It is the written in the American Constitution that everyone has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but what is considered pursuit of happiness? For many, the pursuit of happiness may mean chasing the American Dream, or financial opportunities. Jay Gatsby is a prime example of someone who tried to chase the American Dream; he changed his dishearteningly average life and became a millionaire. Contrary to common belief, however money did not lead him to happiness. As Taylor states, “(Our) level of income makes little difference to (our) level of happiness. Research has shown, for example, that extremely rich people such as billionaires are not significantly happier than people with an average income, and suffer from higher
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Buchanan is one of several who demonstrate different values then what is considered typical by today’s standards, but even her values are different from those who attend Gatsby’s parties albeit D. Buchanan and the party-goers would both be considered rich. It is true that both sides enjoy their parties, however the way that both present themselves and hold themselves is largely due to how they earned their wealth via means of old money or new money, commonly referred as “nouveau riche”. Old money and new money are symbolically important because it is similar to the older French Regime to the newer American society. Those who resided in the East Egg acted like nobles while those who became recently successful were from West Egg. The way both sides acted were different. For example residents of West Egg included breaking celebrities and reputable directors who best enjoyed themselves by going to Gatsby’s grand parties that Fitzgerald makes it a point to showcase. However, members of East Egg are pointedly more reserved because they do not have to work for their wealth as those of previous generations did it for them. The residents of the East Egg are incredibly more pompous yet they also hold a greater power without having to put in the …show more content…
Gatsby does not realize that by being rich it does not necessarily mean he could have had a chance with D. Buchanan. Compared to T. Buchanan who was born into a society of comfort Gatsby was born with nothing but an endless pool of optimism. Gatsby fails to see that he cannot go back to the past, nor could he overwrite it. While Gatsby did become rich for the purpose of impressing D. Buchanan, it does not change the fact that he was not born with wealth as those of the East Egg did. Gatsby was so in love and lost in the myriad of illusions and expectations of D. Buchanan that he could not grasp the idea that he had already lost her. Maybe it was due to time or maybe it was because D. Buchanan just was out of Gatsby’s league in terms of class, but nonetheless, as Gatsby’s true occupational secrets came to light it did everything but lose her ever further, so much that she drew further into herself losing all the fight that she had. Gatsby’s greatest flaw was believing too much in D. Buchanan. Nick stated, “’How long you going to wait?’ ‘All night, if necessary.’… He couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to shake him free” (As cited in Fitzgerald, p 144 and 148). This recklessness may be because of the effects of love. According to
Buchanan is one of several who demonstrate different values then what is considered typical by today’s standards, but even her values are different from those who attend Gatsby’s parties albeit D. Buchanan and the party-goers would both be considered rich. It is true that both sides enjoy their parties, however the way that both present themselves and hold themselves is largely due to how they earned their wealth via means of old money or new money, commonly referred as “nouveau riche”. Old money and new money are symbolically important because it is similar to the older French Regime to the newer American society. Those who resided in the East Egg acted like nobles while those who became recently successful were from West Egg. The way both sides acted were different. For example residents of West Egg included breaking celebrities and reputable directors who best enjoyed themselves by going to Gatsby’s grand parties that Fitzgerald makes it a point to showcase. However, members of East Egg are pointedly more reserved because they do not have to work for their wealth as those of previous generations did it for them. The residents of the East Egg are incredibly more pompous yet they also hold a greater power without having to put in the …show more content…
Gatsby does not realize that by being rich it does not necessarily mean he could have had a chance with D. Buchanan. Compared to T. Buchanan who was born into a society of comfort Gatsby was born with nothing but an endless pool of optimism. Gatsby fails to see that he cannot go back to the past, nor could he overwrite it. While Gatsby did become rich for the purpose of impressing D. Buchanan, it does not change the fact that he was not born with wealth as those of the East Egg did. Gatsby was so in love and lost in the myriad of illusions and expectations of D. Buchanan that he could not grasp the idea that he had already lost her. Maybe it was due to time or maybe it was because D. Buchanan just was out of Gatsby’s league in terms of class, but nonetheless, as Gatsby’s true occupational secrets came to light it did everything but lose her ever further, so much that she drew further into herself losing all the fight that she had. Gatsby’s greatest flaw was believing too much in D. Buchanan. Nick stated, “’How long you going to wait?’ ‘All night, if necessary.’… He couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to shake him free” (As cited in Fitzgerald, p 144 and 148). This recklessness may be because of the effects of love. According to