The novel The Great Gatsby has many themes engraved in it. The most significant one relates to the corruption of the American dream. The American dream is defined as the ideal that people, no matter who he or she is, should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame can attain this American Dream. The desire to strive for what one wants can be accomplished if they really work hard enough. In The Great Gatsby the author shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted. The American dream not only causes
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Scott Fitzgerald shows frustration with what the American Dream symbolized during the 1920s. One symbolic way in which he shows his dissatisfaction with the American Dream is his disagreement between the haves and the have-nots. East and West Egg are separated to show the difference between new and old money. Fitzgerald believes that the American Dream is a hoax and one must be born into money in order to reap the benefits. Gatsby will never be like Daisy or Tom even though he is also very rich. The lake symbolizes the separation between the new money and old money, even if they do intermingle at times, which is usually at one of Gatsby’s extravagant parties. Also, the valley of ashes is described so differently than the other places in the novel. This place is described using dark colors, and depressing imagery. This symbolizes the divide between the physically and metaphorically far-apart classes. The poor will never have what the wealthy do, no matter how much effort and change is made. Gatsby is a great example of this. He will always be a poor boy from North Dakota named James Gatz, no matter how hard he tries to hide it. The film shows this imagery very clearly. It shows that having money, a big house and enjoying it with extravagant parties and luxurious trips, expensive clothing, and expensive cars is what the American Dream ought to
Scott Fitzgerald shows frustration with what the American Dream symbolized during the 1920s. One symbolic way in which he shows his dissatisfaction with the American Dream is his disagreement between the haves and the have-nots. East and West Egg are separated to show the difference between new and old money. Fitzgerald believes that the American Dream is a hoax and one must be born into money in order to reap the benefits. Gatsby will never be like Daisy or Tom even though he is also very rich. The lake symbolizes the separation between the new money and old money, even if they do intermingle at times, which is usually at one of Gatsby’s extravagant parties. Also, the valley of ashes is described so differently than the other places in the novel. This place is described using dark colors, and depressing imagery. This symbolizes the divide between the physically and metaphorically far-apart classes. The poor will never have what the wealthy do, no matter how much effort and change is made. Gatsby is a great example of this. He will always be a poor boy from North Dakota named James Gatz, no matter how hard he tries to hide it. The film shows this imagery very clearly. It shows that having money, a big house and enjoying it with extravagant parties and luxurious trips, expensive clothing, and expensive cars is what the American Dream ought to