The Great Gatsby and the American Dream

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby depicts the 1920’s Jazz Age, and how society operates under the influence of the American Dream. Society during this time period consists of huge hopes and dreams for improvement of the self. In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream hides behind a mirage of beauty and splendor, buy in reality the corruption and illusions within this dream entice Americans to become drawn into its web of lies, deceit, and greed.

In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald strongly criticizes the American Dream (Seschachari 1). Fitzgerald shows readers the American Dream in this time period is centered on romanticism, material items, youth, and an emergence of selfishness (Seschachari 2). People value tangible items over strong moral values. A life of extravagance, however, does not always come without repercussions. People in this society live in a pretend world of beauty, but in reality the American Dream is a defective illusion. In the American Dream, equality is an impossible feat and even though Americans have an abundance of opportunities, people will always be suppressed from true achievement (Hearne 191).

Meyer Wolfshiem, a corrupt business man, represents how disillusioned the American Dream is. His mannerisms reek of brutality, yet he sits pleasantly in a restaurant while exchanging pleasantries with Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway (Hearne 192). Fitzgerald writes, “A small, flat-nosed Jew raised his large head and regarded me with two fine growths of hair which luxuriated in either nostril. After a moment I discovered his tiny eyes in the half-darkness” (Fitzgerald 69). (Check how to quote) Also, Wolfsheim boasts his cuff buttons are actual human molars; nevertheless, Wolfshiem is regarded by Jay Gatsby as a pleasant gentlemen. This demonstrates the façade of brutality that Wolfshiem portrays. Wolfshiem ultimately represents corruption in the American Dream (Hearne 192).

Fitzgerald’s ultimate goal in writing The Great Gatsby is to shed light on the illusions in the American Dream to the people of America (Hearne 189). If Americans are better informed about the American Dream, they are less likely to fall subject to its evils. (Add too or move)

Jay Gatsby, in particular, becomes a strangely unique character in The Great Gatsby. Even though Jay Gatsby strives for the best material items, he does not strive for these items in hopes of attaining any type of dream except a romantic one (Seshachari 2).

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