How Does Carraway Present The American Dream In The Great Gatsby
In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the post-war American society is depicted through the protagonist Nick Carraway’s eyes. The book was published in 1925 and is set in 1922. One of its major themes is the American Dream which is shown throughout the story. In 1922, the post-war society is focused on having fun hence the “Roaring twenties” and thee “Age of Wonderful Nonsense”. Nick Carraway does not belong to any group or stereotype and is exposed to different surroundings and different characters with their own manners and ways of living. The author uses different settings such as, West Egg, New York, the Valley of Ashes and East Egg to represent the decay of the American society in the 1920’s as well as the superficiality
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The people frequenting West Egg are “all connected with the movies in one way or another” (p61). Through the protagonist’s eyes, the reader sees the extravagant aspect. Gatsby’s “Rolls-Royce became an omnibus” (p61). Although the author talks mainly about the affluent part of the society, Gatsby’s parties are amongst the wildest with a car some would dream of having as a bus. “Omnibus” suggests the Rolls-Royce is not special but rather part of the everyday life. It therefore represents the glamorous society that is undoubtedly linked with the development of the new rich. The description of Gatsby’s party in Chapter 3 shows the “hilarity” (p48) of the new rich. The emergence of this group is in direct correlation with the already established old rich whom do not need to prove themselves as the new rich do. The latter feel the need to show off their wealth in order to fit in within the society with the old rich. Since the new rich are not as respected compared to the old rich, they feel obliged to prove themselves in order to show everyone they achieved the American Dream. The more they flaunt their assets, just like Gatsby does with his parties, the more Fitzgerald shows successfully the superficiality present in West
The people frequenting West Egg are “all connected with the movies in one way or another” (p61). Through the protagonist’s eyes, the reader sees the extravagant aspect. Gatsby’s “Rolls-Royce became an omnibus” (p61). Although the author talks mainly about the affluent part of the society, Gatsby’s parties are amongst the wildest with a car some would dream of having as a bus. “Omnibus” suggests the Rolls-Royce is not special but rather part of the everyday life. It therefore represents the glamorous society that is undoubtedly linked with the development of the new rich. The description of Gatsby’s party in Chapter 3 shows the “hilarity” (p48) of the new rich. The emergence of this group is in direct correlation with the already established old rich whom do not need to prove themselves as the new rich do. The latter feel the need to show off their wealth in order to fit in within the society with the old rich. Since the new rich are not as respected compared to the old rich, they feel obliged to prove themselves in order to show everyone they achieved the American Dream. The more they flaunt their assets, just like Gatsby does with his parties, the more Fitzgerald shows successfully the superficiality present in West