Pursuit of Happiness." This sentiment can be considered the foundation of the American Dream‚ the dream that everyone has the ability to become what he or she desires to be. While many people work to attain their American dream‚ others believe that the dream is seemingly impossible to reach‚ like F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby examines the "Jazz-Age" generation’s search for the elusive American Dream of wealth and happiness and scrutinizes the consequences of that generation’s adherence
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Death of the American Dream in the Great Gatsby World War I brought out the deepest‚ darkest‚ most malignant tendencies of human nature. Young men died in the thousands on the battlefield‚ martyrs of a wanton cause. 1920’s American society mirrored the Great War’s atmosphere of excess. The newly wealthy class‚ in onslaught‚ threw lavish parties and indulged in sexual promiscuity as exorbitance became the new state religion. Traditional values‚ including that of the American Dream‚ seemed to crumble;
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The American Dream After World War I‚ America seemed to guarantee unlimited financial and social opportunities for anyone willing to work hard – the American Dream. For some‚ however‚ striving for and realizing that dream corrupted them‚ as they acquired wealth only to seek pleasure. Even though the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby appear to adore the freedom of the 1920s‚ their lives reveal the decline of happiness that results when wealth and pleasure swallow them. Specifically
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The Great Gatsby and the American Dream There is really no set definition of what the American Dream is‚ everyone has different views on what they see it as. The main idea of the American Dream is pretty much making it big and being successful in life‚ having everything you need‚ wealth‚ prosperity‚ love and happiness. Jay Gatsby portrays the American Dream in some senses but not to its full potential. Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby the American Dream isn’t shown in its positive light but
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a children’s party taken over by the elders‚” said F. Scott Fitzgerald‚ the author of The Great Gatsby. After the World War I‚ abnormal economical success dominated over Americans‚ and caused amorality over the society. At that time‚ people pursued cheap pleasure and full of entertainments: parties‚ extravagance‚ and dissipation. The Great Gatsby describes that the Jazz Age through the protagonist‚ Jay Gatsby‚ who was in the lower class‚ struggles with Tom Buchanan and with George Wilson to gain power
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In The Great Gatsby‚ F. Scott Fitzgerald presents all the characters and their individual American Dreams. The novel took place in the 1920s‚ post-World War I‚ where American pride‚ wealth‚ luxuries‚ and all other superficialities were glorified. During this time‚ the American people became ambitious‚ and economic success was made their main goal. The notion of “money can buy happiness” was prominent and people of all walks of life believed in it. While this may have seemed like a positive outlook
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A critic once wrote that “the theme of Gatsby is the withering of the American dream.” In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby Jay Gatsby’s death alludes to the death of the ultimate American dream‚ self-made success. Gatsby’s failure of realizing who Daisy‚ his love‚ really is and the disintegration of his dream of her can also be translated to Fitzgerald’s view of the American dream. In addition to Gatsby’s death and the American dream‚ the “valley of ashes” is another facet‚ through which Fitzgerald
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Robinson‚ “The American Dream‚ the idea of the happy ending‚ is an avoidance of responsibility and commitment” (http://www.brainyquote.com). What Robinson is saying is that a lot of people expect to achieve the American Dream‚ i.e. happiness‚ through the accumulation of external things‚ meanwhile avoiding the true origins of happiness‚ which are internal. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s‚ The Great Gatsby‚ Jay Gatsby’s character also faces this dilemma as he reaches for the American Dream‚ believing that his
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the American Dream. This dream‚ regardless of whether it truly exists or not‚ is a pursuit of all Americans‚ and is what brings people from all four corners of the Earth to the United States of America. Most would view the desire to succeed and fulfill the “American Dream” as a valuable and praise worthy endeavor. Fitzgerald however‚ through his novel The Great Gatsby‚ reveals to us that the pursuit for success and fame is not necessarily a positive thing. As evidenced by The Great Gatsby‚ the American
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The Great Gatsby and the ’American Dream’ In Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby the concept of the ’American Dream’ appears in two ways. On the one hand Fitzgerald’s view and imagination of the American Dream and on the other and‚ within the plot‚ Gatsby as the ’possible’ personified American Dream come true.<O:P</O:P Francis Scott Fitzgerald practically puts the notion of the American Dream on the same level as ’human dream’. But more remarkable is the fact that Fitzgerald’s concept
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