How_Does_Gatsby_Represent_the_American_Dream__What_Does_the_Novel_Have_to_Say_About_the_Condition_of_the_American_Dream_in_the_1920's_

How does Gatsby represent the American dream' What does the novel have to say about the condition of the American dream in the 1920's' Although the American dream was idolised and desired by many, the destruction it's longing created has ruined lives in many literacy works; The Great Gatsby being no exception to this. Within the great American novel, the rise and fall of Gatsby, the chauvinistic views that woman had of themselves and the drowning the sorrows of World War I in money and parties, highlight the corruption and disappointment of the Jazz Age. Foremost, I believe that building his wealth and power to be able to take care of Daisy and her lavish lifestyle was not Gatsby's end goal, instead he continued to strive for his own perfection. The novel's debated hero's dream can be summed up by the pathetic fallacy used in chapter five, the chapter in which Daisy and Gatsby are reunited. The weather wanders from the rain that 'was pouring' to the sun appearing creating 'twinkle bells of sunshine' then diverting back to the 'falling' rain. The first report of rain creates a malevolent atmosphere which is symbolic of Gatsby's struggle to escape his family's low economic status. Born into a family of 'unsuccessful farm people', he didn't accept his parents on his search for power, conveying an arrogant and undesirable streak to him contrasting our previously mainly positive view on this main character, successfully highlighting further that he was to sacrifice everything. Because he thought his family and current self unworthy of the world he was 'sprung from his own Platonic conception of himself'. From this point onwards, he begins to build up his life and his dream starts to become a reality as he climbs higher up the status ladder and therefore becomes more eligible to marry Daisy. A lot of this mirrors Fitzgerald's life as he too needed to make more of his writing career and build his wealth and fame in order to court his wife Zelda. This link offers a more personal insight into the motivations of Gatsby for the reader as the author has, to turn a more modern phrase, 'been there, done that'. Succeeding this, the sun appearing connotes the bright and happy, however brief, time in his life when he is reunited with Daisy. This completes, what he believes at the time to be, his American dream which he set out on once 'he had committed himself to the following of a grail'. Fitzgerald's use of the noun 'grail' provides a biblical reference, thus highlighting that he believes he is part of some bigger meaning like the religious groups originally in search of it. This is effective to the reader as they then begin to question whether Gatsby's grail is Daisy or something more. Whether his dream is Daisy or not, this quote supplies an understanding to the reader that he is so 'committed' he will be in search of something better for his entire life, never satisfied and inevitably disappointed by reality not quite matching his vast imagination of the American dream. Nevertheless, momentarily, his dream is realised enough to create these 'twinkle bells of sunshine' compelling the reader with the use of emotive language. Arguably, the reference to bells, which have connotations of marriage, conveys a ray of false hope that Gatsby and Daisy will marry, giving him the ending he wanted. However, of course, the sunshine, along with any hope of a 'happy ending' for this novel, is washed away with the final douse of the 'falling' rain, mirroring the events of the book; Daisy doesn't leave Tom even though Gatsby gives his life for hers when he is shot for taking the blame of a murder that Daisy committed. The verb falling is used to emulate the starting of the decline of Gatsby, where the actuality of Daisy falls short of his expectation. The American Dream starts to unravel for Gatsby and his naivety is revealed. Overall, the pathetic fallacy used to portray Gatsby's dream also represents the American dream in general. Instead of building lives, it destroys them by creating unrealistic and unachievable hope, the person is always left needing more. On first glance, Daisy Buchanan is living the American dream with her vast wealth and property. However, this is quickly eradicated when she stated that she thinks the best thing a woman can be is a 'beautiful little fool'. This portrays that women couldn't have their own successes so must have beauty in order to attract a husband who will take care of them providing money and happiness. The juxtaposition between 'best thing' and 'little fool' conveys to the reader that Daisy thinks the dream for women is so poor that that is the pinnacle of what she will get out of life. The reaction of the reader, especially if they are a woman, will probably have altered from the time the book was published, and present day. Most current women will resent this message to give up and depend on a man for your American dream rather that achieve happiness for your own; people have fought for sexism to become less and less prominent. Going by the opinions of two woman from the book, Daisy and Myrtle, the reader is able to assume that some women will have thought less of themselves then; both of these characters relied on their husbands, Myrtle on Tom as well when her husband's low economic status couldn't support her increasing love for the high life. This contradicts the events of the time as the US's woman's enfranchisement occurred in the 1920's. Therefore, the equality of women in society was increasing, unfortunately this didn't increase Daisy's faith in the American dream. This is indicative of the fragile condition of the American dream at this time; even though her rights were increasing, Daisy thought the dream too unachievable for herself, a seemingly strong willed woman is sending on the message to her daughter to rely solely on a man, even whilst married to a serial adulterer, instead of having her own achievements. The noun 'fool' has connotations of stupidity, of a lower class, all of which she is applying to herself. This depicts that she thinks it's best to be stupid to her surroundings, and have no awareness to the bad things that are happening, like having a cheating husband. So if she doesn't think about these things, she is safe. If she stops to use her brain, and thinks about them, she will realise behind all of her blind happiness, just how unhappy she is. Money appears to be the driving force of the American dream in the 1920's, but this money was spent on partying, in this novel, more than anything else. This is evident when the reader is introduced 'to two girls in twin yellow dresses', one of them telling Jordan and Nick that '“I never care what I do”' when she comes to Gatsby's extravagant parties. Firstly the yellow dresses imply that the two girls have a lack of morals. This is because yellow is a recurring symbol for this; Gatsby's car, for example, is the colour yellow because it was bought with money which came from a questionable business. The girl's statement enforces this as it highlights that she will: get drunk, pick up rich men, and then abuse the host's hospitality by talking about him negatively, all whilst not caring what she does. She isn't at the parties for the host, she's there for the party itself and the free fun that comes with it. In the 1920's fun was a priority in response to the troubles of the war. As a result of this, there was a decade of parties and aspiration known as the Jazz Age. Because of the expanse of the bloodshed and the family losses, the dreams of wealth and luxury lifestyle kicked in. The guests at Gatsby's were there to indulge themselves within it and turn their jealousy into spiteful comments about their host. Spreading rumours of corruption and with it, their own hypocrisy. The American dream is depicted to be corrupt in the 1920's, people cared about the fun they were having not the moral values they were losing. This is most prominent towards the end of the novel, out of all the guests staying in his mansion, drinking his alcohol or eating his food at one of his lavish parties, one turned up to Gatsby's funeral out of the respect and care he had towards his friend who had died indirectly saving Daisy's life. Fitzgerald's use of irony here is unbelievably effective in proving this point. At the end of the novel, the cycle of the American dream is shown to inevitably continue when Nick is shown a photograph that Mr. Gatz has of Gatby's house which is 'dirty with many hands'. This is indicative that many people saw this picture, including young minds admiring what Gatsby has got and wrongly assuming it's happiness. They will think they can grow up to have what he has and probably, just like Gatsby, be disappointed in the American dream. Eedie Stanton 1500 words