Jame_Gatsby_and_the_American_Dream

The Great Gatsby: The American Dream The American dream is often set with unrealistic expectations. The Great Gatsby’s author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, writes about a time when the American dream corrupts a group of individuals. He gives the reader insight into the destructive world that once thrived in the twenties. Gatsby is the center of that group of individuals grasping the American dream. This is because he becomes a victim by reaching out to someone like Daisy who does not share his principles. His good heart cannot subsist in what some see as the “American dream”. Gatsby downfall can be thoroughly explained through Albert Schweitzer quotation, “An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight. . . The truly wise person is colorblind.” As an optimistic person, Gatsby becomes trapped in the ongoing struggle to capture the American dream. Gatsby possesses the one quality that can make or break a person: optimistic. Being overly ambitious can be a bad quality because, in Gatsby’s case, he became inseparable from their dreams; disappointment causes him grief if expectations aren’t met. Gatsby’s dreams of obtaining Daisy are unrealistic. Throughout the book, his clothes fade representing emptiness in his dreams. As well, Owl eyes, the man who dwells in Gatsby’s library, predict Gatsby’s downfall through the structure of his mansion: “That if one brick was removed the whole library was liable to collapse” (50) this quotation refers to Gatsby’s structure in life as it begins to deteriorate; when he loses Daisy, friends and eventually his livelihood. Ever since he was a boy, Gatsby was inseparable from his dreams of becoming more refined as a person. To explain, Gatsby was situated into a poor family; however, he worked his way into the upper class. His overly ambitious side became self-destructive when he attempts to rekindle Daisy’s love for him. Daisy doesn’t care for Gatsby, she only cares about money; Tom has more of it. Gatsby’s optimistic gets to the best of him because he does not take the time to analyze the errors in his original plan, which is marrying Daisy. The fact of the matter is Daisy has a family now, with children; she cannot possibly walk out when she has everything she needs. On the other hand, Gatsby does not have everything he needs. Although he has material wealth, the yellow sports car, the luxurious parties, and the house, he is lonely and unhappy. This is evident when he has Nick Caraway and others visit often to fill his empty mansion. Even though Gatsby has everything he has always dreamed of, the American dream is out of reach. The American dream is associated with hope, promise, and renewal, represented by the colour green in the novel. The green light positioned on Daisy’s dock opposing Gatsby house, which is across a bay shows the great lengths one must travel to capture it. Nick describes it as the "... green beast of the new world" (115). The beast that lives in the new world represents material wealth. Gatsby is never satisfied with what he has because the quality of life he pursues is similar to a treadmill; there is no endpoint. He is hungry for power. Even with Daisy’s affection, Gatsby will never be satisfied with what he has obtained. For example, as a wealthy man he created an image of himself to people that led to other problems, like living up to their expectation. Gatsby would then have to resolve that problem which led to a next problem. Nick expresses the tragedy concerning Gatsby’s downfall in regards to the American dream. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . .so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (182) The boat metaphor describes Gatsby’s struggle to revive the past. It is impossible to relive one’s past, one can only move on. The unrealistic dream that Gatsby became dependent on deprives him of what he is truly looking for, happiness. When he decides to focus all his time and attention to the American ideals, the perfect wife, money and social status, he blinds himself from the truth: dreams of the mind are made of perfection. They cannot be maintained in the physical realm. Gatsby is not the perfect wife to Daisy. Daisy only brings Gatsby sadness in what he can’t accomplish. At the same time, the money and social status Gatsby gained to attract Daisy only made it worse. Works Cited Primary Source: The great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Pasadena, Calif: Salem, 2009. 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"SparkNotes: The Great Gatsby: Themes, Motifs & Symbols." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. Web. 8 Feb. 2010. .