Unfulfilled Dreams in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott...

Unfulfilled Dreams in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Everyone has dreams of being successful in life. When the word American comes to mind one often thinks of the land of opportunity. This dream was apparent with the first settlers, and it is apparent in today’s society. In F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925), he illustrates the challenges and tragedies associated with the American dream. By examining Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson through the narrator Nick Carraway, I understand the complex nature of the American dream. Jay Gatsby represents the cost complex of them all. Gatsby overcame many obstacles in order to accomplish is dream. Born to shiftless and unsuccessful farmers (104), determined†¦show more content†¦Nicks first sees Gatsby reaching towards the mysterious green light, which he later realizes is the light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He calls himself an Oxford man, and speaks with a visible fake English accent. Gatsby befriends his neighbor Nick with the sole purpose of using him in order to get closer to daisy. With Nick and Jordan’s help, the two are reunited on a rainy afternoon in Nick’s house. Blindly in love, Gatsby acts like a foolish little boy, knocking down Nick’s clock. The long awaited reunion is later moved to Gatsby’s mansion. There he displays his wealth to Daisy. When he exhibits his imported shirts â€Å"suddenly with a strained sound Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily† (98). Daisy’s tears are not because the shirts were beautiful; her tears signify her obsession for wealth and money, which is all she cares about. In understanding the complex nature of the American Dream, Tom is the most egotistical of them all. His family has enormous wealth. Tom represents â€Å"old money† and the intergeneration transfer of wealth; which he offensively exploits. He lives in East Egg where the old aristocrats live. Tom is also a hypocrite, and his constant use of racist comments towards other ethnic groups and those less fortunate than himself indicate to me the reader that he feels he is superior. His wife Daisy describes him as â€Å"a brute of a man, aShow MoreRelatedDestruction of Dreams, Failure of Dreamers in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby1489 Words   |  6 Pages Jay Gatsby, the protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is used to contrast a real American dreamer against what had become of American society during the 1920s.   By magnifying the tragic fate of dreamers, conveying that twenties America lacked the substance to fulfill dreams and exposing the shallowness of Jazz-Age Americans, Fitzgerald foreshadows the destruction of his own generation. The beauty and splendor of Gatsbys parties masked the innate corruption within theRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay983 Words   |  4 Pagesdisgraces committed in the process of becoming rich. F. 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