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The Great Gatsby And The American Dream

            The Great Gatsby and the American Dream.
             Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is considered by many to be THE novel about the American Dream. On a less grand scale, the book is certainly a representative of 1920s society, a time when the values and morals of the eighteenth and nineteenth century were declining in favor of the materialism and narcissistic attitudes following the First World War.
             The American Dream of the eighteenth and nineteenth century was a proper place in society, which could be realized through self-reliance and self-confidence. This was based on the idea of personal responsibility.
             The tide began to shift in the early twentieth century. People began to revel in new mass-produced commodities such as the radio. Automobiles became the symbol of status, the thing everyone needed to have. This attitude led people to think that social prestige no longer came from how self-sufficient one was - rather, it was based on how much property and how many goods one person had. Instead of earning a place in society, people began to believe they could simply purchase it. The American Dream was up for sale and the new mantra of the masses was to get rich quick. But what seemed to be overlooked was the reality of social class divisions. Fitzgerald shows with Jay Gatsby that a person could not just buy his way into high society, no matter what lengths are taken. It is apparent from the beginning that his misguided dream will come to a tragic end.
             The protagonist Gatsby is one of the prime examples of the "new" American Dream. He uses his wealth to surround himself with material goods and supposed prestige. He believes that money is the key to unlocking the door to a higher social standing in the upper class East Egg, and ultimately, to the object of his dream, Daisy Buchanan. Everything revolves around Daisy; he even "revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes.


Essays Related to The Great Gatsby And The American Dream

1. Use of the american dream in the great gatsby

Ultimately both Fitzgerald and Miller see the American Dream as a failure. The American Dream, it's interpretation and the ways of achieving it, are very important underlying themes in both Arthur Miller's "Death Of A Salesman" (1949) and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" (1925). ... Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" is set in the 1920's, in Eastern America in a period well known as the "Jazz Age", during prohibition in America. ... Thus, it may seem, personifying the "American Dream". ...

  • Word Count: 463
  • Approx Pages: 2

2. Great Gatsby - Illusion of the American Dream

The Great Gatsby by F. ... Fitzgerald criticizes the American Dream using multiple symbols in his book, The Great Gatsby. ... The American Dream is eluding Gatsby. ... The eyes and the green light and the characters houses are all symbols that Fitzgerald uses to critique the American Dream in The Great Gatsby. ... In The Great Gatsby, Nick was the American Fool. ...

  • Word Count: 1195
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  • Grade Level: High School

3. Symbols of the American Dream - The Great Gatsby

However, The Great Gatsby, F. ... This delusion of the American Dream is the paramount theme in The Great Gatsby, and it is the main message Fitzgerald attempts to convey in his saddening, but insightful novel. Daisy is stupefying and elusive, a crucial character who represents the American Dream (appositive phrase); when Gatsby unsuccessfully attempts to woo Daisy back, this unveils the false promise of the American Dream. ... Daisy is evidently personified as the American Dream throughout The Great Gatsby. ... Tom and Gatsby can't both have Daisy; only one of them can claim Daisy...

  • Word Count: 1239
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. The Great Gatsby - Corruption of the American Dream

The Great Gatsby The Corruption Of The American Dream "The Great Gatsby" is a novel written by F. ... The main themes of the novel are materialism, corruption and The American Dream. ... I am going to show how effective Fitzgerald is at portraying the materialism in the American society throughout his novel "The great Gatsby". ... Daisy is Gatsby's dream - like the American Dream. ... This shows how the American Dream can never truly make one happy. ...

  • Word Count: 1099
  • Approx Pages: 4
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5. The Great Gatsby American drea

Scott Fitzgerald's highly accomplished novel, The American Dream, he portrays the longing for the American Dream as a significant part of ones life, very familiar to society as a corrupted essence of reality and ideals that the characters, especially Jay Gatsby, truly represent. The question saunters, what truly is the corruption of the American Dream? In The Great Gatsby, the longing for the real American Dream---a simple white picket fence, a perfect family, a true love, and security---is not uncommon, but the corruption is characterized by greed and overpowered by money and material ...

  • Word Count: 1397
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Gatsby And The American Dream

Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, sums up the American Dream of the 1920's. ... His American Dream was to become Jay Gatsby. ... Gatsby decided to strive harder for his American Dream. ... Gatsby had achieved both wealth and popularity, but he became consumed with the last part of his American Dream, Daisy. Gatsby would never fulfill his American Dream. ...

  • Word Count: 1231
  • Approx Pages: 5
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  • Grade Level: High School

7. Failures Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

In his book, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald touches upon the lower parts of the social spectrum, where most of the Dream lives on. ... In The Great Gatsby, Francis Scott Fitzgerald uses the lower class characters and their failures to prove that the conceptual American Dream is a belief that doesn't truly function. Fitzgerald uses the character of Jay Gatsby to show the overworking of the American Dream, leading to its failure. Jay Gatsby is the epitome of the American Dream pursuer, yet the ideal American Dream doesn't work in his case because his ambition is ...

  • Word Count: 2919
  • Approx Pages: 12
  • Grade Level: High School

8. The American Dream in the Great Gatsby

The novel, The Great Gatsby by F. ... The Great Gatsby is a description of the decay of the American Dream and the desire for money and materialism. ... Another symbol of great importance is Gatsby's house. ... Gatsby's love for the American Dream is the biggest sign of declining morals, and also a sign of further corruption of society. ... The Great Gatsby is a great portrayal of the corruption of society and the fall of the American Dream. ...

  • Word Count: 1611
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  • Grade Level: High School

9. Great Gatsby - Destruction of Dreams

The Great Gatsby is a perfect illustration of the destructive power of dreams. ... Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby. ... In The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the American Dream and the "foul dust" or the carelessness of a society that floats in the wake of this dream. ... Myrtle Wilson's desire for upper class status rivals that of all other characters in The Great Gatsby. ... I agree that The Great Gatsby is a perfect example of the destructive power of dreams. ...

  • Word Count: 1310
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

10. THe Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby The American dream is usually for things that will make a person content; may it be love, wealth, or happiness each is a symbol for what people want. In The Great Gatsby the American Dream is dirge. ... Represented in another way, The Great Gatsby, also describes how the American dream can fail. ... In another way that the American dream can never truly be achieved was when Gatsby tries to win Daisy over. ... So The Great Gatsby basically shows the American dream comes with the loss of morals and values. ...

  • Word Count: 551
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

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