In the Declaration of Independence the American Dream is referred to as, “all men are created equal and that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.” In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is shown to have changed from 1776. Most people are now more consumed in material wealth and success, and they often tend to abandon their morals on their path towards their superficial desires; Fitzgerald expresses the idea of the demise of the American Dream. People in the 1920’s, and even now have become “users, cheaters, and consumers,” (Faber) which takes away from what the American Dream is actually supposed to be; it is a cheap way to acquire a synthetic happiness.
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In this book Fitzgerald makes it very clear that the color gold is shown a lot when talking about the “old money” people in East Egg. Jordan is described as having “slender golden arms,” (Fitzgerald 43) and Daisy is described on more than one occasion as the “golden girl,” (chapter 7). However yellow is portrayed as a fake gold. The “new money” people are often described with things that are yellow. The color yellow is close to the color gold but it doesn’t have that extra bit of flair that makes it more lavish and expensive looking. The new money people have mostly acquired their wealth in a quick easy and a lot of times illegal way, because they are so stuck on the idea of being rich and being in the same social class as the people of East Egg. At Gatsby’s parties things are often described as being yellow. “The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and how the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music…” (40). “Two girls in twin yellow dress,” (42). Even Gatsby’s car is yellow. Gatsby is trying to be in the same social class as Daisy so that they can be together, but he wasn’t born into it and he earned his money illegally so he just isn’t quite there. He can act the act all he wants but there’s something that still sets him apart from the people of East Egg. Even at his parties that he makes so elaborate don’t compare to the life of an East Egger because the people at these parties represent the greed and scramble for wealth that most Americans experienced during this time period. These people have never even met Gatsby yet they show up at his house every week for the elaborate parties and make up rumors about him and how he acquired so much wealth, when for the most part they all gained their wealth In mysterious ways as well. The desire for money surpassed the noble dreams people use to have in America, causing most people to be users, cheaters and
In this book Fitzgerald makes it very clear that the color gold is shown a lot when talking about the “old money” people in East Egg. Jordan is described as having “slender golden arms,” (Fitzgerald 43) and Daisy is described on more than one occasion as the “golden girl,” (chapter 7). However yellow is portrayed as a fake gold. The “new money” people are often described with things that are yellow. The color yellow is close to the color gold but it doesn’t have that extra bit of flair that makes it more lavish and expensive looking. The new money people have mostly acquired their wealth in a quick easy and a lot of times illegal way, because they are so stuck on the idea of being rich and being in the same social class as the people of East Egg. At Gatsby’s parties things are often described as being yellow. “The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and how the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music…” (40). “Two girls in twin yellow dress,” (42). Even Gatsby’s car is yellow. Gatsby is trying to be in the same social class as Daisy so that they can be together, but he wasn’t born into it and he earned his money illegally so he just isn’t quite there. He can act the act all he wants but there’s something that still sets him apart from the people of East Egg. Even at his parties that he makes so elaborate don’t compare to the life of an East Egger because the people at these parties represent the greed and scramble for wealth that most Americans experienced during this time period. These people have never even met Gatsby yet they show up at his house every week for the elaborate parties and make up rumors about him and how he acquired so much wealth, when for the most part they all gained their wealth In mysterious ways as well. The desire for money surpassed the noble dreams people use to have in America, causing most people to be users, cheaters and