Depiction of the american drea
Depiction of the american dreaAs children, we have all dreamt of money, being rich; owning an extravagant mansion, magnificent cars, and being married to a prince or princess. Basically, we dream of the perfect life, with the perfect spouse. Generally, this dream is known as the American Dream, which is the belief that if one works hard, that person will succeed by becoming rich. The topic of the American Dream can be found throughout The Great Gatsby, the most prime example of this is the dream of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s dream is to work hard to get rich in order to win the love of Daisy Buchanan, his long lost love. Despite these beliefs, the American Dream, in it’s modern form, generally fails to make that person happy. As for Gatsby’s dream to win Daisy’s love with elaborate material possessions, his attempts eventually lead to his death. Both the noble intentions and the resulting failures of the American Dream resemble the intentions and corruption of Jay Gatsby in the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
F. Scott Fitzgerald included many examples of the American Dream in the novel. Myrtle Wilson is an example of this. Myrtle, who was married to George Wilson, a low income mechanic, desired money and a higher social status. This desire, which is equivalent to the desire for money in the American Dream, eventually led to the death of Myrtle. Myrtle was having an affair with Tom Buchanan in spite of the fact that he was awful to her, for example, “…Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” But yet, Myrtle continued to secretly see Tom in the chance that he would share his money with her, so she would become rich. Myrtle’s dream of money, and belief that having an affair with Tom would eventually lead her to money, but instead, she met death. Another example of the American Dream is the dream of Daisy Buchanan. Daisy fell in love with Jay Gatsby before he went away to war, but her desire for money led her to Tom Buchanan instead. Because Gatsby grew up in a poor family, Daisy was appalled; she favored money, over true love. Daisy’s decision to marry Tom was assisted by the fact that “…the day before the wedding he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars”. This decision not only affected Daisy, Tom (and therefore Myrtle and George Wilson), but also Jay Gatsby.
Jay Gatsby’s mansion is prime example of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby. He devoted his life to winning the love of Daisy Buchanan; he owned an immense mansion across the bay from Daisy and Tom’s:
“…It was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw...
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