Gatsby 4 Essay, Research Paper
The Great Gatsby – The American Dream The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott
Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream, and the downfall of those who attempt to
capture its illusionary goals. This dream has varying significances for different people but
in The Great Gatsby, for Jay, the dream is that through wealth and power, one can acquire
happiness. To get this happiness Jay must reach into the past and relive an old dream and
in order to do this he must have wealth and power. Jay Gatsby, the central figure of the
story, is a character that longs for the past. Surprisingly he devotes most of his adult life
trying to recapture it and, finally, dies in its pursuit. In the past, Jay had a love affair with
the beautiful and seemingly innocent Daisy. Knowing he could not marry her because of
the difference in their social status, he leaves her to accumulate his wealth to reach her
economic and social standards. Once he acquires this wealth, he moves near to Daisy,
“Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay,” and throws
extravagant parties, hoping by chance she might show up at one of them. He, himself,
does not attend his parties but watches them from a distance. When his hopes donVt show
true he asks around casually if anyone knows her. Soon he meets Nick Caraway, a cousin
of Daisy, who agrees to set up a meeting, “He wants to know…if you’ll invite Daisy to
your house some afternoon and then let him come over.” Gatsby’s personal dream
symbolizes the larger American Dream where all have the opportunity to get what they
want. Later, as we see in the Plaza Hotel, Jay still believes that Daisy loves him. He is
convinced of this as is shown when he takes the blame for Myrtle’s death. “Was Daisy
driving?” “Yes…but of course I’ll say I was.” He also watches and protects Daisy as she
returns home. “How long are you going to wait?” “All night if necessary.” Jay cannot
accept that the past is gone and done with. Jay is sure that he can capture his dream with
wealth and influence. He believes that he acted for a good beyond his personal interest and
that should guarantee success. Nick attempts to show Jay the flaw of his dream, but Jay
innocently replies to NickVs statement that the past cannot be relived by saying, “CanVt
repeat the past? Why of course you can! . This shows the confidence that Jay has in
reviving his relationship with Daisy. For Jay, his American Dream is not material
possessions, although it may seem that way. He only comes into riches so that he can
fulfill his true dream, Daisy. Gatsby doesn’t rest until his dream is finally lived. However, it
never comes about and he ends up paying the ultimate price for it. The idea of the
American Dream still holds true in today’s time, be it wealth, love, or fame. But one thing
never changes about the American Dream; everyone desires something in life, and
everyone, somehow, strives to get it. A big house, nice cars, 2.5 kids, a dog, a beautiful
devoted spouse, power and a ridiculous amount of money. That is the classical American
Dream, at least for some. One could say, an outsider perhaps, that Americans strive for
the insurmountable goal of perfection, live, die and do unimaginable things for it, then call
the product their own personal American Dream. Is having the American Dream possible?
What is the American Dream? There is one answer for these two questions: The American
Dream is tangible perfection. In reality, even in nature, perfection does not exist. Life is a
series of imperfections that can make living really great or very unpleasant. Living the
American Dream is living in perfection, and that by definition is not possible, thus deflating
our precious American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald proves this fact in The Great Gatsby,
through his scintillating characters and unique style. Characters in books often mirror the
authorVs feelings towards the world around them. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald
suggested the moral decline of the period in American history through the interpersonal
relationships among his characters. The situations in the lives of the characters show the
worthlessness of materialism, the futile quest of Myrtle and Gatsby, and how America s
moral values had diminished- through the actions of Daisy, Tom, Jordan, and GatsbyVs
party guests. Despite his newly acquired fortune, Gatsby still cannot afford his one true
wish; therefore he cannot buy everything that is important to Daisy. “.Their love is
founded upon feelings from the past; these give it, notwithstanding GatsbyVs insistence on
being able to repeat the past, inviolability. It exists in the world of money and corruption
but is not of it.” (Lewis 48) In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the uses of
literary technique of symbolism to reflect what life in the 1920s was like, through
FitzgeraldVs eyes. The image of Doctor T.J. MecklenburgVs eyes is used to signify an
ever-watchful godlike figure. “Just as Wilson comes half consciously to identify the eyes
of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg with God, so the reader gradually becomes aware of them as
representing some kind of detached intellect, brooding gloomily over life in the bleak
waste land surrounding it, and presiding fatalistically over the little tragedy enacted as if in
sacrifice before it.” (Miller 36) The eyes not only symbolize a godlike being but also
Fitzgerald himself and his negative views of 1920s society. FitzgeraldVs negative views of
society are also portrayed through his depiction of certain guests at GatsbyVs parties. The
symbol of the two women dressed identically in yellow at GatsbyVs party represent the
values of the people of the 20s. The two women meet Jordan and Nick at GatsbyVs party
and are completely self-involved. These women are only concerned with what happens to
them and the fun that they have at the parties and donVt even inquire the names of Jordan
and Nick who they are so openly speaking with. “Do you come to these parties often?
inquired Jordan of the girl beside her. The last one was the one I met you at, answered the
girl in an alert, confident voice. She turned to her companion: WasnVt it for you Lucille?
It was for Lucille too. I like to come, Lucille said I never care what I do, so I always have
a good time.” (Fitzgerald 47) Lucille admits that her general attitude toward life is that she
does not care what she does as long as she has a good time. Her entire motivation in her
life is to enjoy herself. When all she was asked was if she came to the parties often she also
felt the need to inform the rest of the guests of her trivial anecdote. The reason that these
women are indicative of the generation is because of their self-absorbed characters and
egotistical nature. Also, the food served at GatsbyVs parties symbolizes the attitudes of
most people living in the 1920Vs. At GatsbyVs parties, most of the food was just show
and no one really ate it. People display Large amounts of expensive food at parties to
subtly remind the guests how much money they have, which is exactly what Gatsby did
and the food was wasted. This incredible wastefulness is representative of people who
lived in the 20Vs. They were so extremely wasteful because they assumed with all they
had gone through, they deserved to be. After so many years of being unhappy and
repressed from, among other things World War I, they thought it was okay to become
carefree when indeed it was not. Through FitzgeraldVs use of symbolism to describe the
costumed characters of the 20Vs the reader can learn to constantly and conscientiously
examine the people that they surround themselves with. The novel also teaches the lesson
of being true to oneVs self and following oneVs own personal dream, not the one
Americans are programmed to have.