What Does The American Dream Represent In The Great Gatsby

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Jacob Green Mrs. Blomme 14 December 2014 Honors I The Great Gatsby American Dream Essay In The Great Gatsby the American Dream is represented not as it originally was meant to be. During the 1920’s the American Dream meant getting rich, and getting a lot of stuff, but before the 1920’s the American Dream was about expanding, finding new ideas and discovering new things. Between all of the characters in the book, I would say nobody follows the original American Dream, except for Nick, who accomplishes something in his life he is proud of. The American Dream is used indirectly in The Great Gatsby. They never directly talk about it, but it is seen by way of symbols during that time period. Wealth, social class, and pursuit of pleasure is what…show more content…
In The Great Gatsby, everyone is just trying to get rich, and they do very easily. They are also mostly unhappy because of how easy money was to come by, so it wasn’t like they were special or anything because they were rich because everyone else was rich too, making the money worthless and leaving them wanting more. For example Gatsby makes his money bootlegging alcohol but wants happiness and tried to win Daisy. Jordan becomes a pro golfer by cheating, and too wants to be happy, and Tom cheats on his wife to try to make himself…show more content…
They failed because they didn’t know what they really wanted, all they knew was they wanted money and would do what it took to get money. Gatsby tried to win the love of Daisy by becoming rich, but becoming rich didn’t make him royalty, he was still a commoner who had a fortune. Daisy on the other hand was a very needy person of materialistic things. Gatsby did not have what Daisy wanted, and that was unlimited money, and a seat of power. Jordan wanted to become a professional golfer, but had to lie and cheat to win her first tournament, and continually bends the truth to everyone around her in her favor. Nick was different though. Nick went off to make his money as a stockbroker and eventually moved back to Minnesota. He is the only person in the book to achieve real happiness, and wealth. The American Dream is represented in the novel mainly through symbols. The Green light at the end of the Buchanon’s dock is a symbol for Gatsby and how he wants Daisy. He wants to be with Daisy, but he can not keep her away from Tom, and is eventually killed because of it. The light is also symbolized as the way “America, rising out of the ocean, must have looked to early settlers of the new nation” meaning the small light that was far away was worked towards until the American settlers had something they could be proud
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