Deceitful Dreams In The Great Gatsby

Deceitful Dreams According to the Oxford Dictionary, a dream is, "A cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal; An unrealistic or self-deluding fantasy." Dreams are different from one another and come in many shapes and sizes, but all dreams are purely a desire and are imaginative. In society, dreams play a large role in how people live their everyday life. For instance, people may make decisions solely based on their own dream. In the United States, a common ethos is the American Dream. The American Dream is, "a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers" (Wikipedia). Through the American Dream, citizens believe that they can be successful and create a new life by working hard. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the theme of the American Dream is common as Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, strives to create a new identity for …show more content…
He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him... Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . (Fitzgerald 180).
The green light symbolizes the future that Gatsby wants, and by it being at Daisy's dock, it shows how Gatsby desires Daisy and wants his future to be with her. Also, the green light symbolizes the American Dream because no matter how far Gatsby stretches out his hand, he is never able to grasp it or achieve it. Fitzgerald utilizes the green light to demonstrate how one may be able to see their American Dream, but will not be able to attain