Writer Azar Nafisi once said, “The negative side of the American Dream comes when people purses success at any cost, which destroys the vision and the dream.” This is the situation in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby. The protagonist, Jay Gatsby, strives to achieve his dream of having a relationship with an old flame, and now married Daisy Buchanan, but ultimately fails and is killed as a result. The Great Gatsby is a parody of the American dream, that is enhanced by symbolism throughout the story.
The uses of a green light and the color green overall add to the idea of a parody of the American dream. At the beginning of the story, the green light was far in the distance and Gatsby was trying to reach it. “He stretched his arms out …show more content…
The idea that he could ignore five years apart and have Daisy change her personal and social life on a whim was ignorant and far-fetched. The green light no longer had a deeper meaning to Gatsby and it is no longer “enchanted”. Gatsby realized that he and Daisy could not have a relationship that did not involve secrecy and moral complications. No matter how much work Gatsby put into achieving he could never have what he truly wanted. At the end of the book, after Gatsby has been killed, Nick is standing on the dock looking, he realizes what the green light stood for. “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--to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning---” (180). The green light is a parody of the American dream because according to Gatsby no matter how hard you try, you will never reach the one thing you want most. The color green is important for the idea. The color green can represent positive and negative ideas, which F. Scott Fitzgerald used with the changing of moods throughout the book. Green can stand for revival, rebirth, and “go” which is what Gatsby wanted to do with his and Daisy’s relationship. He wished for the same love they had five years ago to come back and start. As the book moved forward and the green light lost its’ “enchanted- …show more content…
The valley of ashes is a grisly part of land in between the eggs, where the rich live, and Manhattan Island. This is where the factories pump their byproducts, and where the lower class Americans live. The poor people that live here have no chance of rising in class and the thick gray ash that cling to them represents this. “Oh, sure," agreed Wilson hurriedly and went toward the little office, mingling immediately with the cement color of the walls. A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity--except his wife, who moved close to Tom.” (26) The idea is the ash represents the hopelessness that covers everything in the valley of ashes except Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle was the only one not covered in ash as she was ambitious enough to try and jump social classes. She was doing this by being a mistress to Tom Buchanan and hoping to wreck the Buchanan's marriage to marry Tom. Unfortunately, the only way to escape the lower class was to be morally wrong and attempt to marry a rich man, which is not what the American dream is supposed to mean. Fitzgerald is saying that no matter how hard anyone in the valley of ashes works, they will never rise to the next social class unless they have an affair with a wealthy person. This idea of being stuck in poverty with no chance at improving classes is why The Great Gatsby
The uses of a green light and the color green overall add to the idea of a parody of the American dream. At the beginning of the story, the green light was far in the distance and Gatsby was trying to reach it. “He stretched his arms out …show more content…
The idea that he could ignore five years apart and have Daisy change her personal and social life on a whim was ignorant and far-fetched. The green light no longer had a deeper meaning to Gatsby and it is no longer “enchanted”. Gatsby realized that he and Daisy could not have a relationship that did not involve secrecy and moral complications. No matter how much work Gatsby put into achieving he could never have what he truly wanted. At the end of the book, after Gatsby has been killed, Nick is standing on the dock looking, he realizes what the green light stood for. “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--to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning---” (180). The green light is a parody of the American dream because according to Gatsby no matter how hard you try, you will never reach the one thing you want most. The color green is important for the idea. The color green can represent positive and negative ideas, which F. Scott Fitzgerald used with the changing of moods throughout the book. Green can stand for revival, rebirth, and “go” which is what Gatsby wanted to do with his and Daisy’s relationship. He wished for the same love they had five years ago to come back and start. As the book moved forward and the green light lost its’ “enchanted- …show more content…
The valley of ashes is a grisly part of land in between the eggs, where the rich live, and Manhattan Island. This is where the factories pump their byproducts, and where the lower class Americans live. The poor people that live here have no chance of rising in class and the thick gray ash that cling to them represents this. “Oh, sure," agreed Wilson hurriedly and went toward the little office, mingling immediately with the cement color of the walls. A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity--except his wife, who moved close to Tom.” (26) The idea is the ash represents the hopelessness that covers everything in the valley of ashes except Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle was the only one not covered in ash as she was ambitious enough to try and jump social classes. She was doing this by being a mistress to Tom Buchanan and hoping to wreck the Buchanan's marriage to marry Tom. Unfortunately, the only way to escape the lower class was to be morally wrong and attempt to marry a rich man, which is not what the American dream is supposed to mean. Fitzgerald is saying that no matter how hard anyone in the valley of ashes works, they will never rise to the next social class unless they have an affair with a wealthy person. This idea of being stuck in poverty with no chance at improving classes is why The Great Gatsby