"Jay Gatsby" The American Dream and the Agrarian myth
David Trask once said, commenting on F. Scott Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby that "The Great Gatsby is about many things, but it is inescapably a general critique of the 'American Dream' and also of the 'agrarian myth' - a powerful demonstration of their invalidity for Americans of Fitzgerald's generation and after." Fitzgerald defiantly breaks down the societal boundaries of the 1920's and creates a new societal example.
Although the country was rooted in the American Dream, or what they thought was the American Dream, Fitzgerald rubs the gilding off of the sides. At a first look into the book it seems as if Fitzgerald appreciates the American dream. He shows a man, James Gatz, who had a dream and followed it to its end. He considers Gatsby's dream so noble that he compares his path with that of Benjamin Franklin's when he shows Gatsby's schedule for greatness, just as Benjamin Franklin had prescribed many years before. But Jay's American Dream was truly not one of a happy ending. This dream, in terms of Gatsby was a corrupted one. He hadn't become the self made man obtaining his money through capitalistic means, he merely was a bootlegger. He came up with a get rich easy scheme without putting in the hard work. Fitzgerald clearly agreed that part of the "American Dream" is the chase to obtain that dream. Even the so-called benefits of the dream; money, power, and happiness, have been corrupted by Jay's get rich quick scheme. The promise of friends in the American Dream is broken down when as soon as Gatsby is dead, the lights fade, and his so-called friends seemingly dissipate. The happiness Gatsby thinks he has through obtaining the American dream is merely a façade that fades away as we see Gatsby's true character. Clearly, F. Scott Fitzgerald understood that the American Dream, when corrupted, is no longer a dream but rather a facade.
Fitzgerald also shows that the "Agrarian myth" is neither a great option either. He confronts the American Dream with the
Although the country was rooted in the American Dream, or what they thought was the American Dream, Fitzgerald rubs the gilding off of the sides. At a first look into the book it seems as if Fitzgerald appreciates the American dream. He shows a man, James Gatz, who had a dream and followed it to its end. He considers Gatsby's dream so noble that he compares his path with that of Benjamin Franklin's when he shows Gatsby's schedule for greatness, just as Benjamin Franklin had prescribed many years before. But Jay's American Dream was truly not one of a happy ending. This dream, in terms of Gatsby was a corrupted one. He hadn't become the self made man obtaining his money through capitalistic means, he merely was a bootlegger. He came up with a get rich easy scheme without putting in the hard work. Fitzgerald clearly agreed that part of the "American Dream" is the chase to obtain that dream. Even the so-called benefits of the dream; money, power, and happiness, have been corrupted by Jay's get rich quick scheme. The promise of friends in the American Dream is broken down when as soon as Gatsby is dead, the lights fade, and his so-called friends seemingly dissipate. The happiness Gatsby thinks he has through obtaining the American dream is merely a façade that fades away as we see Gatsby's true character. Clearly, F. Scott Fitzgerald understood that the American Dream, when corrupted, is no longer a dream but rather a facade.
Fitzgerald also shows that the "Agrarian myth" is neither a great option either. He confronts the American Dream with the