The Great Gatsby
The main theme of the novel “The Great Gatsby” focuses on the American Dream and it is portrayed through the life of Jay Gatsby. Through Gatsby’s life we see the withering of the American Dream, a tragedy that struck Jay’s near finished dream. The American Dream is what many have hoped of achieving, it has existed in the past and is in the present. The American Dream gives people a goal that they can work towards, it also gives them a purpose in life. The American Dream represents luxury and wealth it believes the goodness of the quality of life. For Jay Gatsby, he was so close to achieving the American Dream. He had the wealth and the class, all he needed was his long lost love, Daisy. Gatsby truly believed that he could once again be together with Daisy we see this when he says "Can't repeat the past?" he cried incredulously. "Why of course you can" (P. 116). However what made the story such a tragedy was that Gatsby came so close to wining Daisy however he was killed by Mr. Wilson which he was just inches away from successfully completing the American Dream. In the past, only a small amount of the American Dream turned out to be successful, most have failed. Many people who did not achieve the American Dream ended up committing suicide or other means of giving up on life because they believe there was no other purpose in life.
Gatsby represent the American Dream in many ways, in order to accomplish his Dream he knew exactly what he desired, when Jay met Dan Cody at the shore of Lake Superior, Dan shown him a vision of success a vision of what wealth would offer, the excitement of being rich. Jay Gatsby has an ambitious nature, there for he would do anything just to live the American Dream. He started by building a past, he changed his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby in an attempt to construct a foundation for his dream. He then composed an image for Jay Gatsby, a well gentleman who was born in the west, educated at oxford and fought in World War I. Gatsby was then able to attain a great deal of money working with Meyer Wolfsheim. He then bought a huge mansion in the “West Egg”, however he would throw extravagant parties in hoping of attracting his long lost love Daisy, the one who he had an affair with before he went to the war. Nick describes Gatsby’s feelings about Daisy:
"He hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy and I think t...
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...d him Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg which had just emerged pale and enormous from the dissolving night" (P. 167)
He believed that god would justify his actions since god is watching through the eyes of Dr. Eckleberg. So he shot Jay Gatsby whom he thought Myrtle was having an affair with, then he shot himself.
All things said, I think the hope of the American Dream is more than hard to achieve. Not everyone can find that perfect soul mate and not everyone can stay wealthy for a long period. Especially during this revolutionary century, money is easily earned but also easily lost. I think for many people the American Dream is a purpose for life, a difficult goal for ambitious people like Gatsby to reach. Personally, I do not believe this, I believe that we should live a mediocre life, so that our whole life is even. Unlike how some people work three quarters of their life to enjoy that one quarter life of the American Dream. In the end you will lose all your friends and perhaps even your life if you don’t succeed. To me the moral of the book meant enjoy your life while it lasts, you only have so much time to enjoy it.
The American Dream is nothing new to world. In 1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote “The Great Gatsby” which was about a man truly living the “American Dream”. Everything he did though was to achieve wealth. He had elaborate parties in his fabulous house, bought the best of everything, and did whatever he had to do become the best. He started out with nothing and worked his way up by creating a fake life, even the woman he loved most did not know of his past. The woman, Daisy, he loved most was not even in Gatsby’s life, but in the life of another man. Gatsby worked and strived to get everything he had for a married woman who did not even love him. Though Gatsby thought he loved Daisy he only loved the idea of her. Someone who he had a few wonderful moments with, someone who he could see his life spent with. What did he really get out of life though? Wasted years to impress someone who never really mattered when he could have been spending it with someone who could of loved him for who he really was. Who was Gatsby though, no one can e...
There was a sense of sadness in Tom’s eyes as he had said those words. Although Myrtle was killed, Tom was still very concerned about Daisy and Gatsby’s affair.
The novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, deals heavily with the concept of the American Dream as it existed during the Roaring Twenties, and details its many flaws through the story of Jay Gatsby, a wealthy and ambitious entrepreneur who comes to a tragic end after trying to win the love of the moneyed Daisy Buchanan, using him to dispel the fantastic myth of the self-made man and the underlying falsities of the American Dream. Despite Gatsby’s close association with the American Dream, however, Fitzgerald presents the young capitalist as a genuinely good person despite the flaws that caused his undoing. This portrayal of Gatsby as a victim of the American Dream is made most clear during his funeral, to which less than a handful of people attend. 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.
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.
Jay Gatsby, who is one of the main characters of the Great Gatsby, is a man with a mysterious background and an unknown personality. He doesn't mention too much about his past except certain fabricated highlights of his life which were designed to impress others. The strange and humorous thing is that he carries articles of evidence that back up most of his lies to prove that he isn't lying. Gatsby is also the kind of man that is used to getting what he wants no matter what the consequences are, causing him to be a very determined man that once has an idea in his mind won't let it go until he accomplishes it. The things that Jay Gatsby values the most is money, to impress others and gain acceptance and most of all, having things his own way. In a manner, these are some of the characteristics of the American Dream and what people strive for when they come to America.
