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.…
1. The American dream is to be successful and happy and strive for greatness. Gatsby is a self-made man, but doesn’t have everything he thought he would have with money. The novel shows how with money you can’t have everything you want. The American dream is still the same since that time, but it’s just harder to achieve.…
The “American Dream” is one of the defining principles on which the culture of the United States is founded. It is the idea that just being a U.S. citizen gives one the ability to work one’s way up from the bottom and end up being successful. This promise draws many people to work very hard to better themselves in an attempt to attain this success that they believe is theirs for the taking. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby does just that.…
F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the American Dream in the novel, The Great Gatsby as an idea that is obtainable, but only if the person obtaining it is chasing…
Daisy as the Unattainable American Dream The American Dream is what most people would associate with the epitomes of liberty, equality, reward for hard work, and money – lots of it. The question is, does it really exist or is it just a mythos which attracts people to believe that the United States is a land of opportunity and immense wealth?…
The Great Gatsby and “The American Dream” Can we all achieve “The American Dream”? Many people have travelled from all over the world in hopes of reaching “The American Dream” of prosperity and happiness. Unfortunately, through social class divisions and life situations, many Americans do not believe that they can reach this dream. However, Fitzgerald disapproves obtainable of “The American Dream” for every person, despite social class. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, and George Wilson to compare the three levels of wealth in the novel as well as demonstrating the struggles that all people face when trying to reach “The American Dream”.…
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.…
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.…
Jay Gatsby, the protagonist in The Great Gatsby, wants more than being a janitor and a rich man; he throws parties every Saturday to attract Daisy’s attention, but lost everything in the end. Gatsby went from “new money” to “old money” to “no money”. Everyone does not have the same opportunity to strive for their American Dream because their opportunities depend on their family background, what they were born to be, proletarian or bourgeois. Daisy was the reason Gatsby worked hard to achieve his goals, but he destroyed his achievements through lies. Gatsby lies about his family background, but Tom later claims that Gatsby’s wealth comes from illegal businesses such as selling grain alcohol over the counter at the drug-stores.…
When asked, most Americans would say they have healthy aspirations when it comes to family, money, and love. “The American Dream” means that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby creates unrealistic dreams that would transform him from a poor young soldier into a man of wealth in order to impress the woman of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby obsesses about recreating the past by becoming rich so that Daisy would leave her husband for him. By the end of The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s dream becomes warped and obsessive.…
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.…
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.…
American dream refers to a dream of someone who starting low in the social and economic level, then he or she working hard towards wealth, fame and success. This dream can be described as a materialism pursuit of pleasure as it is only achieved when a person successfully having a fancy car, a lot of money, luxurious house, happy wealthy family, fame and nice clothes. However, in order to achieve this dream, most of the character in The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald has turns to be someone who is selfish and materialistic. American Dream in the 1920’s, in this novel has caused destruction that can be seen through Daisy, Myrtle and Gatsby which then makes American dream as the significant theme of this novel.…
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.…
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.…