Gatsby as the Great American Dream
Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, is based on the dreams of a man named Jay Gatsby. Throughout the novel, it is suggested to the reader that Gatsby is a symbol for America. He represents the possibilities of life on a level at which the material and the spiritual have been confused (Bewley 11). Gatsby's dreams, lifestyle and sense of morality represent an American vision of life at which the reality ends and an illusion begins. First, to be an American means to have dreams. Gatsby is a dreamer, just like may Americans. All his dreams are based on one factor, Daisy Buchanan. Most Americans, achieve their goal only we they are free. Anthony Burgess suggests that "Freedom is slavery". When Gatsby realizes that he has lost her, his freedom to desire her makes him a slave to her. Since Gatsby is truly ambitious, he won't stop until he "gets the girl". To most Americans that is part of their American dream: to have a pretty girl. That is truly what Gatsby wants: to get the pretty girl who's "voice is full of money"(Fitzgerald 127). In order for him to have a chance with Daisy, he needs to have money a
Daisy became very emotional when Nick writes "He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them one by one before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many colored disarray" (Fitzgerald 97). Bibliography Works CitedBewley, Marius. Who could actually live in such a horrible place? America is the place where dreams, lifestyles, and morals are only present in a few. Gatsby only really cared about Daisy and he was willing to take the blame for Myrtle's accident only because it was the love of his life. Not only was Gatsby very popular like most Americans want to be but he also had good clothing. Heartless people crush dreams, lifestyles are destroyed by green-eyed monsters, and morals exist in only in those who don't have ambitions. Gatsby's new lifestyle included motorboats, aquaplanes, private beaches, Rolls Royces and water towers (Bewley 16). These other people's ambitions are always bigger than the victim. Nonetheless, the first step in getting the girl is to have the money. Through the eyes of psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, Gatsby would have no sense of morality. It's what Charles Darwin would call survival of the fittest, or only the strong survive.
Common topics in this essay:
American Dream,
Rolls Royces,
Gatsby Throughout,
Americans American,
Kohlberg Gatsby,
Anthony Burgess,
Americans Americans,
Charles Darwin,
Daisy Gatsby's,
Maybe Kohlberg,
american dream,
dreams lifestyles,
americans dreams,
sense morality,
pretty girl,
|
Acceptance Essays
