Essay, Research Paper: The Great Gatsby

The American Dream is based on the belief that anyone can succeed in life by his or her own skill and effort. The Great Gatsby, is a novel about what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, a period when the old values from which the dream emerged from, had been corrupted by the pursuit of wealth. Fitzgerald’s critique of the dream of success is developed primarily through Nick, the narrator and observer, who sees and recounts what has gone wrong, Gatsby, who lives the dream purely, and Tom, Daisy, and Jordan, the “foul dust”(6) who are the prime examples of the corruption of the dream. Gatsby is therefore portrayed as a romantic hero because he doesn’t rest until his American Dream is fulfilled.
Jay Gatsby, is a character whom we admire because he dedicates his whole life to fulfilling his dreams. He devotes all of his time trying to relive the past and to attain Daisy’s love. In the past he had an affair with Daisy but she left him because he was not wealthy and was part of a low social class. He was born in a North Dakota farm and his real name was James Gatz . His parents were “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” and Gatsby worked worked on Lake Superior fishing for salmon and clam digging (104).


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