How does Fitzgerald portray the corruption of the American Dream in the ‘Great Gatsby?’ In Fitzgerald’s ‘Great Gatsby’ he has portrayed how the original American Dream created by the Dutch sailors clashes inevitably with the idea of materialism and greed to fuel the our desires in life, destroying our dreams along the process. The original American Dream is that if you work hard, you could succeed in life. However, our wants are the things that blind us to what is more important throughout our lives. The author has based his novels on parties; in every chapter, there is a party, using parties. Fitzgerald introduces many characters in the novel, and further shows their character to the reader.
Gene’s inability to trust is a representative of Gene and Finny’s failed relationship. Finny, being the great friend that he is, is always trying to get Gene to enjoy himself. Gene, however, believes Phineas is secretly jealous of him, and is trying to use sabotage as a way to make them equal in the race for valedictorian. Later in the novel, Gene realizes Finny is genuine in his desire to help Gene, not hurt him and guiltily thinks, “And I thought we were competitors! It was so ludicrous I wanted to cry.” (Knowles 66) In addition, after Finny’s fall, Gene tells no one about what he has done.
Secretly Miss Finch, I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live” (Lee 268). Raymond Dolphus represents a Mockingbird because even though he’s shadowed by prejudice of Maycomb he’s still a light shining through because he would do anything for his family because he loves them. Mr. Dolphus is a victim of the prejudice of Maycomb because he has to hide who he really is so that people have a reason to explain his crazy behavior for why he married a black woman instead of the actual reason that race doesn’t matter to him unlike most of the population of Maycomb. In Maycomb most white people don’t have a heart or love for the blacks but Mr. Dolphus breaks that barrier of the whites looking down on the blacks. Another scene that demonstrates purity and truth is when Scout stopped the mob attack by humanizing Walter Cunningham.
Tom likes Daisy not for true love but because she’s makes a good trophy wife. Tom cheats on daisy with Myrtle and he doesn’t care about anyone’s feelings, he doesn’t strive for daisy’s love as he knows that his wealth will keep her. Tom’s money and the lifestyle it offers are what attracts daisy and she is nothing but an object to Tom. Whereas Gatsby longs for Daisy’s love and will do anything to achieve it, this is proved when Daisy kills Myrtle with his car Gatsby loves her so much that he takes the blame for her. Gatsby is a nostalgic person as he says to daisy ‘can’t repeat the past?'...
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.
Although, he is not in love with the Daisy’s personality, he is infatuated by her looks. One could say that he is in love with the illusion of daisy. The idea of her still being the same girl he left behind before going to war is the idea he obsesses over. He does not realize that he can not just pick up where he left off. When he returned to his beloved Daisy, she had broken her promise and married a wealthy man as well as had a child.
And then there is New York City, which is chaos, and in which Nick sees the “quality of distortion” that he frequently speaks of (Great Books: The Great Gatsby. 2003). All of these things lead up to one of the main themes of The Great Gatsby: the spirit of the 1920s, combined with the conflict between social classes. A symbol of this is Jay Gatsby himself, in both his personality and how he changes throughout the course of the story in the same fashion that America does during the 1920s. He seems to be putting on a show, composing a character out of himself that is defined by the rich things he owns to impress Daisy.
It's a little bit heart breaking for him but life goes on. As Charlie is in love with Molly, Tommo has to also deal with his sense of betrayal with when the couple meet up without him. When the Colonel
Both characters, despite their hard and bitter shells, reveal a desire to overcome their loneliness and win friends. Their efforts hinge on Lennie, whose feeble-mindedness renders him unaware of the social problems attached to the two.Lennie's visit with Crooks in Chapter Four and his talk with Curley's wife in Chapter Five - end in bitterness and tragedy. Thus
The way Buddy talks about Esther I think affects her. When somebody you care about makes you feel like crap that it really takes a toll on you. You want to how much you appreciate and admire the person you care about, not have them dampen them with a lack of interest, making yourself feel better, and a misunderstanding of how to treat a woman. Esther idolizes Buddy but he never really felt the same way about her as he looked at her more as a sex partner. The novel talks about things regarding sexism by showing how Buddy's sense of manliness and superiority is built on what he thinks of himself, not who he actually is, hypocritical in a sense.