The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald Thesis: The pursuit of the American Dream is a dominant theme throughout The Great Gatsby, which is carried out in various ways by F. Scott Fitzgerald, how the author represents this theme through his characters and their actions is one small aspect of it. Fitzgerald's dominant theme in The Great Gatsby focuses on the corruption of the American Dream. By analyzing high society during the 1920s through the eyes of narrator Nick Carraway, the author reveals that the American Dream has transformed from a pure ideal of security into a convoluted scheme of materialistic power. In support of this message, Fitzgerald highlights the original aspects as well as the new aspects of the American Dream in …show more content…
Gatsby realizes that life of the high-class demands wealth to become priority; wealth becomes his superficial goal overshadowing his quest for love. He establishes his necessity to acquire wealth, which allows him to be with Daisy. The social elite of Gatsby?s time sacrifice morality in order to attain wealth. Tom Buchanan, a man from an enormously wealthy family, ?seems to Nick to have lost all sense of being kind.?(Lehan, pg.60) Nick describes Tom?s physical attributes as a metaphor for his true character when remarking that Tom had a ?hard mouth and a supercilious manner?arrogant eyes has established dominance over his face?always leaning aggressively forward?a cruel body?his speaking voice?added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed? (Lehan, p.61) The product of hard work is the wistful Jay Gatsby, who epitomizes the purest characteristics of the American Dream: everlasting hope. His burning desire to win Daisy?s love symbolizes the basis of the old dream: an ethereal goal and a never-ending search for the opportunity to reach that goal. Gatsby is first seen late at night, ?standing with his hands in his pockets? and supposedly ?out to determine what share is his of our local heavens? (Fitzgerald, pg25). Nick watches Gatsby?s movements and comments: ?-He stretches out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and as far as I am from him I can swear he is trembling. Involuntarily I glance seaward-and distinguish nothing except a single
In book, “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts how the American was corrupted through wealth. Fitzgerald provides many examples. The most common example shown was Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s idea that to achieve his American Dream must be to acquire wealth. In order to show this, Fitzgerald uses various literary elements. Two of those being imagery and foreshadowing, these played a critical role in describing the theme, and specific moods to show what was to come and as well as describe the story as a whole. These play a vital role in representing Gatsby’s life and journey to acquiring Daisy, his version of the American Dream.
The first dream that does not get fulfilled is the one of Gatsby. He starts off as an underprivileged boy and struggles his way to the top. We make his acquaintance when he is on the top of his life. He is enjoying his big house and his vast wealth. The one thing he cannot have is his lovely Daisy. Gatsby’s story reflects the “classical” American dream: Anyone can make anything of himself/herself with just elbow grease, spirit and a whole lot of confidence. Jay loves Daisy and, sadly, she is the one thing which he cannot procure to his “perfect life”.
Although "The Great Gatsby" is filled with multiple themes such as love, money, order, reality, illusion and immorality, no one would probably deny that the predominate one focuses on the American Dream and the downfall of those who attempt to reach its illusionary goals. The attempt to capture the American Dream is the central of this novel. This can be explained by how Gatsby came to get his fortune. By studying the process of how Gatsby tried to achieve his own so-called American Dream, we could have a better understanding of what American dream is all about, in those down-to-earth Americans' point of view. The characterization of Gatsby is a representative figure among Americans as he devoted his whole life to achieve his dream.
The Great Gatsby as Fitzgerald’s explanation of an American Reality which contradicts the American Dream
The Great Gatsby, first published in 1925, echoes its era, and predicts its tragic end. In the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald “revealed the negative side of the period’s gaiety and freedom, portraying wealthy and attractive people leading imperiled lives in gilded surroundings” (Danzer 656).It illustrate “the dying American Dream and the corruption of historical values”(Bewley 23). The wealthy characters in the book are careless, materialistic and empty, showing the corrupt side of the American Dream, but Gatsby is different. In the novel, Nick describes him as having “an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such I have never found in any other person and which is not likely I shall ever find again” (Fitzgerald 2).He kept believing and fighting for his dreams to the very end, even after it became clear that Daisy would not leave Tom to stay with him.
