The Life and Death of the American Dream
Over the years there has been many positive interpretations of the American Dream, portrayed through movies, songs, and novels, but there is only one well known perception that stands out the most. In the classic novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the concept of the American Dream to point out the flaws,misconceptions, ignorance, and the ideals of society. The character, Gatsby and his belief in the idea that the past can be recreated was the downfall of his American dream. Through the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald conveys that the American Dream is not always attainable. Jay Gatsby, the main character of the novel, believed he could repeat the past and reunite with his old girlfriend Daisy …show more content…
To a certain extent, he does succeed in achieving his dream by reestablishing a relationship with Daisy and starting an affair. Gatsby hadn't realized how unrealistic his dream was until it was shattered, when Daisy tells him after an argument between Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, that he “wants too much” (Fitzgerald 139). Even though Gatsby was extremely rich, Daisy was not ready to give up her luxurious life and high class status for Gatsby's love. They were from two different worlds, Gatsby was from new money and Daisy was from old money by which Gatsby wasn't accepted in. She loved Gatsby, but she loved money and her social position more. Daisy was too careless, foolish, and money-oriented to understand how deep Gatsby's love was for her. Afterwards, when Gatsby is killed by George Wilson, any chance of the American dream surviving destroyed with him. Because of the guilt of Gatsby’s death, Daisy and Tom left town without saying where they were going; they didn't even have the common decency to attend his funeral.
They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. (Fitzgerald 170
Over the years there has been many positive interpretations of the American Dream, portrayed through movies, songs, and novels, but there is only one well known perception that stands out the most. In the classic novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the concept of the American Dream to point out the flaws,misconceptions, ignorance, and the ideals of society. The character, Gatsby and his belief in the idea that the past can be recreated was the downfall of his American dream. Through the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald conveys that the American Dream is not always attainable. Jay Gatsby, the main character of the novel, believed he could repeat the past and reunite with his old girlfriend Daisy …show more content…
To a certain extent, he does succeed in achieving his dream by reestablishing a relationship with Daisy and starting an affair. Gatsby hadn't realized how unrealistic his dream was until it was shattered, when Daisy tells him after an argument between Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, that he “wants too much” (Fitzgerald 139). Even though Gatsby was extremely rich, Daisy was not ready to give up her luxurious life and high class status for Gatsby's love. They were from two different worlds, Gatsby was from new money and Daisy was from old money by which Gatsby wasn't accepted in. She loved Gatsby, but she loved money and her social position more. Daisy was too careless, foolish, and money-oriented to understand how deep Gatsby's love was for her. Afterwards, when Gatsby is killed by George Wilson, any chance of the American dream surviving destroyed with him. Because of the guilt of Gatsby’s death, Daisy and Tom left town without saying where they were going; they didn't even have the common decency to attend his funeral.
They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. (Fitzgerald 170