Hollow Dreams After World War I, financial and social opportunities were substantial for anyone willing to work hard. This lead to people pursuing dreams of wealth, which they thought would lead to pleasure. Illegal activities such as “bootlegging” were very common, as well as gambling, like when the 1919 World Series was fixed. Little did they know, these dreams wouldn’t lead them to happiness. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, he uses characterization to suggest that chasing hollow dreams leads only to misery.
A dream residing in a triad of deceit. Corruption, pursuit of wealth and lost hope is all that is promised by the elusive American dream writes Tahnea Blackman The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a post WWI novel. Set in the wild time of the roaring 20’s, where the prohibition of alcohol created opportunities for anybody with the right ambition to get rich. The protagonist, Jay Gatsby, became endlessly wealthy due to the prohibition, but not necessarily for selfish reasons. Love, though it is a noble cause, can blind people.
Tom has the rich family history and hasn’t come into wealth recently, but was born into it. He was a natural. Tom is Gatsby’s hated rival, but is also a garentee for daisy’s prestige. To become wealthy as tom is and take daisy for himself becomes Gatsby’s consuming
However in Gatsby’s adult reality he becomes a criminal to make his fortune, in hopes to win Daisy's affection. Gatsby did complete the American dream, however he accomplished the one of the 1920s.He took advantage of the fact that in that time period the American economy was booming and it was easy to become rich. This choice was not honorable and leads to him solely interacting with criminal, making his life even less meaningful. Gatsby threw many parties to maybe have daisy stop by one of the once and although they may have been amazing parties where people used to go “by hundreds” (Fitzgerald, pg.175) it only resulted in him making unmeaningful friendships which are exposed when no one shows up to his funeral, expect for nick, owl eyes and Mr.gatz. Nick says “asked him to wait for half an hour, but it wasn’t any use.
The roaring twenties was the beginning to a decade of a whole new caliber. The dawn of the American Dream; the idea of a wealthy, comfortable, luxurious lifestyle. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby” best shows how people strive for the American Dream and the means by which they attain it. Both Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby are able to live a luxurious lifestyle. However Tom is able to enjoy spending money left and right knowing the he acquired it through inheritance while Jay struggles to acquire his wealth by any means possible.
Jay Gatsby, the main character in the novel, symbolized the American dream of the ‘20’s. Jay Gatsby was raised by a lower class family in North Dakota, similar to Fitzgerald himself. Gatsby later moved to New York to become a bootlegger, selling alcohol illegally during the time of prohibition. This brought Jay a great deal of success and he became a self-made millionaire, eventually growing to be the wealthiest man on West Egg. Charles Baker said “Gatsby is our model for success because he appeals to our remarkable ability to adjust our personal code of ethics in order to get what we think we somehow deserve” (47).
After the First World War or “the war to end all wars”, the whole world thrived with prosperity. New inventions and industries that were damaged by the war kicked off and then came the “roaring 20’s”. The 20’s brought great riches and prosperity to many. Some people developed a fortune and new life for themself. However contrary to they’re lavish lifestyle these people who acquired new wealth were seen as unworthy to the wealthy community in America (the “old rich”) and were shunned by the click of wealthy Americans who were born into they’re materialistic lifestyle.
He originally came from North Dakota, where he lacked money, connections, and most importantly, education. When Gatsby moves to New York, he “reinvents” himself according to what he thinks will win the love of his life, Daisy, back. Although Gatsby is able to gain the wealth in which the society demands, he still has innocence about him. To Gatsby, the money and social status is just a façade. Gatsby ‘s entire fortune, and his entire life, are created around his hopes in gaining back Daisy’s love.
He goes by the name of Gatsby in the novel, he changes his name to suit his new lifestyle because he didn’t want to be reminded of his past. He did such a good job of forgetting his own name why couldn’t he let go of his love for Daisy Buchanan as well. Gatsby is a man that you would describe as perfection. He is filled with all the money you could ask for, well known to the public although no one knows him personally, and has that charm that brightens up the room. He throws the biggest parties, which he does not attend, and builds the biggest mansion he could
Of course at first we can think that this text will be about love and passion with happy end, without any interesting facts, but in reality it isn’t so. The theme of this story is an eternal opposition between money and love. The round characters of this story are Old Anthony and his son Richard, the static characters are Aunt Ellen, Miss Lantry and Kelly. The main idea of this story is wealth (money – old Athony) and love (young Richard). As we know everything in our life depends on freak of chance, but old Anthony thinks that money can decide all problems of his life.