Chasing Dreams
The Great Gatsby outlines lives embedded along the path of the American Dream, which hit a detour when confronting the social stratospheres that define Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchannan. The Great Gatsby is a story of the haves and have-nots or when carefully examined old money, new money and no money. The three characters mentioned above fit perfectly into F. Scott Fitzgerald's social commentary of American life in the 1920's. When placed in a historical context, the 1920's are a time of prosperity following the ill effects of World War I. America's elite posted great financial gains during this period before the stock market crash of 1929 would send the country spiraling into a depression. But until that fateful day in October many Americans were clinging to their dream of breaking their social chains on the whims of rags to riches stories echoed in the sentiment of a better life. This sentiment is what brings The Great Gatsby's narrator, Nick Carraway, from the upper Midwest to West Egg, Long Island. He arrives as an educated man who wishes to extract more out of life than Midwest has to offer. More importantly he sets out to make his fortune. Although in many ways his morality and level-headedness sets him
The Great Gatsby proves to be an embodiment of the rags to riches tale but his downfall will always be the past. What Gatsby remembers or idealizes is nothing like the Daisy that exists in The Great Gatsby. For that reason, her husband Tom knows all too well that Daisy wouldn't leave him for Gatsby. For this reason among others (also his social standing) he is an outsider who rejects the phony appearances of the wealthy. " Clearly, Daisy believes that the world is no place for woman, and the best she hopes her daughter will survive through beauty rather than brains. Nick doesn't let himself get so wrapped up in his dreams that would forego his midwestern values and integrity. Fitzgerald brilliantly uses these characters to tear down the myth that the rich were so much better than the poor. In chapter seven when Daisy's daughter makes an appearance, Daisy treats her like a material object, showing her off for guests. She does nothing to confront her husband who has been cheating for years all because of the comfort and power that his wealth brings. The way Daisy speaks about her daughter also reveals much about her character. At one point in the story Daisy says, " I hope she'll be a fool. apart from the lifestyle which he can never really digest. She seems bound by materialism and anything that suits her convenience whether it is her daughter Pammy who she routinely shows off for guests, but shows little interest in otherwise. On the surface there is beauty and charm, but below lies a self-centered, cruel woman. Because Nick is not materialistic, he remains uncorrupted in search of money and power through out the story.
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Acceptance Essays
