Class And The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Decent Essays
Money can be an obstacle that can block you from achieving your dream, but with the necessary steps you can develop a financial growth. According to the article, Class and the American Dream “The odds that a child will climb from poverty to wealth, or fall from wealth to the middle class, have remained stuck.” However, a fictional character named Jay Gatsby from the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald proves that anybody can upgrade their low income lifestyle. To begin with, Mr.Gatsby used to be a poor farm boy in North Dakota and his drive to make Daisy Buchanan fall in love with him pushed himself to become an upper class man. He developed into wealth and is now a mansion owner who spends his money on extravagant parties living in

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    The American Dream is universally sought after and coveted, after all the possibility of becoming anything and rising above one 's meeger beginnings is tantalizing. However, the American Dream can also produce destruction and devastation. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the destructive nature of the American Dream through his characters Myrtle, Tom, Gatsby, Daisy, and Wilson and through his symbolic use of dust. Set in the Roaring Twenties, Fitzgerald’s novel focuses on these characters, who are intimately woven together through an intricate web of affairs, and dreams. Fitzgerald uses the relationships that each of these characters have to each other and their relationships to dust to reveal the true price of the American dream, and how those who idolize it will find themselves destroyed by it.…

    • 1761 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the time in our country's history called the roaring twenties, society had a new obsession, money. Just shortly after the great depression, people's focus now fell on wealth and success in the economic realm. Many Americans would stop at nothing to become rich and money was the new factor in separation of classes within society. Wealth was a direct reflection of how successful a person really was and now became what many people strived to be, to be rich. Wealth became the new stable in the "American dream" that people yearned and chased after all their lives.…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In his The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald answers this question by portraying the American Dream as it relates to wealth and how the characters strive to be a part of it. Not only does he manage to define and explain the American Dream, but also praises and eventually condemns the idea of it mainly through the misfortunate character of Jay Gatsby, after whom the book is named. Jay Gatsby pursues the…

    • 1390 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The American Dream is the idea that anyone can attain success and upward mobility, despite what class they were born into. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many characters desire to obtain this dream; however, their failure to achieve this lifestyle shows the concept of the American Dream is just an illusion. Fitzgerald shows few characters actually successfully living in the elite upper class; most are just trying to get there. Tom and Daisy Buchanan are the only two characters that have this lifestyle, purely because they were both born into it. A lower class citizen attempting to achieve the American Dream finds it impossible, due to the American Dream is just an idea, not a reality.…

    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Research Paper Outline Name: Brianna Bracey Class:__Red___ Introduction: Just after World War 1, the US experienced huge changes that involved all aspects of American life. The Great War left those with despair. To shake off the misery and shell-shock, young people broke away from traditional values and embraced all things modern and new.…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Everyone has an American dream, it might not be planned out precisely but almost everyone knows what they want for themselves. For some it’s wealth and popularity, for others it’s happiness and an enjoyable life. Whatever the case is, the American dream is broad and it is not going away. In the novel The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald Grant, Gatsby’s true American dream is to be with the love of his life, Daisy. The American dream that Gatsby is chasing is a possibility in today’s world because Gatsby is chasing love, which doesn’t change throughout the different time periods.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The theme of the American dream plays a major role in The Great Gatsby. In the novel, the American dream ends in tragedy and death and old money prevails without guilt. Old money is represented by Tom and Daisy, who both survive and move away after Gatsby is killed. Myrtle and Wilson,who were poor, die at the end. Jay Gatsby’s misguided illusion of the American dream and Daisy led to his death.…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    He had wealth but he was not happy with his wealth because all that he had done to earn his money was so that he could do things and have expensive possessions so that Daisy would notice him and fall for him again but she never did. The American Dream has three central assumptions to it which is that America is a land of bounty, beauty and unlimited promise, the second is the belief in progress and being optimistic, and lastly the triumph of the individual. F. Scott Fitzgerald shows throughout his novel The Great Gatsby that the American Dream cannot be achieved if you follow these three assumptions. He shows the reader how the American Dream is not promised to anyone who can follow and succeed in these topics, but that many that do accept the challenge of achieving the American…

    • 1635 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The American Dream Everyone has their different way of describing the american dream. Some want to have a nice house, car, and a family. While others want to live their lives to their lives to the extreme by wanting to be famous, rich, and have lots of fun. For example The Great Gatsby’s american dream was like the ones of today to the extreme bigger houses more expensive cars big parties. He wanted the more the bigger the better.…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Money, everyone wants it and not everyone can have it. Wealth is the epitome of success in America and the American Dream has developed through that thought process. America is known as the land of opportunity or in other words “the place to get rich”. The idea that through hard work anyone can become successful has been spread throughout the United States for decades and decades. Jay Gatsby is the epitome of achieving the American Dream.…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby narrates the story of a man, Jay Gatsby, and his perseverance to achieve his dream to win over his love, Daisy. Unfortunately, Gatsby’s life comes to an abrupt end, along with that dream. All of this is seen through the point of view of Nick Carraway, a man who moves to New York to learn about the bond business. The book takes place in the 1920s, a time of economic prosperity, with many people striving to achieve the American Dream. The American Dream is the ideal that Americans have the opportunity to achieve wealth and prosperity through hard work and dedication.…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Great Gatsby revolves a lot around the American Dream. “During the 1920s, the perception of the American Dream was that an individual can achieve success in life regardless of family history or social status if they only work hard enough” (The Demise of the 1920’s). During the story Gatsby represents the American dream, he rises above his father and becomes the rich man he wanted to be. The novel also shows the condition of the American Dream in the 1920s. The topics of dreams, wealth, and time relate to each other in the novel’s exploration of the idea of America.…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Engaging the Fantasy The American dream is a method of establishing and pursuing goals embraced by many people in America. It brings people together, provides a source of inspiration, and drives people to work hard. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, every character pursues his or her American dream, looking for success in their own way. While Gatsby, Myrtle, and Tom do not specifically state that they are pursuing an American dream, every character has a goal they wish to achieve, whether it be the pursuit of a specific person, lifestyle, or simply maintaining the dream society believes they have already achieved.…

    • 1799 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    American Dream: The Great Gatsby In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. S. Fitzgerald writes about a time period in American history where achieving anything was possible, at least that was the common belief. Not only does he describe the economic, social, and historical circumstances that drive his characters, but also a glimpse into the minds of the characters that they use as a way to justify their actions and motives. The most basic reason for the actions that take place in the course of the book is towards an idea that many people are familiar with. It’s the American Dream.…

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The American Dream; the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Unfortunately, back in the 1920’s this ideal remained but a mere dream for anyone trying to work their way up from rags to riches for the simple reason that it was practically impossible to become rich unless you were already born into it. In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald we get an up close and personal idea of what it was really like to be after the American Dream. However, instead of the typical dollar and a dream story Fitzgerald puts his own spin. For one, Fitzgerald criticizes the “American Dream” in every possible way throughout the entire book.…

    • 1396 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays