The Great Gatsby's American Dream

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Gatsby’s American Dream “James Gatz—that was really, or at least legally, his name. He had changed it at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career--when he saw Dan Cody's yacht drop anchor over the most insidious flat on Lake Superior. It was James Gatz who had been loafing along the beach that afternoon in a torn green jersey and a pair of canvas pants, but it was already Jay Gatsby who borrowed a rowboat, pulled out to the Tuolomee, and informed Cody that a wind might catch him and break him up in half an hour. “I suppose he'd had the name ready for a long time, even then. His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people—his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents…show more content…
Nick was portraying Gatsby like Christ figure who possesses similarities and oppositions to Jesus. In Luke 2:49 it is recounted that Jesus said, "Know you not that I must be about my Father's business?" The business referred to acts as symbol of the revitalization of mankind. This also ties in with his use of descriptive diction when he refers to the American Dream as a “vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty”. The America Dream is founded on the idea that achievement and fortune are the compensation for working hard and looking always looking to better oneself. Even if the connection between Gatsby and Jesus is not a major point in The Great Gatsby, it is nonetheless a strong parallel. Gatsby sculpts his life become the ideal that he envisioned for himself—a “Platonic conception of himself”—he is remains committed to this goal despite the obstacles that society presents to the fulfillment of his dream. Through his utilization of allusions and descriptive diction, Nick is able to precisely illustrate the depth and personality of Jay Gatsby as a…show more content…
Nick’s use of allusions, a descriptive diction, and clear connotation, helps the reader comprehend the essence of his character. This passage makes it clear that what makes Gatsby so “Great” is it complete and utter dedication to winning Daisy over, which means he would have accomplished his own notion of the American Dream. Gatsby is essentially someone who lost everything—his life included—because he was too consumed by his dreams. The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates that the quality that made Gatsby so “Great” was his selflessness and utter dedication in the pursuit of his notion of the American
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