows America's thoughts and answers to these essential questions (Voegeli). These questions are referring to the different social classes and be...

    Read More

  • Essay On The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Dream is defined as the improvement of one’s self while obtaining such things as love, wealth, status, and power as one reaches the top. The dream has had different distinctions throughout the years but keeps the bases of a desire of something greater. In the past century, the ideology has transformed into the idea of owning a big house with multiple cars and a bank full of money as the indication that you have “made it.” In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author navigates his readers into a life filled with gregarious parties and extravagant cars when a man named Nick meets the untouchable Gatsby. Unable to move away from past, Gatsby devotes his life to acquire wealth and status in order to reconcile with the love of his life. The characters in the novel attempt to define their happiness with materialistic objects but the author demonstrate the truth by illustrating the illusions of the American Dream.

    Read More

  • Great Gatsby American Dream Essay

    805 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bruccoli, Matthew Joseph, ed. (2000). F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: A Literary Reference. New

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby American Dream Analysis

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most prominent motifs in the novel The Great Gatsby is the disillusionment of the American Dream. When the American Dream first surfaced in society, it was based on the ideas of freedom, excellence, and self-reliance. It challenged people to have dreams of spiritual greatness and strive to make them reality. However, over the years, these ideas have warped into purely materialistic values. Many people started to believe that a life of ease, with a fancy car and an extravagant house would bring them fulfillment. Gatsby represents the aspiring American who wishes for something beyond what he has. And yet, in the end, he failed to make his dream a reality due to the fact that he, like a majority of real Americans, misunderstood the true meaning of the American dream.

    Read More

  • The Impracticable Dream

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    Today’s American Dream is similar to Gatsby’s because they both have a basic idea of what it means to be successful. Gatsby’s American Dream was all about his meaning of success, which was having an opulent life to share with his one true love, Daisy. Daisy stands for two things: Gatsby’s goal of love and his goal of high social status. Gatsby’s motivation to be successful came from his passion towards Daisy because he knew he could only be with her if he was wealthy and had a proper social status like old rich. Likewise, today’s definition of success is having wealth, high class, and someone to share it with. People will aim for success because they want to support their family or be worthy of someone. Gatsby wanted to be worthy of Daisy, which is why he became wealthy. Gatsby was an empty shell and he was not in touch with reality. He was always seeking the end of his dream, yet there was no ending. Similarly, the p...

    Read More

  • American Dream In The Great Gatsby Essay

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Dream changed drastically during the early 20th century. Americans’ attitude about the American Dream changed because of the events that happened during the first half of the 20th century. The Great Depression affected a majority of Americans during the 1930s. This caused many people to work hard and help themselves recover. By the 1940s, because of World War II, women started to work in order to support the economy (Desmond). After World War II, the most basic values of the American Dream were defined as having a nice home, family, and car. Most of the characters in The Great Gatsby want the American Dream except Nick Carraway.The American Dream is defined as having a steady job and a good house and family. In The Great Gatsby,

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    1335 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Immigrants are ruining this country”, is a statement made by almost every conservative in the United States. Yes, with their cheap labor, cultural traditions, and food contributions immigrants are making America a colorful and tasteful disaster. The American dream is so high in thought, yet so low in actuality. This well known dream-or nightmare- of rags to riches shines clear from sea to shining sea. However, the end goal of the American Dream varies from person to person. For some the dream plainly translates to happiness. Although for others, the end goal is an obsession of materials; beachside mansions, exotic cars, pets from the deepest parts of Africa and more things without any real meaning. The dream is only a goal if one is either

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby American Dream Essay

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Dream is the notion that the American economic, social, and political system makes it possible for every individual to be successful, the hope for equality and self-fulfillment. America seemed to promise endless opportunities socially and financially for anyone who is willing to work hard. F. Scott Fitzgerald condemns the idea of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby. Through the empty lives of three characters, Fitzgerald shows that chasing unattainable dreams will only lead to misery. Everyone in the lower class works toward being a part of the upper class. Myrtle Wilson dreamed of being a woman of status and marrying a gentleman who was capable of taking care of her. Unlike other characters in the book, instead of achieving her own dream, Myrtle had to find a man to achieve her dream for her. Jay Gatsby on the other hand changed his whole life around, did everything in his will to become part of the upper class so he can win over the true love of his life. He must have believed that life rewards those who work hard and if he sticks to his plan he could accomplish whatever he set his mind to. Despite Daisy Buchanan’s love for Gatsby, she chose to marry Tom Buchanan because he could socially and financially protect him. Daisy chose wealth over true love and happiness because she wanted to be a woman of status regardless of whether she was truly happy or not.

    Read More

  • Great Gatsby American Dream Essay

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Dream is a recurrent theme in American literature, dating back to some of the earliest colonial writings. Benjamin Franklin, who is considered to be the epitome of the self-made man once said, “The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself” (Franklin). Furthermore it is the belief that every man, whatever his origins, may pursue and attain his chosen goals; whether they be political, financial or social. However, the composition of the American Dream transformed as America changed. Gradually, individuals became fixated with affluence. The right to pursue happiness was still permissible, however; many persons began to believe their right was to pursue money. In the modernistic novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald unveils a unique expression of the American Dream, where effortless wealth and diminished social values exemplify its corruption. The novel entails a story of the disillusioned love between a man and a woman. The main character of the novel, Jay Gatsby, who stands for his nation, imagines...

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby And The American Dream

    1584 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Great Gatsby is an example of a few certain people who had dreams to become wealthy and have a better life which is what the American dream is all about.

    Read More

More about Great Gatsby American Dream Essay

Open Document