Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: A Critique of the Great American Dream
Since its publication in 1925, F. S. Fitzgerald ‘ s novel The Great Gatsby has becomeone of the most cited, criticized and analyzed pieces of fiction in the history of Americanliterature. It has often been depicted as “ perhaps the most striking fictional analysis of the ageof the gang barons and the social conditions that produced them “( Sculley, 1965:1088).Without a doubt, it is a fantastic representation of an age in American history wheneverything was possible, or at least people thought it was. In his novel, Fitzgerald doesn ‘ tsimply describe the social, historical and economic conditions which drive his characters, buthe also provides us with an insight into the souls of his characters and the interior motiveswhich they use to justify their behavior and actions.
The underlying cause for everything thathappens in the novel is an idea, an idea towards which everyone strives and dreams of. Thisidea is none other than the omnipresent notion of the American Dream. In The Great Gatsby this dream has suffered a decline through the immoral actions of Fitzgerald ‘ s characters, but its foundation is the same as it was when the first settlers explored the new promised land .After reading Fitzgerald ‘s novel, we cannot help ourselves wondering how much of thisdream is reality, and how much of it is an illusion.The actual natureof this dream and the manner in which people try to achieve it, as well as the moralimplications their actions bring, are some of the main themes explored in The Great Gatsby .
This materialistic aspect of the American dream is the one presented in The Great Gatsby . “Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. Thereckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music — epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night — resulted ultimately inthe corruption of the American
The underlying cause for everything thathappens in the novel is an idea, an idea towards which everyone strives and dreams of. Thisidea is none other than the omnipresent notion of the American Dream. In The Great Gatsby this dream has suffered a decline through the immoral actions of Fitzgerald ‘ s characters, but its foundation is the same as it was when the first settlers explored the new promised land .After reading Fitzgerald ‘s novel, we cannot help ourselves wondering how much of thisdream is reality, and how much of it is an illusion.The actual natureof this dream and the manner in which people try to achieve it, as well as the moralimplications their actions bring, are some of the main themes explored in The Great Gatsby .
This materialistic aspect of the American dream is the one presented in The Great Gatsby . “Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. Thereckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music — epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night — resulted ultimately inthe corruption of the American