Delusion In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the best known American novel. Also known as “the great American novel,”(Bruccoli xi) it describes the delusion of the American Dream. The era in which The Great Gatsby was set in was also called the “Jazz Era” because it represented the “anything goes” times of the 1920’s. The idea of the American Dream was fresh in the minds of Americans and immigrants coming from other countries. The American Dream was the right to pursue happiness, become self-made, and equal opportunity. Fitzgerald uses what occurred in the twenties to justify certain decisions made within the novel, characters within The Great Gatsby to explain the delusion of the American Dream, and how his own personal determination created …show more content…
This led to the black market of alcohol and secret places in which people could go to drink alcohol. These places were known as speakeasies. Within The Great Gatsby, it is hinted that Gatsby made his wealth through pharmacies in which he sold alcohol illegally. The class of unclassified social statuses emerged between Old and New Money. Old Money described those who were born into wealth usually coming from European royalty. New Money were those who, through hard work, obtained a great amount of wealth. On the imaginary status structure, Old Money was more respected than New Money, though neither got along with the other. Tom Buchanan hated Gatsby’s saying, “Old Sport,” for he believed it was a sign of disrespect and Gatsby’s way of trying to get on the same level as the Old Money people. During the 1920’s, the nation’s wealth doubled and more people moved into the cities. With this came a new woman known as the flapper. A flapper is a thin, young woman with a bobbed haircut, who drank, smoked, and acted more unladylike. Daisy is an example of a flapper girl who is attracted to the extravagant lifestyle of the