Great Gatsby Literary Essay
ELA5-05
February 9th, 2014
The Great Gatsby Literary Essay The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a perfect example of the ever decaying American Dream. The novel depicts how rich, or upper-class, people use materialism, money and social status to get ahead in life. The original American Dream is nothing compared to what's depicted in the book. The use of lies and cheating is also very present in this story, it's practically everywhere. Lastly, materialism and money go hand in hand all throughout this book, it's interesting how people use anything and everything that they have to try and get some social status out of it. The American Dream is achieving success against the odds, rising above what we should be and instead focusing on what we could be. Jay Gatsby does not do that. Though he does dream of becoming something more, the American Dream is about success though hard work and virtue. Gatsby achieves his wealth by lying, stealing and breaking the law. Any virtue he might have had is lost by the time he becomes wealthy. What he did is completely against the American Dream. He also doesn't achieve success as himself. Gatsby is a complete lie, and how can a lie be a success story? He denies his roots, those he'd known before and everything about himself. "The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. What's worse than Gatz believing that he's someone else is that he buys into the lie, eventually coming to believe that he's always been Gatsby in reality. This is also against the American Dream, which would have people rising above their past in order to become something better. How can he have risen above a past he chooses to ignore? This defines denial over triumph. Gatsby never really achieves the American Dream, not even through his social status. The idea behind the American Dream is that we become successful and are welcomed by society, but is Gatsby ever really
February 9th, 2014
The Great Gatsby Literary Essay The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a perfect example of the ever decaying American Dream. The novel depicts how rich, or upper-class, people use materialism, money and social status to get ahead in life. The original American Dream is nothing compared to what's depicted in the book. The use of lies and cheating is also very present in this story, it's practically everywhere. Lastly, materialism and money go hand in hand all throughout this book, it's interesting how people use anything and everything that they have to try and get some social status out of it. The American Dream is achieving success against the odds, rising above what we should be and instead focusing on what we could be. Jay Gatsby does not do that. Though he does dream of becoming something more, the American Dream is about success though hard work and virtue. Gatsby achieves his wealth by lying, stealing and breaking the law. Any virtue he might have had is lost by the time he becomes wealthy. What he did is completely against the American Dream. He also doesn't achieve success as himself. Gatsby is a complete lie, and how can a lie be a success story? He denies his roots, those he'd known before and everything about himself. "The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. What's worse than Gatz believing that he's someone else is that he buys into the lie, eventually coming to believe that he's always been Gatsby in reality. This is also against the American Dream, which would have people rising above their past in order to become something better. How can he have risen above a past he chooses to ignore? This defines denial over triumph. Gatsby never really achieves the American Dream, not even through his social status. The idea behind the American Dream is that we become successful and are welcomed by society, but is Gatsby ever really