The Fall of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby Essay

The Roaring 20s was an era of decadence and endless possibility. The American Dream was something that everyone coveted. Essentially, The American Dream meant that anyone who had the talent and worked hard enough, could achieve it. Money, a loving spouse, and status all showed that a person had been successful in their life and were vital points to the American Dreams of the Characters in the Great Gatsby. Many of them strived in their own way to achieve â€Å"the dream†, however, twisted ideals of love, wealth, and class led to the eventual fall of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby. Love was turned into a conquest in The Great Gatsby instead of what love should really be; deep feelings of care and affection towards a person.†¦show more content†¦He rationalizes that in order to â€Å"place himself in a position to marry Daisy, he ha[d]...to change his identity...and create a show of his wealth.† (Stocks). By doing so, he perverted the real meaning of love . If someone does not feel romantically towards you, changing yourself will not make them love them any more. Gatsbys peacock display of wealth shows that his dream of â€Å"love and accomplishment [was] distorted by the values of property and possession.† (Callahan). If he was really searching for love, he would have realized that by trying to attain Daisy, he was at a dead end street. He would have not had his heart broken when she returned to Tom had he realized this. Gatsby â€Å"place[d] all of his hope for happiness in Daisy† (Hearne) and was ultimately crushed and â€Å"emptied of love and ambition† (Callahan) when he realized that he would not possess what would make his American Dream complete. In The Great Gatsby, money is a key part in everyones â€Å"dream†. Most people will go through great lengths to achieve wealth and that is all in accordance to the American Dream. As soon as you start illegally attaining that money is when it distorts t he true meaning of the â€Å"Dream†. Even though â€Å"America is the land founded upon life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the means...of that happiness can be corrupt or misguided.† (Hearne). Essentially, in The Great Gatsby, their ideals state that theShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Corruption of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby1302 Words   |  6 Pages On April 10, 1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby, a novel that would later become one of the best known pieces of classic literature in history. However, at the time of its publication, Gatsby was fairly unpopular ad the reviews were never consistent. As shocking as it may seem, I believe it is because Fitzgerald’s intelligence and creativity levels were way ahead of his time, which is evident when one pays close attention to the themes of the novel. ForgivenessRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1543 Words   |  7 PagesParagraph The American Dream is a dream about possibilities, and a desire for success. Sometimes you can interpret the dream for money, sometimes for love regardless of what the you think it is, the dreamer works hard to reach this goal. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is driven by his desire to achieve the American Dream. Unfortunately, Gatsby’s drive to achieve the dream also results in him falling victim to it. Essentially, Gatsby falls victim to the American Dream because he is forcedRead MoreHenry Wang. Mr. Barclay. American Lit . Feb 15, 2017. The1125 Words   |  5 PagesHenry Wang Mr. Barclay American Lit Feb 15, 2017 The American Dream In The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby was written in the year 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald after a shocking event happened not long ago, the World War I. In the novel, the main character Jay Gatsby who was around thirty years old worked his to from a impoverished childhood to one of the richest people in New York City and well known in Wall Street. The book tells us a story of the love between Gatsby and a woman, who is a cousinRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1541 Words   |  7 Pages The American Dream is a dream about possibilities, and a desire for success. Sometimes you can interpret the dream for money, sometimes for love regardless of what the you think it is, the dreamer works hard to reach this goal. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is driven by his desire to achieve the American Dream. Unfortunately, Gatsby’s drive to achieve the dream also results in him falling victim to it. Essentially, Gatsby falls victim to the American Dream because he is forcedRead More Time1677 Words   |  7 Pagessimple, as pure, and as vulnerable as a dream stand against the slow but steady stream of time, that beats like particles of sand against the bottom of an hourglass? For a dream to continue to nourish the minds of the masses generation after generation, it must adapt--change to better fit the new circumstances that a change in time invariably evokes. But as a dream changes, is it as pure, as innocent, and as high-minded as it once was? Could t he American dream, which has hereto defined the very spiritRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald915 Words   |  4 PagesScott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, there was a common belief that anyone could achieve wealth no matter their past or current social status. This idea has come to be known as The American Dream. The Great Gatsby revolves around Gatsby and his love for Daisy. Gatsby falls for Daisy because she is his ticket to the wealth and success that The American Dream foretells. He ignores all her flaws and is willing to do anything for her just because she is wealthy. The Great Gatsby’s focus seems to beRead MoreDreaming the Dream in The Great Gatsby, and Of Mice and Men1194 Words   |  5 Pages The American Dream has long been thought the pinnacle idea of American society. The idea that anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, or financial status, could rise from the depths and become anything they wanted to be with no more than hard work and determination has attracted people from all around the world. Two writers from America’s past, however, have a different opinion on the once-great American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck have given the public their beliefs on theRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1438 Words   |  6 Pages May Ahmad. Dr. Alexandra Williams. 12 PM. IS GATSBY GREAT? The need to live according to the American dream has been the prime focus of most governments over most of the past decades. Perhaps this has featured in many ways in the country. However, in most aspects, the dream may be noted to be a failure. It is this failure that is associated with the events that point out the fact that Gatsby is not a great person as he is made to look from the introductory sections of the book by Fitzgerald. JustRead MoreEssay Jay Gatsby: The Tragic Hero in The Great Gatsby1332 Words   |  6 Pagesstatus, but not necessarily virtuous. There is some aspect of his personality that he has in great abundance but it is this that becomes his tragic flaw and leads to his ultimate demise. However, his tragic ending should not simply sadden the reader, but teach him or her a life lesson. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is the tragic hero who portrays the corruption of the American dream through his tragic flaw. His devastating death at the end of the novel portrays the dangersRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1677 Words   |  7 PagesDean Franjkovic Professor Dr. Kirby Engl-2328-S04 November 3, 2015 Gatsby’s Wealth Wasn’t Enough â€Å"The Great Gatsby† is known as one of the great American novels set in the 1920s and tells a story of a man named Jay Gatsby and how he tried everything he could to get a girl, Daisy Buchanan, to love him only to end up floating in a pool of his own blood. One main aspect to the whole story is the idea of wealth and money. This can be seen at the front of the novel when Nick Carraway, Daisy’s cousin