In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald explores the idea of the American Dream as well as the portrayal of social classes. Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into distinct social groups but, in the end, each group has its own problems to contend with, leaving a powerful reminder of what a precarious place the world really is. By creating two distinct social classes ‘old money’ and ‘new money’, Fitzgerald sends strong messages about the elitism underlying and moral corruption society. The idea of the American dream is the ideal that opportunity is available to any American, allowing their highest aspirations and goals to be achieved. In the case of The Great Gatsby it centres on the attainment of wealth and status to reach certain positions in life, Nick moved to West Egg where he met his new mysterious neighbour Jay Gatsby, whom he believes is the opposite of what he represents. Nick Carraway on the outside can be seen as a moral and steadfast person, but he too is not without his own faults and moral corruptions. A major example is how Nick uses Jordan Baker whom he never thought of her and himself being serious relationship. Jordan Baker is used by Nick for both her fame and wealth, acting as Nick’s own temporary love affair to fulfil his own needs. Moreover, Nick Carraway always seems to be always caught up or involved either directly or indirectly on all the corruption that occurs. Nick as the narrator is aware of the lying, corruption and deceit that takes place, and seems unfazed by it. Nick also defends Gatsby even though he very well knows of all Gatsby 's criminal activity and liquor smuggling. Finally, Nick is the character who sets up two of the main characters, Daisy Buchanan, his cousin and Jay Gatsby, to have an affair. It never crosses Nick 's thoughts, that setting up and condoning an affair is a moral corruption of traditionalist and religious values. Nick does this through the exchange of Gatsby and Daisy’s secret meeting, which Nick says, "I 'm going to call up Daisy tomorrow and invite her over here to tea... What day would suit you?" Nick even went through the trouble to set The idea of the American Dream is achievable although most often is hard to accomplish and everyone’s own interpretations and expectations make it a near impossible task. Social class and status is also emphasized through the barrier that exists between East Egg and West Egg which symbolise “old money” and “new money” effectively, and the corruption of morals as witnessed and expressed by the narration of Nick Carraway. Fitzgerald shows that for all the lavishness of society there is ultimately unfulfilled dreams, corruption and separation, and in the case of Gatsby a tragic end to a tragic hero of the lower class. “Show me a hero and I 'll write you a tragedy” F. Scott Fitzgerald
In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald gives the reader a glimpse into the life of the high class during the 1920’s through the eyes of a man named Nick Carraway. Through the narrator's dealings with high society, Fitzgerald demonstrates how modern values have transformed the American dream's ideas into a scheme for materialistic power and he reveals how the world of high society lacks any sense of morals or consequence. In order to support his message, Fitzgerald presents the original aspects of the American dream along with its modern face to show that the wanted dream is now lost forever to the American people. Jay Gatsby had a dream and did everything he could to achieve it however in the end he failed to. This reveals that the American dream is not always a reality that can be obtained. Fitzgerald demonstrates how a dream can become corrupted by one’s focus on acquiring wealth and power through imagery, symbolism, and characterization.
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.
Through the use of symbolism and critique, F. Scott Fitzgerald is able to elucidate the lifestyles and dreams of variously natured people of the 1920s in his novel, The Great Gatsby. He uses specific characters to signify diverse groups of people, each with their own version of the “American Dream.” Mostly all of the poor dream of transforming from “rags to riches”, while some members of the upper class use other people as their motivators. In any case, no matter how obsessed someone may be about their “American Dream”, Fitzgerald reasons that they are all implausible to attain.
In the beginning of the book Nick calls himself “One of the few honest people that I’ve ever known”. Throughout the book Nick gives examples that even though he is polite; he will tell people how it is. A few examples are when he talks about how dishonest his friend Jordan is, as well as calling Tom and Daisy careless people. Nick also says that Gatsby represents everything that makes him feel like an unaffected scorn. Nick proves throughout the story that he really isn’t as honest as he has thinks. Nick does not reveal he knows about Tom’s affair with Myrtle. He also pretends he didn't know Daisy was driving the car. Another example of his dishonesty is when Nick doesn't tell the police at the crime scene everything he knows, which would have saved Gatsby's life.
Since its publication in 1925, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has indisputably been one of the most influential and insightful pieces on the corruption and idealism of the American Dream. The American Dream, defined as ‘The belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone,’ was a dominant ideal in American society, stemming from an opportunist pioneer mentality. In his book ‘The American Tradition in Literature’, Bradley Sculley praised The Great Gatsby for being ‘perhaps the most striking fictional analysis of the age of gang barons and the social conditions that produced them.’ Over the years, greed and selfishness changed the basic essence of the American Dream, forming firmly integrated social classes and the uncontainable thirst for money and status. The ‘Roaring Twenties’ was a time of ‘sustained increase in national wealth’ , which consequently led to an increase in materialism and a decrease in morality. Moreover, the
Many endeavor to attain love, prosperity, high status, and supremacy. Throughout the years, the American dream has fluctuated. Due to the fluctuation of the American dream, the possession of material items is an indication of attaining success. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, is a self-made man who went from rags to riches. Gatsby's clarity is so clouded by his luxurious possessions that he does not see that money cannot buy neither happiness nor love. Fitzgerald's novel exhibits how both materialism and greed have taken place of the American dream.
