The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Improved Essays
The Great Gatsby revolves a lot around the American Dream. “During the 1920s, the perception of the American Dream was that an individual can achieve success in life regardless of family history or social status if they only work hard enough” (The Demise of the 1920’s). During the story Gatsby represents the American dream, he rises above his father and becomes the rich man he wanted to be. The novel also shows the condition of the American Dream in the 1920s. The topics of dreams, wealth, and time relate to each other in the novel’s exploration of the idea of America.
Throughout the book Gatsby represents the dream in which he was born poor and became rich. He also had to be a better man, he wanted to rise against his father 's marital status.
…show more content…
Each character shows why this is true. First there is Nick, In the beginning of the novel, he related the story as a piece of his personal history, he 's telling us how things used to be. It is the story of which tell Nick how and why he is the way he is today. In the story Nick explains how he dreams of reading great books and of becoming a man of culture. Another character that shows the key topics important to the American Dream, is Gatsby. Gatsby is both a lie and a dream. He dreams of marrying Daisy and achieving great wealth. But on the other side he is a criminal, a lie, he has changed his name and his history in order to become “Jay Gatsby”. Gatsby sets out to be a new and better man, that is why he changes his name. He has to win Daisy, by leaving his old name and life behind. Both Tom and Gatsby 's dreams don 't come true, they are simply unattainable. They are a lie. This is why they both don 't really change. Gatsby doesn 't stop fighting for what he believes in, infact it literally kills him. When the funeral comes, there are hardly any who show, even Daisy the one he has fought for all his life, doesn 't come. Although he is rich, he is not rich in the ways that truly make life happy, he was left with few friends, family, and memories to be remembered by. For Nick, it 's the same thing, in the end of his big dreams, he moves back to the midwest. “The Dream …show more content…
During the story Gatsby represents the American dream, he rises above his father and dreams. The novel also shows the condition of the American Dream in the 1920s. The topics of dreams, wealth, and time relate to each other in the novel’s exploration of the idea of

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Gatsby Essay: Test In what way does Gatsby represent the American Dream and what does this say about Fitzgerald’s perception of the dream in the 20s and 30s? In what way do the themes of dreams, wealth and time relate to America at the time? In the story The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many themes and messages are portrayed through the character of Jay Gatsby.…

    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Great Gatsby illustrate a division in social class based on the characters’ family backgrounds. Several characters have their own goals and dreams, the American Dream. The American Dream is to be born to a world of equality, to have the same equal opportunity, and to achieve goals through hard work. The Great Gatsby present characters who tries to get more than they already have. Jay Gatsby, the protagonist in The Great Gatsby, wants more than being a janitor and a rich man; he throws parties every Saturdays to attract Daisy’s attention, but lost everything in the end.…

    • 1092 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “The Great Gatsby” the American Dream is not the dream of the founding fathers of social equality, it is instead the desire of becoming as rich as possible and because of this change of values this…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    American dream is nothing better than a nightmare. There is a gap between our society used to rely on hope. Those who are already born into wealth have the upper hand as Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. Another character in the book, is James (Jimmy) Gatz, also known as Jay Gatsby had achieved the American dream, but eventually die. Adventure Tom Buchanan in love, Myrtle Wilson, and her husband died at the end of the book.…

    • 2227 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby narrates the story of a man, Jay Gatsby, and his perseverance to achieve his dream to win over his love, Daisy. Unfortunately, Gatsby’s life comes to an abrupt end, along with that dream. All of this is seen through the point of view of Nick Carraway, a man who moves to New York to learn about the bond business. The book takes place in the 1920s, a time of economic prosperity, with many people striving to achieve the American Dream. The American Dream is the ideal that Americans have the opportunity to achieve wealth and prosperity through hard work and dedication.…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald examines and assesses Jay Gatsby’s vision of the Nineteen Twenties American Dream. As a self-proclaimed “story of the West,” the novel goes through questions about America and the various ideas of the American Dream. In this way, it is possible to see Gatsby as an ordinary man with determination…

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gatsby and The American Dream In the 1920’s the American dream was what people were aiming to reach throughout their lives. In the book The Great Gatsby by, F.Scott, one of his main characters known as Gatsby is trying to fulfill his American dream. Gatsby fails to reach the dream of reliving his past.…

    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby represents the corruption of the American dream within the 1920s. He represents this in three different ways. The first of which being his rags to riches story about Dan and how Gatsby inherited vast amounts of money, upon which he loses to Dan’s ex wife. The second being his illegal means of getting money and becoming rich on his own. And the third being his death, and the fact that he killed Myrtle.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gatsby, in particular, represents the American Dream, because he rose from nothing to success. The 1920s were filled with hard work and the glamour of the roaring 20s. The Great Gatsby could be seen as a story on the corruption of the American Dream. The upper elite are often immoral and superficial, and Gatsby starts to fit into that description. The materialistic elite that is Gatsby ends up a criminal, and even though his bank account grows, his morality doesn’t.…

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Great Gatsby

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Gatsby was born into a poor family and struggled his way to becoming rich by using prohibition and bootlegging. Gatsby is uncomfortable by his status of new found wealth that he lies to people claiming “My family all died and I came into a great bit of money...after that I lived like a young rajah in all the capitals of Europe.”(70 ) This is a great example of the death of the American dream in the novel because it portrays the aspect of “rags to riches” of the American dream as something which brings…

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    He believes that Daisy is attracted to Tom because of his wealth, and thinks that if he gains the same amount of wealth, Daisy will come back to him. Gatsby will stop at nothing to acquire the wealth…

    • 1799 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The theme of the American dream plays a major role in The Great Gatsby. In the novel, the American dream ends in tragedy and death and old money prevails without guilt. Old money is represented by Tom and Daisy, who both survive and move away after Gatsby is killed. Myrtle and Wilson,who were poor, die at the end. Jay Gatsby’s misguided illusion of the American dream and Daisy led to his death.…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    American Dream: The Great Gatsby In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. S. Fitzgerald writes about a time period in American history where achieving anything was possible, at least that was the common belief. Not only does he describe the economic, social, and historical circumstances that drive his characters, but also a glimpse into the minds of the characters that they use as a way to justify their actions and motives. The most basic reason for the actions that take place in the course of the book is towards an idea that many people are familiar with. It’s the American Dream.…

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The American Dream Everyone has their different way of describing the american dream. Some want to have a nice house, car, and a family. While others want to live their lives to their lives to the extreme by wanting to be famous, rich, and have lots of fun. For example The Great Gatsby’s american dream was like the ones of today to the extreme bigger houses more expensive cars big parties. He wanted the more the bigger the better.…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Still, The Great Gatsby contradicts Adam’s statement since Jay Gatsby dedicates himself to accumulate a fortune in order to win the love of Daisy (Fay) Buchanan and acceptance of the aristocracy. F. Scott Fitzgerald guides Gatsby on the correct path to achieve his American Dream, but his dream slowly becomes distorted by the influence of society’s focus on materialism; this new way of life for Jay Gatsby does not win the approval and acceptance of the East Egg elite, and more importantly Daisy’s heart. It is also evident that many misinterpret the American Dream as an objective of accumulating of wealth throughout the development of the novel. In effect, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby reveals the corruption of the American Dream during the nineteenth twenties by surfacing the issues of unrestrained and unprecedented hedonism, as well as materialism; the devoid sense morals and ethics present in society; and the America’s obsession with…

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays