What Made Gatsby Great: Illusions of the American Dream

Chasing Shadows: Gatsby’s Pursuit of the Elusive American Dream

The Great Gatsby was a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. This story describes life on Long Islanders in the summer of 1922. The novel is strictly geared towards Jay Gatsby, a wealthy young man with a passion for a woman named Daisy. Throughout the story, he hosts multiple parties in his west egg home in hopes of drawing the attention of the love of his life Daisy. The Great Gatsby appears to signify the ‘American Dream’ with the disappointment of the fall of those endeavoring to accomplish their objectives.

Endeavors to catch the American dream have been utilized in numerous well-known books. For Great Gatsby, dreams are through riches and power, and everybody can get joy. So as to accomplish this joy, Jay needs to enter the past and seek after old dreams.

The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of race, class, gender, or nationality, can be successful in America if they just work hard enough. Looking back on the era of the 1920s, America was a country full of ambition, sorrow, and disappointment. The novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ reflects the past decade, which represents Jay’s passion for his ‘American Dream’ and various aspects of his dream.

Visions and Voyages: Gatsby’s Glimpses into the Lure and Landscape of the American Dream

“But I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone–he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward–and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 24). In our first look at Jay Gatsby, we see him pointing towards something far off in the distance, something in sight, however, on the other side of the water. This popular symbol of the green light is frequently comprehended as a big part of The Great Gatsby’s interpretation of The American Dream –the likelihood that people are persistently coming towards a choice that is more prominent than themselves that is essentially far off.

“Over the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world. A dead man passed us in a hearse heaped with blooms, followed by two carriages with drawn blinds and by more cheerful carriages for friends. The friends looked out at us with the tragic eyes and short upper lips of south-eastern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gatsby’s splendid car was included in their somber holiday. As we crossed Blackwell’s Island, a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish Negroes, two bucks, and a girl. I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haughty rivalry” (Fitzgerald 74). At the beginning of the novel, we get this, for the most part, hopeful picture of the American Dream – we see individuals of various races and nationalities dashing towards New York City, a city of incredible probability. This has all the great components of the American Dream – financial plausibility, racial and religious assorted variety, and a lighthearted demeanor. As of now, it feels like ‘anything can happen,’ even a happy ending.

Why is Gatsby Great? The Tragic Intersection of Love, Ambition, and the Elusive American Dream

“His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy’s white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch, she blossomed for him like a flower, and the incarnation was complete” (Fitzgerald 119). At this time, you can see how repulsed Daisy is by the goal of Gatsby’s bigger dreams for a superior life (his American Dream). This sets the scene for the novel’s shocking resolution; since Daisy can’t hold up under the heaviness of the dream, Gatsby ventures onto her. Rather, she remains with Tom Buchanan, notwithstanding her passion for Gatsby. In this manner, when Gatsby neglects to overcome Daisy, he likewise neglects to accomplish his adaptation of the American Dream. This is the reason such a significant number of individuals read the novel as a dismal or cynical interpretation of the American Dream instead of a hopeful one.

Gatsby is clearly the best possibility for exemplifying the American Dream – he originates from humble roots (he’s the child of poor ranchers from North Dakota) and ascends to be famously well off, just for everything to disappear from him at last. In any case, unquestionably consider the way that in the traditional American Dream, individuals accomplish their objectives through fair diligent work, yet in Gatsby’s situation, he very rapidly secures a lot of cash through wrongdoings. Gatsby attempts the diligent work approach during his time of administration to Dan Cody. However, that doesn’t work out since Cody’s ex winds up with the whole legacy. So, all things considered, he switches to wrongdoings, and at exactly that point, he figures out how to accomplish his ideal riches. So while Gatsby’s story curve looks like a customary rags-to-riches story, the way that he picked up his cash unrighteously changes the possibility that he is an ideal symbol for the American Dream. Moreover, his prosperity clearly doesn’t last – regardless, he pines for Daisy and loses everything in his endeavor to recover her. At the end of the day, Gatsby’s tremendous dreams are all unstably married to Daisy.

References:

1. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. (1925). The Great Gatsby.

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