Preview

The Significance Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
883 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Significance Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby
In the Book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is a topic that always seems to come up, that topic is the American dream. This book makes you wonder whether this dream is actually realistic and achievable, or if it is just some made up thing that most are not able to achieve. It soon becomes clear that F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the American dream as something that is unreal and it is pretty much impossible to accomplish. Fitzgerald uses many things to represent the corruption of the American dream, these things include the green light, and the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleberg, and the geography in general. To start off, what exactly is the American dream? There are many interpretations of what people believe it is, for the most …show more content…
Eckleberg. “The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic- their retinas one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles”(Fitzgerald 23). These eyes are used to represent God, and how as George says “you may fool me, but you can’t fool God”(Fitzgerald 159). He says this to Myrtle and what this means is that God is looking down on them, and he knows what she is doing even though he may not know everything. He later goes on to say “God sees everything”(Fitzgerald 160) This is said when George Wilson is looking out the window at the sign of T.J. Eckleburg. When he says this it represents what the sign means and how God is pretty much judging them for how hard they are working to achieve their dream or the American dream. Also another thing that describes the desperate need of people trying to achieve the American dream is all of the animal names that are used in the book, for example, there is Wolfsheim and Owl eyes that are barely talked about in this book. Using the eyes on the sign of Doctor T.J. Eckleberg Fitzgerald again tells us that the American dream is

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The American Dream in The Great Gatsby “But the country's disintegrating. What's happened to America? What's happened to the American dream?”-Alan Moore. This quote relates to the downfall of the American Dream in the novel, The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby, written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, takes place in 1920s America. In the story, a man named Jay Gatsby finds out that the woman he loves, Daisy, had married another man, Tom Buchanan. He then decides to dedicate his life to become wealthy and get her back. Gatsby sees getting Daisy back as part of getting his American Dream and spends his entire life in his pursuit of happiness. He eventually becomes corrupt in his ways to achieve what he sees as the American Dream. This also ties into…

    • 1437 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author uses symbols to bring out a variety of aspects touching on the American dream. According to the Author, the dream of Americans is dead .It is through his narration that the audience comes to terms with how modern values have…

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mackenzie Boughen Mrs. Vrankic ENG 4U1 Monday, October-27-14 The Destructive American Dream in The Great Gatsby…

    • 1062 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The American Dream is an endless onion. One will find endless layers of the American dream onion to peel back in order to grasp for an unattainable center. Only tears will be achieved from this endless peeling of the onion 's layers. F. Scott Fitzgerald believed this metaphor to be true and that is evident in his Novel The Great Gatsby and his short story "Winter Dreams." The illusion and the empty promises of the American dream is exploited by Fitzgerald in his Novel and short story by his exemplary use of symbols, his ability to depict greed and corruption within his characters, and his depiction of the balance of hope.…

    • 2153 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Since the beginning of the world, man has been captivated and consumed with one thing: money. And it is not money only, it is the accumulation of money, and acquiring wealth. This journey brings more than wealth, it brings people, happiness, and freedom. This journey is known today as the American Dream, and there is no bigger factor than that of wealth. (Insert thesis statement here)…

    • 1480 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    One can not depend completely on another person to complete the American dream, even if that person happens to be a part of their goal. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby believes that in order to complete his goal of achieving the American Dream, he needs Daisy’s love, making him completely dependent on her. Gatsby's love for Daisy began at a young age. As Jordan recalls from a memory, “The officer looked at Daisy while she was speaking, in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at sometime, and because it seemed romantic to me I have remembered the incident ever since.” This quotation informs the reader of Daisy and Gatsby’s past relationship. The quote proves to the fact that Gatsby used to love Daisy and it illustrates that despite the fact that Gatsby has an image of an ideal man (having everything he wants), he lacks the one thing that he truly wants: Daisy’s love. His affection for her…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Gatsby A person that pursues the American Dream often has the goal of being the wealthiest and, the most popular person around. This picture is also painted in F. S. Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, with Jay Gatsby being the “rich and the famous”. Mr. Fitzgerald communicates through this novel his own version of the American Dream with the symbolism indicated in the story. This novel takes place in the 1920’s during the Jazz Age, where drinking and living on the “line” is seen as being successful and dominate over those who around you. In this novel symbolism is used throughout the story to give the reader ideas and hints of what the American Dream really was and still is. Gatsby is the complete idea of this illustration; he is the symbol of the American Dream, being the…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What is the American dream? Technically the American dream is the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. I agree 100% with this being the American dream, and although I would also agree that it has changed many times throughout history I would like to add on the pursuit of happiness to the end of that definition. The pursuit of happiness is the equal ability of every person to be happy in their own way. Without happiness people would achieve nothing and humans would’ve gone extinct many millions of years ago. It seems that in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald gatsby just wants too love Daisy and we know that he would give up…

    • 142 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When I think of the American Dream, I think of a diverse dream. The United States of America is diverse than ever before, in fact, it is a melting pot filled with unique American Dreams—including my American-Brazilian Dream. Francis Key Scott Fitzgerald and Arthur Asher Miller are known to be prominent writers of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Miller's Death of Salesman revolve around the hope of achieving the American Dream. Determination, as well as hard work, is key to achieving the American Dream. Tommy Hilfiger once said, "The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it's possible to achieve the American dream"—this is true. Achieving my American-Brazilian Dream…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Great Gatsby: Fitzgerald's Criticism of The American Dream The American Dream, as it arose in the Colonial period and developed in the…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The film starts in the winter of 1929, as Midwesterner Nick Carraway is admitted to a sanatorium for alcoholism. Carraway talks about the single most hopeful person he has met - Gatsby. Unable to articulate his memories, his doctor advises him to write them down. In a flashback to the spring of 1922, Carraway has just moved to New York in search of the American Dream. As he settles into a cottage neighboring millionaire Jay Gatsby’s mansion on Long Island, Carraway grows increasingly captivated by the extravagant parties held at Gatsby's estate and the lavish lifestyle of the rich. Across the bay from Gatsby, Carraway's cousin, Daisy is unhappily married to racist and womanizing aristocrat, Tom Buchanan. As the summer progresses, Gatsby gradually…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book “The Great Gatsby” was written in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story is recognized as one of the greatest representations of the Roaring Twenties in literary fiction despite its sales when first published. There are many reasons for why it is held at such a high standard. Reasons such as how the American Dream is represented in the story or the way each character develops throughout the story.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The American Dream is the idea that anyone who comes to America can achieve wealth through hard work. In the Epic of America, Adams stated that the American Dream is a social order where every man and woman would be able to progress without the chains of their past interfering. The Great Gatsby is a negative review of the American Dream. It shows that anyone can make money, but not everyone will find happiness through wealth.…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    i.e. their „green light‟. The „dream‟ i.e. the American Dream is a reoccurring theme in the novel. Each character…

    • 1606 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Great Gatsby Disillusionment with the American Dream The American Dream was an important theme in the book, The Great Gatsby. Every single character was somewhat involved or motivated by the American Dream vision. In the Great Gatsby, American Dream symbolized the “freedom and opportunity to better yourself and your situation. Characters had different ideas of going through the American Dream.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays