The United States of America is built on the idea of the American dream; which is the thought that all citizens of America have an equal opportunity for prosperity and happiness. People once emigrated from their native countries in search of these coveted opportunities. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, living in modern West Egg, Long Island, attempts to relive the time, five years ago, he spent with Daisy Buchanan, a resident of traditional East Egg. Gatsby creates a lie to acquire a respectable socioeconomic status that he hopes will court Daisy, but Daisy will not leave her husband Tom Buchanan because he is of inherited Old Money. Gatsby also struggles with his inability to accept reality, which ultimately leads to
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Throughout the first few chapters, Fitzgerald hints toward what type of business Gatsby is a part of. For example, at his lavish parties, he is known to take suspicious calls, that his butler informs him of, from various cities around the country. Because of these skeptical calls, rumors start to swirl from numerous attendees. Such rumors consist of accusations that “‘He’s a bootlegger . . . ‘one time he killed a man’ . . . ‘he (is) nephew to Von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil’” (Fitzgerald 61). As expected, these outlandish rumors are not true, but they are not far off. The reader later finds out the Gatsby operates many drug stores illegally and is involved with Meyers Wolfshiem, a notorious gambler. By Gatsby’s illegal actions, he “espouse(s) the gospel of the corrupted American dream”(Pearson). Gatsby illegal businesses blemish the integrity of his pure American dream, and consequently, his dream becomes corrupted. The act of obtaining his money illegally proves that Gatsby’s dream is fraudulent because he focuses on the end goal of simply becoming rich, not the process to do …show more content…
Most people would consider that a success story, but it is not. Even Gatsby himself does not think his life is a success because he fails to achieve his greatest goal: spending the rest of his life with Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby’s failure is predicated on his inability to accept reality. He is set on the idea that he and Daisy will relive the time they spent before the war, but the fact of the matter is she will never leave her husband Tom or her wealthy social class. The American dream is founded on opportunity and success. Gatsby is successful in acquiring wealth, but the opportunity he has with Daisy is always narrowly out of his reach. America is full of rags to riches success stories; unfortunately Gatsby is not one of
Throughout the first few chapters, Fitzgerald hints toward what type of business Gatsby is a part of. For example, at his lavish parties, he is known to take suspicious calls, that his butler informs him of, from various cities around the country. Because of these skeptical calls, rumors start to swirl from numerous attendees. Such rumors consist of accusations that “‘He’s a bootlegger . . . ‘one time he killed a man’ . . . ‘he (is) nephew to Von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil’” (Fitzgerald 61). As expected, these outlandish rumors are not true, but they are not far off. The reader later finds out the Gatsby operates many drug stores illegally and is involved with Meyers Wolfshiem, a notorious gambler. By Gatsby’s illegal actions, he “espouse(s) the gospel of the corrupted American dream”(Pearson). Gatsby illegal businesses blemish the integrity of his pure American dream, and consequently, his dream becomes corrupted. The act of obtaining his money illegally proves that Gatsby’s dream is fraudulent because he focuses on the end goal of simply becoming rich, not the process to do …show more content…
Most people would consider that a success story, but it is not. Even Gatsby himself does not think his life is a success because he fails to achieve his greatest goal: spending the rest of his life with Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby’s failure is predicated on his inability to accept reality. He is set on the idea that he and Daisy will relive the time they spent before the war, but the fact of the matter is she will never leave her husband Tom or her wealthy social class. The American dream is founded on opportunity and success. Gatsby is successful in acquiring wealth, but the opportunity he has with Daisy is always narrowly out of his reach. America is full of rags to riches success stories; unfortunately Gatsby is not one of