The Great Gatsby: A Social Commentary On The American Dream

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Social Commentary on the American Dream
The American Dream is the ideal that “every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative” (Dictionary.com). The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is not just a story about the rich and privileged. It comments on the social divides between the old and new rich while speaking about a disillusioned America. Fitzgerald’s characters radiate a shallow, untrustworthy, and deceitful quality that complements the once-innocent narrator, Nick Carraway. Being the only character to change by being immersed in their lifestyle, Nick provides an insight into the lives of the indulgent and phony rich
He becomes a trusted friend of Gatsby - a man who desperately attempts to relive the past in order to relive his life with Daisy. He exudes the epitome of a man chasing the American Dream. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald provides a social commentary that speaks against the glories of the American Dream using the interactions of the characters to show that it brings about class divisions, misery, and unfulfillment of the individual instead of true love
Jay Gatsby desperately tries to win back Daisy from Tom by putting on displays of his grandeur. Gatsby, being a two-sided character, has a stunning commitment to his dream, but like the other characters, is just as shallow and plastic. Although Gatsby is passionate about his dream, he is still “a boor, a roughneck, a fraud, a criminal. His taste is vulgar, his behavior ostentatious, his love adolescent, his business dealings ruthless and dishonest. He is