Similarities Between The American Dream And The Great Gatsby

Words: 699
Pages: 3
Open Document
The American Dream, one of the foundations this great country was built upon, is the concept of regardless of who a person is, they can achieve what they in America if they work hard enough. This concept has been interpreted in many different ways by the millions of people who have come to this country to find their American Dream. One of America’s well known authors, F. Scott Fitzgerald was a man with a complicated life and an extraordinary talent in conveying ideas that are still relevant decades later. Through the works such as the Great Gatsby, the film adaptation based on the novel, and a letter to his daughter, Fitzgerald’s cynical opinion on the concept of the American Dream is evidently expressed. In these works, the exposition, narration, …show more content…
The characters strive for various goals but ultimately all of them end up disatisfied. Jay Gatsby, a World War Two veteran, desires for Daisy Buchanan, a woman from his past whom he loves but could not be with because of the differences in their social statuses. In fact, he devotes most of his life trying to acquire enough wealth and fame so that Daisy will be with him. In the film version, he views her as a “single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock," and eventually dies trying to gain Daisy’s love unsuccessfully. The green light symbolizes the love that Gatsby wants to relive but cannot reach. Gatsby is the embodiment of the American Dream as he symbolizes strives for an impractical goal and is defeated by it. He believes by lying and imitating the East Egg individuals, he will be able to secure Daisy. He does unethical things such as bootlegging and presumes that Daisy will leave her husband Tom for him but Fitzgerald communicates that Gatsby is delusional and is living a dream. His pursuit of the American dream is the thing that ends up killing …show more content…
Throughout the novel, the realizations that Nick Carraway, the narrator, finds reflect Fitzgerald’s opinion on the American Dream. The overall plot emphasizes how superficial society is. From the obsession of power to extravagant parties, Fitzgerald portrays the setting as an era of the American Dream decline- as an era of greed, selfishness, and immorality. In particular, the East egg and West egg convey distinct lines of wealthy- one that’s inherited and considered proper, and the other contains the people that have earned their money. Though she is in love with Gatsby, Daisy is swayed easily by money and declares, in the movie adaption, that “rich girls don’t marry poor boys,” proving that humanity is frivolous. Daisy’s want for wealth overpowers Gatsby’s love for her. One dimensional things such as economic status can impede genuine feelings like love. Fitzgerald conveys that the American Dream ideology is proven to be a deception as Gatsby isn’t able to achieve happiness no matter how hard he works for it. After Gatsby’s death, Nick Carraway figures out that disappointment is inevitable with trying to pursue impossible goals like Gatsby and most people are attempting to do. To prevent his daughter from making the same mistakes as Gatsby, Fitzgerald expresses to his daughter that “don’t worry about disappointments, don’t worry about pleasures, don’t worry about satisfactions.” Fitzgerald conveys
Show More

Related Documents: Similarities Between The American Dream And The Great Gatsby

The Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Seabiscuit The American Dream

unimaginable.”- Herman J. Steinherr. As the famous author F. Scott Fitzgerald who wrote about tragic love story in the late 1920’s, “The Great Gatsby” in which was told by the main character Nick Carraway’s point of view. In “Seabiscuit The American Legend”, Laura Hillenbrand goes into the history of the famous horse who gave people hope and prosperity during the Great Depression. In each book both writers go into deep detail in how divergent wealth is managed and it’s purpose in particular characters…

Words 124 - Pages 1

How Is Tom Buchanan And Jay Gatsby Alike

Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan Literary Analysis Essay. Liam Hickernell In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, “The Great Gatsby,” Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan share both similarities and differences, each representing their views on the American Dream. Although Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan share similarities, such as their living conditions and social status, their dreams and aspirations differ. Gatsby, with his mysterious past and drive to make money, shows one side of the American Dream, where anyone can make…

Words 963 - Pages 4

Gatsby American Dream

falling off The Great Gatsby’s American Dream One of the most notable elements in Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is the conception of the American Dream; a well-known term whose appearance is very present throughout the story. Despite being a non-mentioned term in the novel itself, the author still conveys the idea of the American Dream through the employment of a brilliant sociological approach. Yet, although there is not any consistent or universal definition, the idea of American Dream might have…

Words 1532 - Pages 7

Gatsby American Dream

falling off The Great Gatsby’s American Dream One of the most notable elements in Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is the conception of the American Dream; a well-known term whose appearance is very present throughout the story. Despite being a non-mentioned term in the novel itself, the author still conveys the idea of the American Dream through the employment of a brilliant sociological approach. Yet, although there is not any consistent or universal definition, the idea of American Dream might have…

Words 1530 - Pages 7

Gatsby Essay

november-14-2014 Gatsby Essay In the novel The Great Gatsby the most obviously recognized topics; the American dream and how difficult it can become to achieve it, the delineations between the social classes, old rich, new rich, some money, and no money, and how all social classes do have some similarities, the fact that Gatsby cannot realize that he cannot repeat the past with daisy to rekindle their relationship, and what describes a self-made man. The American dream can become difficult…

Words 774 - Pages 4

The Great Bat stool Essay

The Great Gatsby Essay Prompts 1. The American Dream--as it arose in the Colonial period and developed in the nineteenth century--was based on the assumption that each person, no matter what his or her origins, could succeed in life on the sole basis of his or her own skill and effort. The Great Gatsby is a novel about what happened to the American dream in the 1920s, a period when the old values that gave substance to the dream had been corrupted by the vulgar pursuit of wealth. What Fitzgerald…

Words 1001 - Pages 5

Figurative Language In The Great Gatsby

The 2013 films The Great Gatsby and The Wolf of Wall Street explore the allure and pitfalls of the American Dream through their success-driven protagonists. The 2013 film The Great Gatsby, directed by Baz Luhrmann for everyone 15 and up (specifically those who enjoyed the novel), relies on imagery and figurative language to recount Nick Carraway’s lavish yet morally wrong experiences in Long Island, New York during the roaring 20’s. Comparably, the 2013 film The Wolf Of Wallstreet, directed by Martin…

Words 1386 - Pages 6

English Coursework2014888 Essay

In American Pastoral and The Great Gatsby both authors reveal the American Dream to be unachievable and ultimately destructive. The American Dream: the widely held ideal by which equality, opportunity and upward social mobility are achievable, and available to every American through hard work; a hope deeply embedded in the routes of an emerging American society. Both authors display to the reader the continuous quest these characters pursue in order to attempt to achieve the dream promised to them…

Words 1680 - Pages 7

Comparing The Great Gatsby And Jack Kerouac's On The Road

The parallel between Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road The concept of the American dream was a topic of interest for many writers in the mid of the twentieth century;Jack Kerouac’s On the Roadis a novel that discusses the idea of the American Dream and how itwas corrupted after the end of World War II and the Cold War. During this time, the economic life in American is flourished and people began to move from the towns to the cities searching for a better life and future…

Words 687 - Pages 3

Examples Of Obsessive Love Disorder In The Great Gatsby

now. And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces, and I wondered if there wasn’t something a little sinister about him, after all.” (Fitzgerald 65) In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby,” the central figure, Jay Gatsby, embodies and symbolizes the dark nature of the American dream. Beneath Jay's wealth, fame, and social connections, a display of mental health disorder is revealed, known as Obsessive Love Disorder. Through the close examination of Jay Gatsby's rash behavior…

Words 1264 - Pages 6