Fitzgerald's Conception Of The American Dream
Critically consider Fitzgerald’s conception of the American Dream through the character of Gatsby. Discuss with reference to how the ‘Great Crack-up’ essays inform your understanding.
The American Dream is irrefutably the heart of America and its society; the dream itself has undergone many formulations which has led to the true American Dream being questioned. (Thomas Jefferson) stated ‘Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.’ In a sense this quote encapsulates the original American Dream and expresses how it is a man’s attitude and mentality that determines his future, however this original perception of the dream is in contrast …show more content…
A subtle transformation within the novel is Gatsby’s name itself, born James "Jimmy" Gatz he goes on a quest for wealth and as his social status changes so does his name. This simple transformation is what concludes Gatsby to be such a significant character in depicting Fitzgerald’s conception; something as subtle as his name symbolises a significant change in the world around him, and this parallelism is what expresses Fitzgerald’s overall perception of that particular era. Both Fitzgerald and Gatsby are in a sense a shadow of one another and both their dreams run parallel with each other’s, Gatsby pursues the life of wealth and fortune all for love, as a product of the 1920’s Gatsby has to pretend to be hedonistic and immoral when in reality he’s just crazy in love – ‘Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay’ (Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 4) This single quote shows how all of Gatsby’s wealth was simply to pursue his love and this is just like Fitzgerald’s situation, he was denied of loving simply because he was not in a high enough social class – ‘She subsequently rejected him, because his family was not sufficiently rich.’ (Fitzgerald, 1936, Pasting it Together) – Not only does this quote conclude Gatsby as a likeable character, …show more content…
It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” (Nick Carraway, Chapter 9) Both Fitzgerald and Gatsby became fixated, not on their perception of the American Dream, but on love itself, which ultimately became what Gatsby and Fitzgerald believed the American Dream
The American Dream is irrefutably the heart of America and its society; the dream itself has undergone many formulations which has led to the true American Dream being questioned. (Thomas Jefferson) stated ‘Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.’ In a sense this quote encapsulates the original American Dream and expresses how it is a man’s attitude and mentality that determines his future, however this original perception of the dream is in contrast …show more content…
A subtle transformation within the novel is Gatsby’s name itself, born James "Jimmy" Gatz he goes on a quest for wealth and as his social status changes so does his name. This simple transformation is what concludes Gatsby to be such a significant character in depicting Fitzgerald’s conception; something as subtle as his name symbolises a significant change in the world around him, and this parallelism is what expresses Fitzgerald’s overall perception of that particular era. Both Fitzgerald and Gatsby are in a sense a shadow of one another and both their dreams run parallel with each other’s, Gatsby pursues the life of wealth and fortune all for love, as a product of the 1920’s Gatsby has to pretend to be hedonistic and immoral when in reality he’s just crazy in love – ‘Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay’ (Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 4) This single quote shows how all of Gatsby’s wealth was simply to pursue his love and this is just like Fitzgerald’s situation, he was denied of loving simply because he was not in a high enough social class – ‘She subsequently rejected him, because his family was not sufficiently rich.’ (Fitzgerald, 1936, Pasting it Together) – Not only does this quote conclude Gatsby as a likeable character, …show more content…
It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” (Nick Carraway, Chapter 9) Both Fitzgerald and Gatsby became fixated, not on their perception of the American Dream, but on love itself, which ultimately became what Gatsby and Fitzgerald believed the American Dream