In the 1920’s the American Dream was something that everyone struggled to have. A spouse, children, money, a big house and a car meant that someone had succeeded in life. A very important aspect was money, and that’s what greatly determined success. This was not true in all cases however. Jay Gatsby was a poor boy that turned into a very wealthy man, but did he live the American Dream?
The greatness of an individual can be defined in terms far beyond tangible accomplishments. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s greatness comes from his need to experience success and his will to achieve his dreams. Nick Carraway narrates the story, and his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, is Gatsby’s love. Daisy, however, is married to Tom Buchanan, a wealthy, arrogant womanizer who despises Gatsby. Gatsby feels the need to be successful and wealthy, and his participation in a bootlegging operation allows him to acquire the wealth and social status needed to attract Daisy.
Luke Troutman Mrs. B.L. Honors English III September 30, 2008 Wealth Overcomes Love In The Great Gatsby; Tom, Daisy, and Myrtle’s desire for wealth prohibits them from developing substantial relationships. Living a lavish lifestyle, with constant happiness keeps them from actually loving a person for who they are, not how they live. This shows a want for happiness in men, or women, and how they forget about love to obtain happiness and worldly possessions. Since he was a child Tom had always been wealthy acquiring everything he desired causing him to act childishly always wanting his way and to become wealthier.
Tom Buchanan – The Great Gatsby Tom Buchanan is the antagonist of The Great Gatsby. When he is first introduced in the novel, the reader learns that he is extremely rich – “his family were enormously wealthy, even in college his freedom with money was a matter of reproach”. Nick recalls his time at Yale with Tom, when the latter was ‘one of the most powerful ends that ever played football’. However, this ‘limited excellence’ seems to make everything else in Tom’s life an ‘anti-climax’ as he is constantly seeking the ‘dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game’. However wealthy Tom may be his brutal nature cannot be hidden.
Secondly, both men were motivated to work hard and grow to be successful for their loved ones. For Fitzgerald it was Zelda Sayre whom he said to be his “golden girl”, to win her heart he used his talents to write novels which made him famous and rich, which was also the only way to live up to Zelda’s “golden” standards. Similarly, Jay Gatsby’s dream girl would be Daisy, she was a beautiful expensive flapper, but because that “rich girls don’t marry poor boys”, Gatsby would do anything to make money in order to propose to her. Thirdly, while Fitzgerald had the ambition of becoming wealthy even when he was a child, similarly Gatsby despised his poverty at a young age and promised to work hard to make money when he grows up. Conversely, the method that they used to become rich is not the same.
How far do you agree with Nicks views that Gatsby is ‘worth the whole damn bunch put together?’ Nicks views about Jay Gatsby, ‘the man who gives his name to this book’ can be viewed as biased as Fitzgerald uses Nick as a way to manipulate the reader into Nick’s way of thinking. Is Gatsby worth the whole damn bunch put together? Gatsby is worth the whole bunch put together based on his material qualities which is accumulated from shady business. Gatsby’s rags-to-riches success story makes him an embodiment of the American dream that contrasts with Tom who has become wealthy due to his inheritance. Although Gatsby has accumulated his wealth from shady business, his love for Daisy has remained for the 5 years he has gone without seeing her which portrays the lengths that he will go to in order to achieve his only ‘dream’ thus reinforcing Gatsby’s hope being worthy over the rest.
Gatsby being well aware of this tries desperately to fake his status and buy his way into a high social class.Gatsby is held at arm’s length from the people that would put him into the finest part of New York, East Egg. Gatsby symbolizes the American Dream because he goes from rags to riches, and every American aspires to live the way
Great Gatsby Essay In the book “The Great Gatsby”, the character Jay Gatsby is depicted as this wealthy and powerful man of the upper class. Jay Gatsby represents the American dream in the view of he was born in to a lower class family that had nothing going for them, and through hard work and determination he made it to the top, to become a powerful, rich, smart, and strong man of the upper class. Through the book, the life of Jay Gatsby shows his hard work and determination to get to the top, and how he had many trials and errors. All too conclude that in the end he did in fact complete the American dream. Jay Gatsby was born a son of a poor farmer in North Dakota in the year of, 1893.
The American Dream is defined as an American ideal of a happy and successful life to which all may aspire, and that everyone in the United States has the chance to achieve success and prosperity. Gatsby's dream was to be with Daisy and to do this he knew he had to impress her materialistically. Daisy is a material-girl, who was with Jay Gatsby before the war, however during the war she married to a wealthy man whose wealth is "old money". Old money is the term, that is used to describe the inherited wealth of established upper-class families. Gatsby makes his money through the underworld and his dealings with Meyer Wolfshiem.
Gatsby says, “I can’t say anything in his house, old sport” (?). Gatsby does have money, but it isn’t the kind that allows him into Daisy’s world. Tom knows that his wealth gives him a lot of power and influence and this is what lures Daisy into marrying him. In describing Tom’s wealth Nick says,” His family was enormously wealthy- even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach” (6). This wealth and power makes him believe he should get whomever he chooses.