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The concept of the American dream
The corruption and disillusionment of the american dream
The corruption and disillusionment of the american dream
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The Great Gatsby brings a picture of the American society during the 1920's. This is a critical decade where the view of the American Dream has been transformed from the ideal dream to a materialistic dream. The view of the American Dream was always about coming from the bottom and working your way to the top. It was once based on discovery, self- reliance and happiness. The old American Dream before corruption allowed you to gain love, high status, money and power through work. You had to put in work to become on top. The American Dream was also based on family. However, times have change, so do values. The American Dream transformed into the materialistic aspects. The goal was to have a huge house, extravagant cars, and live life easily. It was no longer about work and dedication. Materialistic objects determines success now instead of verse versa, which shows corruption has taken place. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the American Dream and its corruption through the evolution of a society from the wealth and social statuses they achieved. One way that Fitzgerald illustrates the American Dream and its corruption is through the decay of moral and social values. Once the American Dream has transformed to a more materialistic view, the loss of moral and social values began to happen. Society was becoming lost in wealth which leads to greed. The pursuit of happiness turned into the pursuit of pleasure. For example in the novel, Gatsby began to throw wild parties every Saturday. Gatsby began to become ignorant and allow the newfound wealth to go to his head. The true goal of love was tainted and lost from the new social status, he gained. Gatsby at one time was also not being true to himself which shows a loss ... ... middle of paper ... ... of pleasure and money. This one dream once included individuality, happiness, and discovery has changed to a more materialistic dream. The Great Gatsby has become a symbolic novel for what money and newfound prosperity can do to a society. It is symbolic for America and how the corruption of the American Dream can cause the corruption of the world. Works Cited Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Views: F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1985. Bryant Mangum, "The Great Gatsby," Encyclopedia of the Novel, ed. Paul Schellinger, London and Chicago: Fitzroy-Dearborn, 1998, pp. 514-515. Reprinted with permission of Fitzroy-Dearborn Publishers. Fahey, William. F. Scott Fitzgerald and the American Dream. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1973. Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.
Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald criticizes the American dream very elaborately and shows the idea of the American dream to be connected with the goal of achieving wealth. Fitzgerald does not praise wealth in the Great Gatsby but condemns it by drawing attention to the dreadful fall made by Gatsby. Fitzgerald finds the desire of wealth to be a corrupting impact on people. Throughout the novel, the characters with money contradict the idea of the American dream. They are portrayed to be very snobbish and unhappy people. The American dream in the novel is shown to be unachievable. For some time, the American dream has been focused upon material things that will gain people success.
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.
Since its publication in 1925, The Great Gatsby has remained a spot-on representation of a time in American history in which the people believed anything was possible. Gatsby is the definition of this idea. The underlying cause of everything in this novel is his--and in essence everyone’s idea. This idea is the ubiquitous notion of the American Dream. And Fitzgerald does not only write about the American Dream, but about its corruption as well. This following quote truly epitomizes what the American Dream had become in the eyes of Fitzgerald:
New Essays on The Great Gatsby. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.
Mizener, Arthur, ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
Gibb, Thomas. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby" The Explicator Washington: Winter 2005. Vol. 63, Iss.3; Pg. 1-3
Bewley, Marious. "Scott Fitzgerald Critisism of America." F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. Arthur Mizener. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
Bewley, Marius. "Scott Fitzgerald's Criticism of America." The Sewanee Review 62.2 (1954): 223-46. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
London: Penguin Books, 1990. Trilling, Lionel. " F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed.
Hermanson, Casie E. "An overview of The Great Gatsby." Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald employs the use of characters, themes, and symbolism to convey the idea of the American Dream and its corruption through the aspects of wealth, family, and status. In regards to wealth and success, Fitzgerald makes clear the growing corruption of the American Dream by using Gatsby himself as a symbol for the corrupted dream throughout the text. In addition, when portraying the family the characters in Great Gatsby are used to expose the corruption growing in the family system present in the novel. Finally, the American longing for status as a citizen is gravely overshot when Gatsby surrounds his life with walls of lies in order to fulfill his desires for an impure dream. F. Scot. Fitzgerald, through his use of symbols, characters, and theme, displays for the reader a tale that provides a commentary on the American dream and more importantly on its corruption.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925