American Dream Great Gatsby Essay
The American Dream was the philosophy that brought people to America and to start a new life in a strange, foreign land. Due to this dream, it was believed that America was the land of opportunity, wealth, and prosperity. The dream consists of three components: all men are equal, man can trust and should help his fellow man, and the good, virtuous and hard working are rewarded. F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby is a condemnation of American Society and focuses on its downfall. This holds true for three of the main characters in the novel, Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, and Daisy Buchanan. To reach his ideal dream of spending his life with Daisy, Jay Gatsby attains his millions in a corrupt way which help him to replace emotions, and tries to cover it up with lies throughout the novel. In order to become rich, Gatsby engaged in illegal occupations such as bootlegging and being involved in the Mafia. "He and this Wolfsheim bought and sold grain alcohol over the counter." (Fitzgerald 134). This is the opposite idea of the American Dream, which states that only the good, virtuous and hard working are rewarded. Gatsby also lies his way through life to conceal his wrongdoing. Gatsby claims that he belo
For Daisy Buchanan, Nick's cousin, money takes priority over everything, even when battling for true love. Daisy constantly attempts to keep herself busy through social activities and interaction, which deal with money. "'What'll we do with ourselves this afternoon?'...'and the day after that, and the next thirty years?'" (Fitzgerald 118). Gatsby, himself, mentioned that, "'Her voice is full of money,'" (Fitzgerald 120). Daisy's relationship with Gatsby seems impossible to her because, "he was at present a penniless young man without a past...he had no comfortable family standing behind him." (Fitzgerald 149). Daisy's relationship was impracticable to Daisy due to Gatsby's low social standing. She only comes back to Gatsby after Gatsby attains his millions and is part of the high social class. Daisy's actions towards Gatsby show the downfall of the American Dream due to the fact that Daisy does not realize that all men are equal. Because of this, Daisy fails to live a life with a man that loves her deeply. Members of the upper class such as Tom Buchanan, sacrifice morals and righteousness in order to gain wealth. Tom Buchanan is a man from a wealthy family, yet to Nick; he seems to have lost virtue and kindness. "Now he was a stur
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Approximate Word count = 837
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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