The Great Gatsby and the Unattainable American Dream

How does Fitzgerald relate Gatsby’s dream to the American Dream? What seems to be his message about the American Dream as expressed in the last two paragraphs of the novel?

“... it is a story about failure and death, an idealistic quest for unworthy goals, and the almost total collapse of the aspirations of nearly all of the principal characters” (Nagel 113). The Great Gatsby is a story that represents people’s unachieved aspirations that lead to a sad existence and ultimately death. They are all trying to attain one thing, the American Dream. The American Dream is almost impossible to attain and that is why a lot of people failed when it came to living out the American Dream. In Fitzgerald’s, “The Great Gatsby”, Gatsby tries to attain the American Dream through Daisy throughout the whole novel but fails and is left heartbroken.

Achieving the American Dream is like fighting over the last TV on Black Friday. The American Dream is very limited. A person has to have a certain background to achieve it. The American Dream is an illusion. America wants one to believe that they have the perfect set of materialistic things to make their life better. The American Dream consist of having money, a nice house, a great looking car, and a family. Not everyone can achieve that though because of the barriers that they have in this country. The American Dream is not achievable by all people because individual’s divergent backgrounds.

The American dream is often described as the desire for social mobility and the opportunity for wealth and success for all. According to Laura Goldblatt, author of Can’t Repeat the Past: Great Gatsby and the American Dream, “The term ‘American Dream’ provides a shorthand for aspirations that include the desire for social mobility, the ideals of freedom, and a non-hierarchical society,” (1) Of course, while there is an overall definition of the American dream, its interpretation varies from person to person. For some, it is the white picket fence and upper-middle class ideology. For others, it’s the dream of being able to support their families with their hardwork and dedication. However, for Jay Gatsby, it is only to gain wealth and success that will lead him to earn the love of Daisy Buchanan. To him, Daisy was his American dream and he would do anything, buy anything and give anything to have her, as shown throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Gatsby’s interpretation of the American dream is best encapsulated through his relentless pursuit to obtain Daisy’s love and attention. Although he used a showy appearance of wealth and prosperity to fulfill his desire for Daisy’s attention, the readers realize that money could not buy her affection in the long term, that Gatsby only committed to a life of extravagance for the sole purpose of wooing Daisy Buchanan, and he died sad and alone with his version of the American Dream never being fully realized.

What is the American Dream? Is it wealth and power? Or is it liberty and freedom? The American Dream is different for every individual. In Gatsby’s case, his dream revolves around the pursuit of Daisy. The Declaration of Independence states, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness.” This statement compresses the wide array of American Dreams into one statement. The pursuit of happiness is different for every human being. Gatsby’s dream was to rise out of a low economic level and into high wealth, winning Daisy over along the way. “The dream of finding fortune, fame, and true love is something that almost all Americans strive for” (Galley). Gatsby was too ambitious in the pursuit of his dream. During his struggle for Daisy, he failed to recognize that his vision was not attainable. The American Dream causes corruption in the world.

Many people believe the American Dream is just becoming rich or getting higher social status to a point where you will be financially set for life. People of the lower social class usually think that getting more money will solve all their problems.Gatsby first had the dream of becoming rich and successful but then his dream transforms to becoming centered around Daisy and then does some very immoral things and continually throws his money away weekly to try to gain her attention back. Even though

The American Dream is a depiction of ideal lifestyles that people create for themselves and others to live by. Although, obtaining the American Dream tends to be much harder to achieve, than first imagined because of the obstacles in the way. The American Dream as the idea itself seems to direct people’s thoughts and actions to better their future. For some, the dream could be to have freedom, and others it could be to live the life they have always pictured. Everyone has their own American Dream, each person’s is different. This is current throughout American History, leading back to 1776 the time when the declaration of independance was signed and states; the man’s undeniable right to the “Pursuit of Happiness”. There are two main ways that are really transparent, through money and materialistic things, or through personal achievement. Money provides Gatsby with comfort and temporary happiness. Furthermore, The American Dream can be personal achievement and unavoidable free will to carry on as you please; which seemed to be enough to help Chris reach his happiness. While neither Gatsby nor McCandless really achieved The American Dream, McCandless seemed to come closer with this idea because he was content throughout most of his journey, he grasps the intention of his unavoidable free will and Gatsby had this image at the tip of his fingers but never was able to reach his goal, the American Dream.