Fitzgerald illustrates how the abundance of material possessions encourages immorality and selfishness. These certain components are exemplified in the environment of East Egg and those associated with such a place -Myrtle Wilson, in this case. Although not initially from East Egg, her position with Tom as being the other “woman from New York” exposes her to a similar lavish way of living (19). Fitzgerald endorses Myrtle in this way to symbolize her as the selfish desire to have an affair, which is prevalent within the rich upperclass. With this, Tom and Myrtle's relationship is solely based off Tom’s greed for power and Myrtle’s craving for high status in society. Fitzgerald imposes such immoral behaviors to exemplify social values being consumed
“Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it's set a rolling it must increase.” (Charles Colton) Sadly when many begin to go down the nefarious path of corruption they can’t stop themselves. This is due to the human qualities of greed and materialism. In the rhetorical piece “The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby began his corrupt career in bootlegging and never stopped. He became money hungry and only accumulated more dirty money throughout the years. However, Gatsby was able to turn his life around and he built something of himself from nothing, but unfortunately he had to do so illegally. Therefore I believe that to a small extent Gatsby was a commendable man for he was able to make something of himself, but Gatsby chose an immoral and corrupt path to get there, making him a character deserving a small degree of admiration.
The ideal of the American Dream is seen as every United States citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and also having the perfect family. But I the Novel ‘The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald shows a corruption of that American dream, from his characters Daisy, Tom, Gatsby and more. It may seem as if they have the perfect life of luxury but they are just a corruption of the American dream of luxury.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is told from the view of Nick Carraway. He is a graduate from Yale and moves east to New York to find a new job. Nick moves to West Egg in the summer of 1922 where he meets and befriends his neighbor, a peculiar man named Jay Gatsby. Nick’s wealthy cousin Daisy Buchanan lives across the sound in East Egg with her obnoxious husband Tom. It becomes evident that Fitzgerald aimed to portray the theme of moral decay as each of the characters develops and the story unfolds; Tom’s actions, Daisy’s self-obsession and carelessness, and Nick’s conformity to society all represent the prominent theme.
Set in the 1920’s, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, tells the story of Nick Carraway and the time he spends in New York City. Throughout the story Nick meets many characters from different backgrounds, and the story follows the interactions between them. While one could read this novel and see just an interesting story, a deeper look can reveal that the characters and their interactions actually represent a critique of the American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby argues that wealth and materialism kills the American Dream of class mobility.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, the 1920’s was a “throwaway culture, in which things (and people) are used and then abandoned” (Evans). This is true of the lives of the wealthy elite who ruled the East and West Eggs, causing the domination of materialistic thought. The substitution of money for integrity ultimately provided a way for corruption to take deep roots in the characters. The frivolous lives and relationships described by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby depict the emptiness of the shallow 1920’s era.
Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s party to develop the theme of the corruption of the American Dream by showing the original concept compared to how the Dream is brought to life by Americans. The original concept of the American Dream has been thrown away for the promise of fast and easy success rather than personal happiness through hard work. When Nick first arrives at Gatsby’s party, he says, “I was immediately struck by the number of young Englishmen dotted about; all well dressed, all looking a little hungry, and all talking in low, earnest voices to solid and prosperous Americans. I was sure that they were selling something...They were...agonizingly aware of the easy money in the vicinity and convinced that it was theirs for a few words in the
Throughout the entire novel it is clearly portrayed that Nick Carraway is not a moral character by any stretch of the imagination. Nick Carraway may seem to have some good values, but he is in fact immoral for many reasons. First, Nick uses Jordan Baker; he never actually became interested in a serious relationship with the golf star. Miss Baker is basically just a fling to him. Secondly, Nick Carraway always seems to be the middleman in all the trouble that is going on in the novel. The narrator knows about all the lying, deceiving, two-faced things that are going on throughout the story, and he is completely ok with it. Also Nick defends Gatsby even though he very well knows of all Gatsby's criminal activity and liquor smuggling. Finally, Nick is the character who sets up two of the main characters, Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, to have an affair. It never crosses Nick's mind that it is an immoral thing to set up an affair. During the novel there is a discussion between Gatsby and Nick about when to set up the secret meeting with Daisy. During this exchange Nick actually says, "I'm going to call up Daisy tomorrow and invite her over here to tea.
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.