The Great Gatsby has been held by generations as one of the greatest American novels ever written. Perhaps a main reason why it is so highly regarded is because of its unique and eye-opening portrayal of the American Dream that exists in every individual. The reality of the role that this “dream” plays in our lives is a recurrent theme central to The Great Gatsby. Throughout the novel, author F. Scott Fitzgerald subtly reveals the true nature of the American Dream: an inspiring vision that is weak and defenseless against the harsh realities of our materialistic world.
As seen in The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is not as practical as it appears to be. Gatsby, the very “mythic” embodiment of the American Dream, eventually failed his goal …show more content…
This optimistic view of the American Dream can be seen early on in the novel when the narrator describes New York “[o]ver the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world” (Fitzgerald 68). Here, New York is portrayed as a city of unfathomable possibility with economic promise, racial and religious diversity, and carefree attitudes. Despite this glorious view, the American Dream is still a lost promise because Gatsby’s success is ephemeral; it eventually gets undermined by Gatsby’s murder (which symbolizes the dying of the American Dream), serving as a contrast between illusion and reality. Critic Marius Bewley, in “The True Heir of the American Dream,” also notes that The Great Gatsby is essentially the “acting out of the tragedy of the American vision” (98). Obviously, the American Dream is not all-inclusive and certainly does not come true for every
As seen in The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is not as practical as it appears to be. Gatsby, the very “mythic” embodiment of the American Dream, eventually failed his goal …show more content…
This optimistic view of the American Dream can be seen early on in the novel when the narrator describes New York “[o]ver the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world” (Fitzgerald 68). Here, New York is portrayed as a city of unfathomable possibility with economic promise, racial and religious diversity, and carefree attitudes. Despite this glorious view, the American Dream is still a lost promise because Gatsby’s success is ephemeral; it eventually gets undermined by Gatsby’s murder (which symbolizes the dying of the American Dream), serving as a contrast between illusion and reality. Critic Marius Bewley, in “The True Heir of the American Dream,” also notes that The Great Gatsby is essentially the “acting out of the tragedy of the American vision” (98). Obviously, the American Dream is not all-inclusive and certainly does not come true for every