The film is based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It follows Jay Gatsby, a man who molds his life around one desire: to be reunited with Daisy Buchanan, the love he lost five years earlier. Gatsby 's quest leads him from poverty to wealth, into the arms of his beloved, and eventually to death. Nick Caraway is the narrator, or storyteller, of The Great Gatsby, as well as Daisy 's cousin who happens to live next door to Great Gatsby. Daisy represents the paragon of perfection. She has the aura of charm, wealth, sophistication, grace, and aristocracy that Gatsby longed for as a child in North Dakota and that first attracted him to her. In reality, however, Daisy falls far short of Gatsby’s ideals. She is beautiful and charming, but also

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel that shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s through the lives of Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson and others. The most significant theme relates to the American dream and the corruption of the American dream. In the novel, the American dream not only caused corruption but also caused destruction. Jay Gatsby was born to a poor farmer family and before going to war fell in love with a girl named Daisy Fay. After the war, Gatsby received a letter from Daisy telling him that she had married the wealthy Tom Buchanan. Gatsby then decided to commit his life to becoming a man of the kind of wealth and stature he believed would win Daisy's love. The chase for the American dream and to be with Daisy destroyed Gatsby. The ambition for something threw Gatsby over the edge. His love and chase for Daisy took over his whole life. He felt that he had to live up to the American dream to accomplish what he truly dreamed for, Daisy. Daisy fell short of Gatsby’s expectations however and no matter how hard Gatsby tries to live his fantasy, he will never be able to achieve it. Gatsby looked up to the American dream and followed it so he can be the picture perfect

Symbolism is a big part in how people express certain feelings or represent important items. The American Dream is a huge achievement that everyone wants to reach. Whether people want to admit it or not, it is a symbol all it’s self. It can be anything really, a great job, a family, white picket fence, even music or attending concerts of your favorite band. The American Dream is something that makes you so happy and what you can achieve or want achieve in your lifetime. The main AMerican Dream is money, a family, and happiness. In The Great Gatsby the american dream is a green light.There are several different colors for the different symbols in the book which are portrayed throughout the book often, and in the right context. Each character is put with that color and in different scenes for different reasons. Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Nick Carraway all portrayed the same color symbol; yellow which stands for death and or/ corruption.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, his depiction of the American Dream suggests that the American dream is not always perfect and what you think it will be. He builds this theory through the idea that the American Dream has two parts: one part being tangible which is the ability of someone to achieve wealth and social status through hard work, and the other part being intangible which is happiness. Throughout the book, different characters attempt to pursue the American Dream. Even wealthy characters struggle to maintain the American Dream. In The Great Gatsby, the Buchanans are born into the tangible portion of the American Dream, which includes wealth and social status, however, they fail in gaining happiness.

“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven 't had the advantages that you 've had" (Fitzgerald 1). If the characters in this novel would have noted this, they would have realized all the great things they possessed and several lives would have been spared. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on an economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity, wealth and fame. By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes and a happy family symbolizes the American Dream. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel that shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, a time period where the dreams of many became corrupted for countless

“Dreams don’t work unless you do.” In The Great Gatsby we see this quote, by John C. Maxwell, uphold itself. “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.” (20-21). The reader can identify that it is obtainable to want a dream, but harder to achieve it. Gatsby one day goes after his American dream and was crushed like every American conveys to be. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the reader can see how unobtainable one little dream can be to attain for Gatsby, Daisy, and

When one thinks of the American Dream, it never is the same as the first. One could dream of making it big in Hollywood while another just wants to be able to provide enough money for their family. Everybody has a different dream that they want to accomplish in life and everybody faces some kind of road block while trying to reach it. The Great Gatsby is a great example of the American Dream and the struggles one can face while trying to achieve it. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald argues that the American Dream is difficult to achieve because old relationships and social status can interfere. He argues that the American Dream is difficult to achieve through Myrtle Wilson’s want for a new life full of riches and luxury, Daisy Buchanan’s complicated relationship with her husband and dream of reliving an old romance, and Jay Gatsby’s idea that the past can repeat itself and win him his first real true love.

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