The Great Gatsby is a tragic love story on the surface, but its most commonly understood as a suspicious critic of the American Dream. In the novel Jay Gatsby overcomes his poor past to gain an incredible amount of money and a limited amount of social cache of in the 1920s NYC, only to be rejected by the “old money” crowd. The focus of my paper would be the pathway towards the American Dream and how it affects the person and others around. The American dream affects not only one person, but also those who linger around them (near or far). This dream is represented by the ideas of a self-sufficient man or woman, who works hard to achieve a goal to become successful. By having money, a car, a big house mice clothes with a big loving family symbolizes the American Dream. This dream can also represent that people, can become successful in life by their own work. The aspiration to strive for what one wants can be accomplished if they work hard enough. This text written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, depicts the American dream as an un-wealthy individual who works effortlessly towards wealth and fame. The Great Gatsby is a novel that displays the events that took place in the American Dream in the 1920s, where in the timeframe dreams became corrupted for many unforeseen reasoning. Fitzgerald uses symbolism to amplify the story’s themes and characters, as well as a specific purpose and
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald employs the use of characters, themes, and symbolism to convey the idea of the American Dream and its corruption through the aspects of wealth, family, and status. In regards to wealth and success, Fitzgerald makes clear the growing corruption of the American Dream by using Gatsby himself as a symbol for the corrupted dream throughout the text. In addition, when portraying the family the characters in Great Gatsby are used to expose the corruption growing in the family system present in the novel. Finally, the American longing for status as a citizen is gravely overshot when Gatsby surrounds his life with walls of lies in order to fulfill his desires for an impure dream. F.
When Cody died, he left the boy, now Jay Gatsby, a legacy of $25,000. Unfortunately
Oftentimes society gets so caught up in achieving greatness that it is blinded to the obstacles of reality. The American Dream can sometimes be so unachievable yet so alluring that people cannot help but strive after it as if it were their destiny. Fitzgerald highlights this phenomenon in his novel The Great Gatsby through many characters and their pursuit of their own American Dreams. Fitzgerald uses figurative language and contrasting diction to show his cynical attitude about the pursuit of the American Dream and the blindness of those who believe in it.
Everyone has dreams of being successful in life. When the word American comes to mind one often thinks of the land of opportunity. This dream was apparent with the first settlers, and it is apparent in today’s society. In F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925), he illustrates the challenges and tragedies associated with the American dream. By examining Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson through the narrator Nick Carraway, I understand the complex nature of the American dream. Jay Gatsby represents the cost complex of them all.
Any American is taught a dream that is purged of all truth. The American Dream is shown to the world as a belief that anyone can do anything; when in reality, life is filled with impossible boundaries. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald gives us a glimpse into the life of the upper class during the roaring twenties through the eyes of a moralistic young man named Nick Carraway. It is through the narrator's dealings with the upper class that the reader is shown how modern values have transformed the American Dream's pure ideals into a scheme for materialistic power, and how the world of the upper class lacks any sense of morals or consequence. In order to support Fitzgerald's message
Long before Gatsby meets Daisy, it is clear that Gatsby’s real life dissatisfies him to the extent in which he creates a fake life, one that will edge him closer to accomplishing the American dream of the chances of great prosperity. For instance, as a boy, he had a schedule and general resolves, which included “practice elocution, poise and how to attain it” and “read one improving book or magazine per week” (173). This illustrates Gatsby’s early desire to improve himself as a person and transform into his ideal of a man with class and social grace, an ideal that he never lets go of. The reader sees that from the start Gatsby has never approved
The American Dream has no place for dreamers. It embraces a concept of an individual to enjoy the endless bliss of freedom and self-confidence, while maintaining a healthy desire for something greater. The American dream has gone through many stages throughout different time periods, however in the roaring twenties, the dream has been distorted with materialism. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Gatsby transforms from James Gatz, portraying the original American values, to Jay Gatsby, a self-made man who is now focused on a corrupt materialistic dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates how a dream can become tainted by one’s ambition for wealth. Gatsby is a perfect embodiment of this ‘rags to riches’ theory, but is tragically cursed by the classic cliché that ‘money can’t buy happiness.’ The transformation of the American Dream is a prime example of the life of Jay Gatsby and his moral decline.
The Great Gatsby (1925) is a highly symbolic novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald on 1920 's America, an era of great prosperity and material excess. Its theme mainly deals with the disintegration of the American Dream due to decayed social and moral values. The American Dream is a set of ideals in which freedom includes the right for prosperity, success, and social upward mobility for all Americans which can be achieved through hard work and dedication. Fitzgerald uses the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg as a symbolism to show us that the corruption in our generation 's moral values will lead to the destruction of the American Dream.
The disillusionment of the American Dream is a frequent but important written theme in the American literature. Fitzgerald’s famous book The Great Gatsby is one of the most important representative works that reflects this theme. F. Scott Fitzgerald is best known for his novels and short stories which chronicle the excesses of America's Jazz Age during the 1920s. His classic twentieth-century story of Jay Gatsby examines and critiques Gatsby's particular vision of the 1920's American Dream. The Great Gatsby can be seen as a far-reaching book that has revealed many serious and hidden social problems at that time. As one of the most popular and financially successful