The American Dream is the concept that anyone, no matter who he or she is, can become successful in his or her life through perseverance and hard work. It is commonly perceived as someone who was born and starts out as poor but ambitious, and works hard enough to achieve wealth, prosperity, happiness, and stability. Clearly, Fitzgerald uses Gatsby to personify the destruction of the American Dream Gatsby started out as a poor farming boy, meticulously planning his progression to become a great man. When Gatsby’s father showed Nick the journal where Gatsby wrote his resolution, he says, “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he 's got about improving his mind?” (182). The written resolution demonstrates how ambitious and innocent Gatsby was in pursuing his dreams and how much he wanted to improve himself that his father applauded him, which once characterized the process of pursuing the American Dream. While pursuing Daisy (Gatsby’s American Dream), Gatsby becomes corrupt and destroys himself. He did not achieve his fortune through honest hard work, but through dishonesty and illegal activities. Furthermore, Gatsby has a large, extravagant mansion, drives flashy cars, throws lavish parties filled with music and
Gatsby plays the god-like character in this book so his means are good but both him and Myrtle do bad things to get higher in a crowd that will never take them in. To make themselves appear better to the other crowd, they lose some of the moral fiber that was there to begin with. (Fitzgerald, -page 83) Loss of morals in the 1920' in America caused the American dream to vanish. The god-like character of the book was a good person but he did bad things like bootlegging and joining in organized crime. Affairs happened in the elite crowd between Tom and Myrtle.
Gatsby spent his whole life striving for one thing. The American Dream, which for him is mainly dominated by Daisy. In chapter nine of the book you can see that Gatsby started striving to meet the American Dream at young age. The reader learns of a book of Gatsby's. He has his everyday routine planned out in this book. Things like "Read one improving book or magazine per week." Show That Gatsby wants to improve himself to a point where he can succeed. That isn't all Gatsby did to improve his chances of success though. He even went to the extent of changing his name from James Gatz, to Jay Gatsby in an attempt to create a new, successful man that people could admire.
According to the dictionary, the definition of dissatisfaction is the quality or state of being unhappy or discontent. Dissatisfaction is a disease that theoretically knows no prejudices, has no cure, and almost everyone has it. This is a global epidemic, that can destroy a man in the time it takes to snap your fingers. Physically most people will be alright but discontent will rot you to the core on the inside. Unfortunately, not being content seems to be a very common part of society today and in the past. The theme of not be satiated by life is especially seen in the famous novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. All the characters in this novel seemingly have achieved the american dream but they are all unhappy and never get what they really want in the end. Also, no character is satisfied with their marriage, with love, and with life in general. They are all unhappy with their lives and they destroy the lives of others in order to satisfy themselves. The Great Gatsby teaches us that even being wealthy and powerful, people can still be dissatisfied and will do anything in order to be happy. Therefore, despite believing that we have it all, dissatisfaction still plagues the human spirit.
During Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, it is apparent to be an absurd time for the wealthy. The shallowness of money, riches, and a place in a higher social class were probably the most important components in most lives at that period of time. This is expressed clearly by Fitzgerald, especially through his characters, which include Myrtle Wilson, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and of course, Jay Gatsby. This novel was obviously written to criticize and condemn the ethics of the rich.
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Daisy Miller by Henry James, most of the characters are under illusions during the majority of the plot. The plots are carried out with the characters living under these illusions, which are mainly overcome by the ends of the stories. The disillusionment of most of the characters completely diminishes the foundation in which the plots were built upon, leading to the downfall of some of the main characters and the altering of the other characters.
American clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger once said “The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it is possible to achieve the American dream.” This idea of the “American dream” has been around since the founding and has become a prominent part of American culture and identity. This same idea is what the raved about novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is based around. Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, pursues this American dream through his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan and his need to be insanely rich.
The American dream has an inspiring connotation, often associated with the pursuit of happiness, to compel the average citizen to prosper. In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s infatuation for Daisy drives him towards wealth in order to respark his love. Due to Daisy’s rich background, the traditional idea of love becomes skewed because of the materialistic mindsets of people in the 1920s. In the novel the wealthy are further stratified into two social classes creating a barrier between the elite and the “dreamers”. Throughout the novel, the idea of the American dream as a fresh start fails. As Nick, the narrator, spends time in New York, he realizes the corruption pursuing goals. Characters such as Gatsby and Myrtle constantly strive toward an the American dream, which Nick realizes to be fruitless in the end.
Gatsby's belief of achieving his American Dream through Daisy lead to his failure. While the American Dream suggests that everyone can achieve the status and wealth they desire through hard work, Gatsby's newly earned wealth and lifestyle are looked down upon, due to which he desires to be married with Daisy, which can lead to him attaining his dream. The American Dream during the nineteen twenties is portrayed by the author as a dream merely restricted to the attainment of wealth and social class which had consumed many people including Jay Gatsby.
The American dream is an ideal in American literature that has been around for centuries. An idea that your average Joe can go from rags to riches, while finding love and having high social status on the way up the ladder. The American dream can be based off the idea of self-reliance, freedom, and just having a general dream to do something better for your life or for your family’s life. In The Great Gatsby, however, the American dream was more focused on materialistic items such as big houses, nice clothes, and fancy cars. Jay Gatsby started as a poor man in his early life, but ended up being quite wealthy. In his early life, he was very dedicated to his dreams, even writing a daily schedule to better himself. But once he acquired a great deal of wealth, he became blinded by his need for luxurious things, and never truly figured out that money cannot buy love and it cannot buy happiness. That instance is what made the novel tragic. Gatsby thought that having wealth meant he had a chance at getting his old love, Daisy, back.