Examples Of Reality In The Great Gatsby

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby depicts how society was run during the roaring 20's, all while under the influence of the American dream. Life during this time period consists of indulgence- in one's self, in new styles of dancing, in dressing and throwing old everyday traditions out of the window. In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is concealed by the glamour of wealth and luxury, but in reality, the corruption and illusions within this dream entice Americans to be drawn into its web of lies, deceit, and greed. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald discretely shows us how the much he disagrees with the American Dream and throughout the novel drops hints about how the pursuit of it is dangerous. Nevertheless, a life full of extravagance doesn’t always come without side effects. People in this time period lived in a pretend world of beauty, but in reality the American Dream is a “defective illusion”. The equality of each and every individual will never exist in the American Dream, even if the people have an amplitude of opportunities, people will always be “suppressed from real …show more content…
While most of the places in The Great Gatsby are “extravagantly rich, the Valley of Ashes portrays a different side of this exuberant time”(Hearn). The Grim and Gray Valley of Ashes is an area where the houses seem filthy and there isn't money to be found for miles. This gloomy place symbolizes how the American Dream becomes a ‘wasteland’ when moral values are absent (Millett). When material items take over the american people's mind, we do not notice that ethics tend to go out the window. Because the Valley of Ashes represents the poverty and the dark side of the American Dream, New York City is the epitome of the money blowing upperclass. Readers observe that it does not matter where one lives, one cannot escape the immoral and corrupt effects of the American Dream has to
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