How Is The American Dream Portrayed In The Great Gatsby

The book “The Great Gatsby” was written in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story is recognized as one of the greatest representations of the Roaring Twenties in literary fiction despite its sales when first published. There are many reasons for why it is held at such a high standard. Reasons such as how the American Dream is represented in the story or the way each character develops throughout the story. The Roaring Twenties was an era full of money, crime, greed, ambition, rebellion, and excess. The story depicts this perfectly as each character holds some if not all of these qualities. As well as how the era is surrounded with wealthy people, big parties, drinking, music and dancing. Gatsby holds three of the characteristics such as money,
crime, and ambition. His money and thee crimes he commits are both physical elements given to Gatsby however, his ambitions to regain his lost love Daisy are emotional. The combination of these three elements creates a unique character who leaves readers with the desire to understand more of the mystery of who Gatsby really is. For Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story, his qualities are quite different. Nick has little money, he has committed no crime the reader knows of, does not show off any greed nor rebellion and excess. Instead we are left with a character with only ambition to create a life for himself at West Egg. A possible reason for why Nick shows little influence from the Roaring Twenties is to not take the attention from Gatsby as the protagonist. Next is Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby’s lost love and Wife of Tom Buchanan. Daisy has many of the characteristics of the Roaring Twenties including greed, crime, ambition, and excess. Her greed is evident in how she loves being wealthy and was one of the reasons she moved on from Gatsby and married Tom. The crime she commits is killing Tom’s lover Myrtle in a hit and run. Although Daisy is not a character who shows it much she does have ambitions in life outside of wealth. Her excess for materialistic desire is shown by how she reacts to the beautiful clothes in Gatsby’s house. The antagonist of the story is Tom Buchanan, a wealthy man and husband of Daisy. Is a character with characteristics such a money, greed, and excess. In the story, he is depicted as a character who must be above everybody. His characteristics mix together to make a perfect villain yet, he was never intended to be. In fact Tom’s characters reaction to Gatsby seem normal considering what Gatsby is trying to accomplish.