Luxuries and Love in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott...

The American Dream is an ideal that has been in existence since the day the Declaration of Independence was signed. Normally, the lower citizen yearns to rise from rags to riches, while obtaining such luxuries as love, high social status, and political/economic power on his or her way to the top. This dream has undergone various changes since its creation, however it is generally founded on ideas, of freedom, independence, and the desire of something greater. Early colonists’ desire to travel West in search of land and start a family has transformed into a materialistic vision of having a grand and extravagant house, a top notch car, and a life of ease. One of the major themes in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is the failure to†¦show more content†¦Gatsby is a â€Å"nouveau riche,† and his romantic view of wealth has not readied him for the self-centered, snobbish, and immoral group of people with which he comes to associate. Gatsby throws lavish parties for dozens of people in his own house, yet has no or very few real friends. Gatsby throws these parties in an attempt to obtain his dream, which is to buy back the happiness he lost along with Daisy (Kazin 31). Jay Gatsby himself â€Å"is a deeply flawed hero like other antiheroes†¦like Mad Men’s Don Draper who possesses many Gatsby-esque traits†¦Ã¢â‚¬  such as changing his identity to create a new version of himself, yet still not finding happiness (Batchelor). Gatsby’s forever idealistic view of life may partly be to blame for his inability to achieve his dream. Even though he has amassed a large fortune through bootlegging among other illegal activities, his heart seems to be untouched by the largely immoral evil that has surrounded him. Gatsby did not live for himself; he lived for his dream, for a good life that would be completed with the reacquisition of Daisy’s love (Pidgeon). Gatsby lost Daisy when he was deployed to France during W orld War I. Adding to this, Daisy’s parents believed Gatsby to be unsuitable for Daisy because of his shady background and his lack of wealth. Fitzgerald created Daisy as Gatsby’s impossible dream, as his fatal desire, and as his eventual death. Daisy isShow MoreRelatedGreat Gatsby Essay2435 Words   |  10 PagesENG3U0-E 28 January 2012 Materialism in The Great Gatsby Every writer has an inspiration, whether they get inspired from their personal lives or the lives of others, nonetheless they get inspired. Inspiration is what causes others to write, it is the fundamental reasoning behind writing. F. Scott Fitzgerald is no exception. The Great Gatsby is a classic American Novel that focuses on timeless themes such as ambition, greed and finally love. F. Scott Fitzgerald was inspired by various factors in his lifetimeRead MoreThe American Dream s Deterioration1568 Words   |  7 PagesGriffiths Block 4 The American Dream’s Deterioration The American dream, an ideal that motivates and entices many. A beautiful yet extremely flawed concept according to Fitzgerald. The idea is that every citizen has an equal opportunity to achieve success through hard work. However, we will see in The Great Gatsby that no one is truly equal, and as one rises another falls. â€Å"We speak of equality and unlimited possibilities, but in reality both are illusions† (Hearne, 191). The American dreamRead MoreF. Scott Fitzgerald s The Great Gatsby1458 Words   |  6 PagesLiterature 12 April 2016 â€Å"The Jazz Age† The iconic novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, utilizes multiple songs throughout the story. â€Å"Fitzgerald’s wok has become automatically identified with an American decade: The Jazz Age (which he named) or the Roaring Twenties or The Boom.† (Fitzgerald, IX). The Twenties was a time full of exploration of alcohol and music and the move from small farms into large cities. â€Å"Since The Great Gatsby is the defining novel of the Twenties, which have becomeRead MoreThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jazz by Toni Morrison 647 Words   |  3 Pagesexceptional novels by distinguished authors have managed to start this new concept of â€Å"historical fiction†. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jazz by Toni Morrison are two literary novels that pioneered the movement of historical realism in fiction as well as influenced literary writing styles and United States culture for generations following their creation. Although F. Scott Fitzgerald and Toni Morrison were born 35 years apart and have two separate backgrounds, they still managed to be twoRead MoreSymbolisms in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay846 Words   |  4 Pagesin novels are as memorable as the green light in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Shining at the end of Daisy’s dock, it is close enough to be seen, but too far away to be reached. Still, Gatsby, an eternal optimist, stares at it at night, as if it showed him that all his far-away dreams were about to come true. The green light in The Great Gatsby is symbolic of hope, a source of inspiration, and a representation of the American Dream to Gatsby and to the novel’s readers. Gatsby’s aspirationsRead MoreF. Scott Fitzgerald s The Great Gatsby968 Words   |  4 PagesEnglish 11 Honors Nov 3, 2015 Great Gatsby Paper A life of luxury requires an arduous journey of dedication to achieve it. To embody the American Dream, one must strive to succeed. However, some may go too far in the process, and make irreversible decisions. This dream of copious amounts of wealth causes multiple characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s well-known novel The Great Gatsby to perish from selfishness. Based in the roaring twenties, also known as the jazz age, Fitzgerald sheds light on a majorRead MoreThe Pursuit Of The American Dream By F. Scott Fitzgerald1653 Words   |  7 Pagesregardless of their situation. However, an inevitable truth that is often untold is the fact that the American Dream is only a dream that few can achieve. As shown in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books, The Great Gatsby and This Side of Paradise, the pursuit of the American Dream proves to result in one’s demise. Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby and Amory Blaine in This Side of Paradise are unsuccessful in their attempt to attain the attention of the person they like, lose connections with people, and theirRead MoreThe Equality Myth Essays656 Words   |  3 PagesIts pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness. Poverty and wealth have both failed. --Kin Hubbard, Sociologist The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is as much a novel about social hierarchy as it is about class-consciousness. Throughout the novel we are bombarded with images of extravagant wealth and shuddering pauperism with the elite upper class using those around them as stepping-stones to their own selfish happiness. The novel makes a point to differentiate between classesRead MoreComparison of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby and â€Å"Winter Dreams†953 Words   |  4 Pageswritten around the same time that Fitzgerald was developing ideas for a story to turn into a novel. While The Great Gatsby wasn’t published until 1925, â€Å"Winter Dreams† dà ©buted in 1922 and the similarities between the novel and short story were done on purpose. â€Å"Winter Dreams† became a short draft which Fitzgerald paralleled The Great Gatsby after, but also differentiated the two in specific ways (â€Å"Winter Dreams† 217). The main characters are both men, Jay Gatsby and Dexter Green, who desire for theRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1539 Words   |  7 Pages Frances Scott Key Fitzgerald, born September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota, is seen today as one of the true great American novelists. Although he lived a life filled with alcoholism, despair, and lost-love, he managed to create the ultimate love story and seemed to pinpoint the American Dream  of his time in his classic novel, The Great Gatsby. In the novel, Jay Gatsby is the epitome of the self-made man,  in which he dedicates his entire life to climbing the social ladder in order to gain wealth