The American Dream all the characters are chasing is ruined by reality of life. Gatsby dream involves him falling in love with Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby feared that Daisy did not wait for him because he was not rich. That’s why Gatsby did crime to get rich. Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan.
He cheats on her, and when she finds out, it seems he could not care less. But Daisy cannot even leave him because she is too scared, and has no one to run to. Through Daisy’s situation, Fitzgerald is expressing that even when people are treated horribly, they still rely on wealth and high status. Even in society today, we see people deteriorating because of their goals to meet society’s standards. The neglect from her husband causes Daisy to wilt, much like the flower if it were treated harshly.
Priestley exposed Birling as being a self interested capitalist whose lack of social conscience prevents him from learning the important lesson of social responsibility which constitutes the main message of the play. Birling is presented at the start of the play as being a social climber, a criticism of society's obsession of class and social hierarchy by priestly. He frequently name drops and refers to the Croft's wealth and success, and his own. At the celebration of his daughter Sheila's engagement party to Gerald Croft, he appears to care more of The Croft's aristocracy than his own daughters happiness which presents him as being a selfish man. Birling is also presented as being extremely opinionated.
However the pursuit of the American dream touched some individuals to the extreme, causing them to become hell-bent on achieving their goals no matter what. The industrial boom also instilled jingoistic perception of identity into the hearts of Americans, causing them to view themselves as superior to others. With an incredible ambition along with the perception of superiority, corrupt politics and business were somehow justified all for the sake of succeeding, and thus the American Gangster was born. Not just the literal gangsters such as Al Capone, but anyone who involved themselves with illegal activity in order to profit, such as political machine William “Boss” Tweed. Tweed took advantage of immigrant’s vulnerable survival in the new world by helping them with basic necessities in exchange for harassed political or financial support (The American Pageant).
The most prominent aspect of realism in the novel is Gatsby realizing he will never be with Daisy. The realism aspect of Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship is focused on the reasons why they can’t be with each other, mainly due to the fact that there is a feud between Tom and Gatsby. Also, the morose details of what Gatsby did to achieve his American Dream contribute to realism of this story. Gatsby’s American Dream involves him self-improving in order to become rich and successful, also slightly notorious, just so he can get noticed by the love of his life. Gatsby thinks by accomplishing his American Dream, he can marry the girl of his dreams.
The Great Gatsby Essay Jay Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a novel written by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. In the beginning of the novel, Gatsby comes to New York to win over Daisy. However by the end of the novel, Gatsby is not able to win over Daisy and dies for her sake. Gatsby uses his wealth to lure Daisy over, Daisy wasn’t able to marry Gatsby in the past because of his economic status; now that Gatsby is wealthy, it has become easier for Daisy to think of excuses to leave Tom. He tries to win over Daisy’s heart by repeating what they did in the past because he thought that’s when everything was perfect.
The use of illegal activities to gain Gatsby's wealth is pointed out in the novel; this shows the extent of how the American dream dodges the moral dissatisfaction, and pushes the people who are in poverty into crime. This will drive the moral wealthier citizens into the ground. To Gatsby, his dream was symbolized by Daisy. Gatsby even says that her voice sounds like money, a direct connection between Daisy. This is wealth and the happiness that Gatsby would apparently
The green light at the end of Daisy's dock represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future. Daisy and Tom’s marriage is proof of the fall of the American dream. Even though they belong to the West Egg social group and have a lot of wealth, they are unhappy. Tom and Daisy are both unsatisfied with life and are searching for something better. For example, Tom cheats on Daisy with Myrtle.
It is ironic because Gatsby’s dream-like life is not as perfect as it sounds. Gatsby earns his fortunes through illegal activities and is very dishonest to the society around him. The "old money" folks see right through his appearance and thought of him as remise. And when he starts to crumble, all of his friends turn out to simply be people who take advantage of his generosity and riches. Then there is third way of looking at this adjective, “great”.
They both started from the bottom and dreaming of being wealthy. Gatsby and Myrtle were both unsatisfied of their poorness and statuses in society. Their dreams grew stronger as Tom comes into their lives which make them more determined on achieving it. Myrtle tried to achieve her American Dream by having an affair with Tom and Gatsby tried to achieve it by illegal bootlegging business. These were shortcuts they took to reach their goals of being wealthy.