The Great Gatsby Dbq Analysis
The American dream was a notable value during the 1920s. The cultural value focused primarily on pushing the average individual's ambitions and capabilities to achieve wealth and prosperity, which was deemed success at the time. In the excerpts from Zora Hurston and F. Scott Fitzgerald, both prominent figures successfully expressed notions that conflicted with the ideals of the American Dream, asserting the idea that true successes can't be achieved even with devotion, as exhibited by Fitzgerald's demoralizing representation of American ideals of success and Hurston's rebellious demeanor towards assimilation. First and foremost, in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, the thematic message was a protuberant aspect in the novel's
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Fitzgerald essentially argued against the definition of the American dream stating that it should really revolve around the idea of self-realization, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. He portrayed the the corruption of money and in materialistic values in the pursuit of the so-called “American dream.” This materialistic values emerged as a result of consumer culture as seen in Document 17.2 and Document 17.3, which displays the advertisement of a bicycle and an automobile being massly produced and widely sold at relatively cheaper prices, attracting new acquisitive and greedy consumers. Furthermore, in Document 17.5, Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, reinforces the mass growth of greed and materialism in America, uttering the iconic phrase, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter--to-morrrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…” This key element in the novel presents the same idea, stating that people pursuing the American Dream will work harder, expand their ambitions, and reach out for the green light or their dreams just as Jay Gatsby did, but similarly they will never achieve their true desires and dreams. This idea correlates with Document 17.1,
Fitzgerald essentially argued against the definition of the American dream stating that it should really revolve around the idea of self-realization, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. He portrayed the the corruption of money and in materialistic values in the pursuit of the so-called “American dream.” This materialistic values emerged as a result of consumer culture as seen in Document 17.2 and Document 17.3, which displays the advertisement of a bicycle and an automobile being massly produced and widely sold at relatively cheaper prices, attracting new acquisitive and greedy consumers. Furthermore, in Document 17.5, Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, reinforces the mass growth of greed and materialism in America, uttering the iconic phrase, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter--to-morrrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…” This key element in the novel presents the same idea, stating that people pursuing the American Dream will work harder, expand their ambitions, and reach out for the green light or their dreams just as Jay Gatsby did, but similarly they will never achieve their true desires and dreams. This idea correlates with Document 17.1,