Wednesday, November 27, 2019
The Emptiness of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby Essay Example For Students
The Emptiness of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby Essay Jay Gatsbyââ¬â¢s sole purpose in life is to achieve the American Dream: to become a land owner, married to the love of his life, who live in comfort and abundance. However, he never gets everything he wants as his love for Daisy is not as fully reciprocated as he wishes it to be. His dream, and the one Nick pursues as well, are only dreams in the end. The culture of the time only gives empty fulfillment with no real substance. The people, like their dreams, are only illusions of what they want to be. Gatsbyââ¬â¢s life after the war is his search for his American Dream, which, in his eyes, culminates in Daisy. Nick observes that Gatsby ââ¬Å"found that he had committed himself to the following of a grailâ⬠(149). Fitzgerald chooses to compare Gatsbyââ¬â¢s quest for Daisy to that of a quest for the Holy Grail as they are equally futile. The Holy Grail and the American Dream both do not exist and so Gatsby is chasing an imagined idea. Thus, his quest is for something not grounded in reality. Gatsbyââ¬â¢s relationship with Daisy is based on false pretenses as he ââ¬Å"had deliberately given daisy a sense of security; he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herselfââ¬âthat he was fully able to take care of herâ⬠(149). We will write a custom essay on The Emptiness of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now At the foundation their ââ¬Å"loveâ⬠is based on falsehoods, and so their love is, perhaps, doomed from the beginning since it has begun in a dream state as well. Gatsbyââ¬â¢s father, Mr. Gatz, believed in the American Dream and is as naive as his son. He says, ââ¬Å"Jimmy was bound to get aheadâ⬠(173), as if it was Gatsbyââ¬â¢s right do so as a pragmatic person. His pragmatism does get him his job with Wolfsheim, an example of an incredibly pragmatic man, and thus gets him his wealth. However, the time he lost in attaining his riches was . .k seems to realize how deplorable and synthetic his friends from his summer on Long Island actually are. When he encounters Tom, he refuses to shake his hand and says to him ââ¬Å"ââ¬ËYou know what I think of youâ⬠(178). He sees through everyoneââ¬â¢s affectation and realizes how perverse their behavior was. He also abandons the East and moves back west because he has discovered that his dreams can never be accomplished and thus resolves everyoneââ¬â¢s hopes. In the world of Gatsby achieving the Dream is impossible unless one is to abandon all sense of propriety and become as ââ¬Å"carelessâ⬠, cruel, and essentially empty as Tom and Daisy. Works CitedFitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.Turner, Fredrick J. Turner: The Frontier In American History. Turner: The Frontier In American History. University of Virginia, 30 Sept. 1997. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
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