The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The American Dream in the 1920’s revolved around the accumulation of wealth. Jay Gatsby believes he can buy happiness, which to him, consists of having Daisy to himself. He believes he can do this by achieving a level of respect in East Egg; known for new money. His goal was to make fortune to please Daisy.

I’ve only known Gatsby for a few months, and so I’ll start with my first impression. It was summer, and many people came to enjoy his premises. He held huge parties at his mansion every Saturday.1 They were the most opulent and ostentatious parties, typical of the West Egg. All sorts of people came, from the city or just across the lake, looking to mingle and join the wealthy. They basked in Gatsby’s display of wealth, enjoying the alcohol, the music, and the atmosphere. They enjoyed so much of his parties, yet they never got to meet

After the war, Gatsby’s only goal was to posses enough wealth to bring Daisy back. He acquired millions of dollars from businesses he did. “Gatsby bough this house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (78). His love for Daisy was the only thing that made him the man he was. He was intelligent, rich and even famous, all because of her. He threw big parties were many celebrities went and were thousands of dollars were spent in liquor and food just to call Daisy’s attention. “I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night…” (79), recalled Jordan, Gatsby’s friend, one night. All that Gatsby possessed was only and exclusively to show Daisy he could give her the life she wanted.

He made money his goal, but only sees what he wants to see. He only sees the large house he lives in, the expensive clothes he wears, and the happy people at his parties. In chapter 9, a man Nick called to visit Gatsby’s funeral had “implied that [Gatsby] had got what he deserved.”(pg#), showing how little everyone truly cared for him apart from his money. Gatsby saw the money as a chance at happiness, as a chance at Daisy. The rose tinted glasses he wears prevented him from foreseeing the fake friendships, and his sad, empty funeral that the money would play a large part in causing

When people think of the American Dream they think of being financially stable, having a family, and being happy. Although this big idea of the American Dream will continue to be just a dream for most people. Gatsby is an entitled man who got himself to where he is now with lots of hard work and determination; even though no one helped him rise up to become the powerful man he is. Gatsby might be a man full of wealth and power, but still feels lonely and unhappy with his life. To counter this he throws lavish parties and tries to impress.

When Gatsby was alive, he would throw huge, lavish parties. Many people were more than willing to visit Gatsby when they could enjoy themselves (literally at his expense), but in death he is basically abandoned. Gatsby himself was determined to be popular and to be seen; after his death, few people seem to care about him. Although Gatsby had spent most of his life trying to put his past behind him and had even changed his name from the name (“Gatz”) he had at birth, in the end his father is one of only two people present who had been close to him. Even Nick Carraway had never been particularly close to

While these were two spoiled, cruel, members of the high class community, Gatsby was a caring person who looked out for others. He had humble beginnings as a poor farm boy with big aspirations to someday be able to afford Daisy and her high standards. Even though he made it and was financially part of the rich community, he was not socially. Those in the upper class tolerated him but did not consider him to be truely of the upper class due to his origins and not having the ability to understand the social clues of that social tier. This shows that community is always going to be different in some areas and different in the different social levels.

One of the most influential writers of the early 20th century was a man named F. Scott Fitzgerald. The biggest topic that he wrote about was the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses many different aspects of writing to get his opinion across, such as the outcome of stories like The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams”. He also uses the setting and to explain his beliefs. Based of his work, Fitzgerald believes the American dream is not only unrealistic, but also unattainable.

He was always hosting parties, drinking, and had every girl waiting for him. However, his more introverted emotions suggests that his life was not always full of having a great time, and having extravagant bashes did nothing to improve this. “His house never seemed as enormous to me as it did that night… we pushed aside curtains that were like pavilions and felt over innumerable feet of dark wall for electric light switches… there was an inexplicable amount of dust everywhere ands the rooms were musty” (154). This shows that Gatsby was somewhat putting on a facade for everyone. All his money and fame couldn't buy lasting happiness and joy.

However, Gatsby is wealthy and is very kind and selfless. He randomly portrays kind acts towards stranger, “I like to come… I never care what I do, so I always have a good time. When I was here last I tore my gown on a chair, and he asked me my name and address – inside of a week I got a package from Croirier’s with a new evening gown in it... I was going to wear it tonight, but it was too big in the bust and had to be altered. It was gas blue with lavender beads.

He isolated himself from the connection to the world. His only best friend was money which only provide short term happiness. Gatsby one the short term happiness are his parties. We can see vast amount of unknown people coming to his party ever so often(39). These people come and go.

The American dream is an ideology, a vision that’s form varies from individual to individual, based upon one’s own experiences. Although the one thing that remains constant in every single definition is that this ideology, just as the name states, is only a dream. It is meant to merely drive people to unlock their hidden potential and become their best self, for the sole purpose of living one’s out one’s own definition of success. In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is Jay Gatsby’s inspiration and his opportunity, however, as the book progresses it becomes more evident that not all people share the same opportunity.

Gatsby throws these extravagant parties to show off his wealth, and everyone views him as someone amazing, and with power, all because of his money. He has power too, such as in his car he has a white card to show policemen, and that gives him power to drive and do as he likes (98).This shows how Gatsby knew his wealth would gain him benefits, and that his shady dealings weren’t a big deal to him, because he knew he wouldn’t get in trouble for them. Another example of how Gatsby was fine with doing something he wasn’t supposed to, was when he was going to take the blame for

People come from all around to attend his house parties and he is always the center of attention. When the narrator peels back the first layer of Gatsby’s character, he appears much more complicated. He comes from a poor background and committed crimes to receive wealth. His character is problematic

Even though his parties are filled with people, most of them were unknown to Gatsby because “people were not invited,” most just wandered in and some drove from far and foreign places (Fitzgerald 1). With so many people at his parties, one would expect that Gatsby had thousands of friends, but that’s not the case. Gatsby is rarely seen by his guests, so his life is a mystery to them and they are forced to make up theories; And when he is out in public, he stands alone, not even making an effort to communicate with the men or women at his parties. Instead of people speaking about how great he is, they speculate as to how Gatsby got rich, where he is from and where he went to college. The public said that “he had killed a man…was born in Germany…