The Great Gatsby: Livin’ The American Dream
One of America’s jewels in literature during the 20th century, and still read by many today, is The Great Gatsby, a novel, written by Scott Fitzgerald, about a poor boy who wants to impress a wealthy girl, so he spends his life accumulating riches and throwing parties to get her in his possession. The story takes place in New York, featuring a plethora of characters and a fantastic story that brings any reader in its clutches. Many subjects and themes are presented in the book that many readers can still discuss today. For example, the American Dream, which is the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity to every American citizen. Motifs in the novel can also support this, but one in particular …show more content…
Nick serves as the narrator of the story, and gives much insight to how these motifs develop though the story. In the first chapter, he thinks that to be rich and successful, you need to be born with it, and that the most decent people are wealthy. But, this is seen as false when characters like Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom are introduced. Gatsby was a poor farm boy, that had bizarre dream of leaving his home and becoming rich, into a successful man who made that dream come true. One the other hand, Tom and Daisy were both born into wealthy families, but became childish brats who think the world revolves around them. Both of these are the complete opposite of how Nick would have seen these people, by knowing only their upbringings, at the beginning of the novel. By the end, he realizes the rich can be indecent, and that anyone, no matter what your wealth or social class is, can be successful. That statement is what the American Dream is, the freedom of equality and opportunity to any American. This idea has been seen with many of the most powerful and successful people in the country. One of the many is Oprah Winfrey, a multi-millionaire and is known as one the most influential women in the entire world. Though she seems like her life is flawless, she had a hard past. She was poor, lived with her grandmother while her teenage mother looked for work, and was a housemaid. Though she was destined for failure, she worked hard, made a life for herself, and is now has a net worth of over three-billion dollars. This goes to show, anyone can live the American
One of America’s jewels in literature during the 20th century, and still read by many today, is The Great Gatsby, a novel, written by Scott Fitzgerald, about a poor boy who wants to impress a wealthy girl, so he spends his life accumulating riches and throwing parties to get her in his possession. The story takes place in New York, featuring a plethora of characters and a fantastic story that brings any reader in its clutches. Many subjects and themes are presented in the book that many readers can still discuss today. For example, the American Dream, which is the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity to every American citizen. Motifs in the novel can also support this, but one in particular …show more content…
Nick serves as the narrator of the story, and gives much insight to how these motifs develop though the story. In the first chapter, he thinks that to be rich and successful, you need to be born with it, and that the most decent people are wealthy. But, this is seen as false when characters like Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom are introduced. Gatsby was a poor farm boy, that had bizarre dream of leaving his home and becoming rich, into a successful man who made that dream come true. One the other hand, Tom and Daisy were both born into wealthy families, but became childish brats who think the world revolves around them. Both of these are the complete opposite of how Nick would have seen these people, by knowing only their upbringings, at the beginning of the novel. By the end, he realizes the rich can be indecent, and that anyone, no matter what your wealth or social class is, can be successful. That statement is what the American Dream is, the freedom of equality and opportunity to any American. This idea has been seen with many of the most powerful and successful people in the country. One of the many is Oprah Winfrey, a multi-millionaire and is known as one the most influential women in the entire world. Though she seems like her life is flawless, she had a hard past. She was poor, lived with her grandmother while her teenage mother looked for work, and was a housemaid. Though she was destined for failure, she worked hard, made a life for herself, and is now has a net worth of over three-billion dollars. This goes to show, anyone can live the American