Throughout history, American culture has been a common theme among various works of literature. One of those works include The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a novel written based on the idealistic ways of the American Dream. The American Dream can have different meanings but overall climbing the social ladder of success was the main goal. The Great Gatsby exposes society in the 1920’s and demonstrates how a dream can be corrupted in an era of decayed social and moral values. The American Dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness but has transformed into a materialistic vision of wealth, power, and expensive things and the means of obtaining it all. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby as a way to represent the demise of the conservative ideologies and the rise of consumerism during the Roaring Twenties.
Due to the aftermath of World War I, America experienced a period of financial growth. These were prosperous times.
Jay Gatsby was a poor boy of obscure origins who rose to great wealth and prestige. He came towards wealth pretty quickly, so he continued to fulfill his American Dream by purchasing the finest and most expensive items. The illusion of having a wealthy life seemed perfect, but in reality it was based on lies, cheat, and murder.
Dynamic changes impaced the development of America. “Americans were also able to buy vast quantities of mass-produced glassware, jewelery, clothing, household items, and durable goods, which blurred the distinctions between rich and poor.” The clash between “new money” versus “old money” develops a symbolistic correlation between the East egg and the West egg. The locations of the East egg and the West egg symbolized the separation of class ...
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... experiences of warm home life and friendly faces. His dream is closer to the original American dream, which was focused more around family than wealth and an unending quest for success. Nick represents the opposite path that Gatsby could have taken from the Midwest. Gatsby still possesses the principles of the Midwest, but his values have become blurred by the bright lights and sparkle of Daisys golden glow.
The Great Gatsby has many color symbolisms but green is the color that stands out the most in this novel. This color portrays many thoughtsm ideas, attitudes, and choices that Gatsby has throughout the story. It also depicts the urge to do better in life and to be successful. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.”
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, the pursuit of the American dream in a corrupt period is a central theme. This theme exemplifies itself in the downfall of Gatsby. In a time of disillusionment the ideals of the American dream are lost. The classic American dream is one of materialism and when Gatsby incorporates Daisy, a human being, into the dream he is doomed to fail.
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:
The story of Jay Gatsby is a romantic one that actually began years before. However, his romantic story turns into a troubling one when we realize that he is not the man he seems to be. The story of Jay Gatsby is not only filled with romance, but with secrecy, obsession, and tragedy. The symbol of Jay Gatsby's troubled romantic obsession is a green light at the end of the dock of Daisy Buchanan, a woman to whom he fell in love with five years earlier. The green light represents his fantasy of reuniting with Daisy and rekindling the love they once had. This light represents everything he wants, everything he has done to transform himself, and ultimately everything that he cannot attain.
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 Great Gatsby,a novel by F,Scott Fitzgerald,is about the American Dream,and the downfall of the people who try to reach it.The American Dream means something different to different people,but in The Great Gatsby,for Jay Gatsby,the subject of the book,the dream is that through acquiring wealth and power,one can also gain happiness.To reach his idea of what happiness is,Gatsby must go back in time and relive an old dream.To do this,he believes,he must first have wealth and power.
Nick Carraway, the narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, assigns certain types of images and descriptive words to Tom, Daisy and Jordan and continues to elaborate on these illustration throughout the first chapter. Nick uses contrasting approaches to arrive at these character sketches; Tom is described by his physical attributes, Daisy through her mannerisms and speech, and Jordan is a character primarily defined by the gossip of her fellow personages. Each approach, however, ends in similar conclusions as each character develops certain distinguishing qualities even by the end of the first chapter. Lastly, the voices of the characters also helped to project truly palpable personalities.
There are many different types of people in this world. Apart from physical features, it is the characteristics of a person that makes him/her original. Nick Carraway the narrator of The Great Gatsby, has qualities which are the complete opposite of those of Tom Buchanan, his cousin-in-law. In the novel, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses the comparison between two cousins to show how their differing characteristics reflects the themes of morality and reality versus illusion.
the 1920s as we can see with Gatsby's five cars, one of which he gives
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, may at first glance resemble a story of unrequited love. However, closer examination reveals the work to be much more than that. The Great Gatsby is a story about The American Dream and the moral corruption that sometimes occurred in the pursuit of that dream. The American Dream has been described as being the pursuit of happiness while maintaining strong moral values. However,as Fitzgerald vividly portrays, The American Dream seems to have become the pursuit of wealth accompanied by extreme moral decay. Greed and selfish pleasure are the focal points of the book as portrayed by the interactions of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan.
The novel, The Great Gatsby focuses on one of the focal characters, James Gatz, also known as Jay Gatsby. He grew up in North Dakota to a family of poor farm people and as he matured, eventually worked for a wealthy man named Dan Cody. As Gatsby is taken under Cody’s wing, he gains more than even he bargained for. He comes across a large sum of money, however ends up getting tricked out of ‘inheriting’ it. After these obstacles, he finds a new way to earn his money, even though it means bending the law to obtain it. Some people will go to a lot of trouble in order to achieve things at all costs. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, conveys the numerous traits of Jay Gatsby through the incidents he faces, how he voices himself and the alterations he undergoes through the progression of the novel. Gatsby possesses many traits that help him develop as a key character in the novel: ambitious, kind-hearted and deceitful all of which is proven through various incidents that arise in the novel.
The American Dream: wealth, passion, power, love, an enormous house, luxurious cars, the finest clothing. The American Dream is something people have strived to achieve for centuries. The Great Gatsby is a novel of twisted love triangles, whose characters are trying to capture and live the American Dream. Dreams can fall to pieces when they are being perused for the wrong reason and the in the wrong ways. F. Scott Fitzgerald creates an ideal piece of literature that shows flaws, mistaken beliefs, and the ignorance of society in its belief of the American Dream.
The car pulled up to Wilson’s garage. Instantly, anger filled my body. Myrtle should be alive. Myrtle should be here. But instead, that man- this man- let her go and get herself killed. I knew who it was. Gatsby. He was one with the yellow car. He was the one driving. God knows, he wouldn’t let Daisy drive.
This book is called The Great Gatsby. The character that I chose from this book is Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby an extremely rich man who lives in a giant mansion. His home is located on the West Egg and is “rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season.” (9). Jay Gatsby was born in Minnesota and had two very poor farming parents. His real name was James Gatz but his good friend Dan Cody gave him the name Jay Gatsby. Dan Cody also taught Gatsby everything about being wealthy. When Dan Cody died Gatsby inherited a small amount of his wealth. About this time Gatsby became intimate and fell in love with Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby then had to leave for war and when he returned he was sent to Oxford. Gatsby then spent the rest of his money to go and visit Daisy in Louisville but he had then learned that Daisy had given up on Gatsby. She had married a rich man named Tom. This is when Gatsby realized that the only way that he could win Daisy over was to become wealthy so he promised himself that he would become rich. Gatsby then meets his mentor Meyer Wolfsheim. His mentor Meyer Wolfsheim is the person who is responsible for Gatsby’s wealth. He helps Gatsby become a millionaire by helping him in illegal activities such as bootlegging. This is where Jay Gatsby’s tragic flaw begins. After he finds out that Daisy married Tom because he was rich he figures that he needs to be rich in order to have her so he begins to become a millionaire just for Daisy. Everything he does after this point is all for Daisy Buchanan. Saturday night Gatsby throws a very extravagant party were all of his so called friends come to. At his parties Gatsby does not drink or party at all. He just sits around and waits for his lost love Daisy. This is Jay Gatsby’s tragic flaw. He is obsessed and everything that he does and has ever done revolves around Daisy Buchanan.