Buying Happiness: the Great Gatsby and the American Dream
Buying Happiness
In his classic novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald describes the false glamour of the American Dream that most people fail to realize. Fitzgerald argues that the common, and false, perception of the American Dream is that wealth, happiness, and a trouble-free life go hand-in-hand. However, through diction and the constant images of dust and darkness causing juxtaposing tones, Fitzgerald suggests to his American readers that even if you are wealthy, your life will not necessarily be without complications. From the very beginning of the novel, Fitzgerald creates the illusion in Gatsby’s mind that wealth automatically generates happiness. When Fitzgerald envisions, “however glorious might be [Gatsby’s] future… he was at present a penniless young man without a past…” (149). Gatsby’s future may be fancy and “glorious,” but at the current point in the novel, Fitzgerald’s description of Gatsby as “penniless” implies that he is currently poor and depressed. The illusion that wealth brings happiness consumes him, causing Gatsby’s desire for wealth to overshadow all other aspects of his life, including his family. Later on in the novel, during the flashback to when Gatsby and Daisy first meet, Daisy’s house, “had always seemed to [Gatsby] more mysterious and gay than other houses, so his idea of the city itself… pervaded with a melancholy beauty” (152). Fitzgerald compares Gatsby’s desire for a warm home to the depressing view Gatsby has of himself and the city by juxtaposing the diction he uses regarding each emotion, whether it is Daisy’s carefree lifestyle or Gatsby’s dejection. The tycoon-to-be instantly admires Daisy’s carefree lifestyle that seems to come to existence because of her wealth. But once he becomes wealthy himself, he is not living the life full of prosperity that he desires. This shift from desiring wealth and bliss to being wealthy yet discontented suggests that Fitzgerald views the American Dream to seem shiny on the outside,
In his classic novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald describes the false glamour of the American Dream that most people fail to realize. Fitzgerald argues that the common, and false, perception of the American Dream is that wealth, happiness, and a trouble-free life go hand-in-hand. However, through diction and the constant images of dust and darkness causing juxtaposing tones, Fitzgerald suggests to his American readers that even if you are wealthy, your life will not necessarily be without complications. From the very beginning of the novel, Fitzgerald creates the illusion in Gatsby’s mind that wealth automatically generates happiness. When Fitzgerald envisions, “however glorious might be [Gatsby’s] future… he was at present a penniless young man without a past…” (149). Gatsby’s future may be fancy and “glorious,” but at the current point in the novel, Fitzgerald’s description of Gatsby as “penniless” implies that he is currently poor and depressed. The illusion that wealth brings happiness consumes him, causing Gatsby’s desire for wealth to overshadow all other aspects of his life, including his family. Later on in the novel, during the flashback to when Gatsby and Daisy first meet, Daisy’s house, “had always seemed to [Gatsby] more mysterious and gay than other houses, so his idea of the city itself… pervaded with a melancholy beauty” (152). Fitzgerald compares Gatsby’s desire for a warm home to the depressing view Gatsby has of himself and the city by juxtaposing the diction he uses regarding each emotion, whether it is Daisy’s carefree lifestyle or Gatsby’s dejection. The tycoon-to-be instantly admires Daisy’s carefree lifestyle that seems to come to existence because of her wealth. But once he becomes wealthy himself, he is not living the life full of prosperity that he desires. This shift from desiring wealth and bliss to being wealthy yet discontented suggests that Fitzgerald views the American Dream to seem shiny on the outside,