[SLIDE 2] “All men are created equal and they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (Creating the Declaration of Independence, www.loc.gov) These words written in the Declaration of Independence is the foundation of the American dream. The essence of this ideology is the belief that anyone, regardless of class, gender or race can be successful at the price of hard work and dedication. [SLIDE 3] But in our quest to finally reach the object of our deepest desires, we often fall victim to the corruption and greed of the materialist world around us. In the brutal society in which we live, even the purest of dreams can become twisted, withering under the pressure of harsh realities, leaving foul dust (6) and desolation in their wake. This empty pursuit and the evasive fantasy that fuels it, is clearly defined and condemned in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby.
[SLIDE 4] Set in New York during the Roaring 20’s, Fitzgerald depicts the disintegration of the American Dream. He does this through portraying a rotten (162) society suffering from a decay in moral and social values, in a world …show more content…
We, as a society have an unquenchable thirst for the unattainable. All of us believe in that green light, the organic future that year by year recedes before us (180) and if we could just run faster, stretch our arms further (180), then we will finally succeed in our pursuit of happiness (Creating the Declaration of Independence, www.loc.gov). But in this desperate quest we can become so lost in our own delusions of grandeur, losing all sense of reality. [SLIDE 15] So we beat on, boats against the current (189) leaving violence and destruction in the wake of our impossible dreams borne back ceaselessly into the past