The Great Gatsby Deterioration Analysis
The Deterioration of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby
An author can create criticism and comment on injustice by examining the society of the time. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses an insightful perspective in the novel The Great Gatsby to illustrate the faults within society and perhaps bring awareness to the audience that there is a need for change. The words “American Dream” offer hope for a life filled with possibilities, including fulfillment and meaningful relationships. Fitzgerald, however, shows how the deterioration of American values leads to the failure of the American Dream. While everyone is so interested in drifting through life accumulating material possessions, they fail to see how the chase has a negative effect on …show more content…
Although they are very rich, the Buchanans never feel they have to give back to society or think that happiness may come from helping others. Daisy says, “ ‘What will we do with ourselves this afternoon?...and the day after that and the next thirty years?’ “ (113). Others strive to achieve the Buchanans’ wealth and admire their lifestyle without recognizing the hollowness of their existence. Behind the glamour of the upper class, however, is an empty soul where there is an absence of hopes and dreams which is a sad commentary on the deterioration of the American …show more content…
Daisy, for example, is in a class by herself as she married into old money and everything she does separates her from others. “ ‘[Her voice] was full of money—that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it…High in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl..’ “ (115). Daisy is classified as royalty whereas Myrtle’s character is the exact opposite. Myrtle is desperate to get out of the Valley of Ashes, “—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.” (26); she attempts to break free from her class structure by having an adulterous relationship with Tom Buchanan. This relationship is doomed from the start; the valley where Myrtle lives
An author can create criticism and comment on injustice by examining the society of the time. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses an insightful perspective in the novel The Great Gatsby to illustrate the faults within society and perhaps bring awareness to the audience that there is a need for change. The words “American Dream” offer hope for a life filled with possibilities, including fulfillment and meaningful relationships. Fitzgerald, however, shows how the deterioration of American values leads to the failure of the American Dream. While everyone is so interested in drifting through life accumulating material possessions, they fail to see how the chase has a negative effect on …show more content…
Although they are very rich, the Buchanans never feel they have to give back to society or think that happiness may come from helping others. Daisy says, “ ‘What will we do with ourselves this afternoon?...and the day after that and the next thirty years?’ “ (113). Others strive to achieve the Buchanans’ wealth and admire their lifestyle without recognizing the hollowness of their existence. Behind the glamour of the upper class, however, is an empty soul where there is an absence of hopes and dreams which is a sad commentary on the deterioration of the American …show more content…
Daisy, for example, is in a class by herself as she married into old money and everything she does separates her from others. “ ‘[Her voice] was full of money—that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it…High in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl..’ “ (115). Daisy is classified as royalty whereas Myrtle’s character is the exact opposite. Myrtle is desperate to get out of the Valley of Ashes, “—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.” (26); she attempts to break free from her class structure by having an adulterous relationship with Tom Buchanan. This relationship is doomed from the start; the valley where Myrtle lives