Looking At The American Dream Within Literature English Literature Essay
The American dream is based pm the thought of success and felicity and that anyone could prosecute and obtain it. Merely as Ulysses was enticed by the vocals of the Sirens which impelled seamans to projecting themselves into the sea and their at hand death, so are the people prosecuting this incubus of a dream. Peoples were enticed by the countless pleasures that such a dream offers and this left them blind to the rough worlds that accompany such a dream. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys the defects of such an luring thought and his unfavorable judgment towards it. He is able to make this through his characters and their ineluctable battles which they embark on while prosecuting this dream.
Mrs. Wilson had changed her costume some clip before and was now attired in an luxuriant afternoon frock of pick colored chiffon which gave out a continual rustling as she swept about the room. With the influence of the frock her personality had besides undergone a alteration. The intense verve that had been so singular in the garage was converted into impressive arrogance. Her laughter, her gestures, her averments became more violently affected minute by minute and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her until she seemed to be go arounding on a noisy, whining pivot through the smoky air ” ( Fitzgerald 35 ) .
Although she may hold truly felt different, she was still merely in a dream universe. The rough world is that she is a hapless, subservient and a naif adult female, who is merely a merchandise of Tom ‘s desires. Myrtle besides becomes so self absorbed that she feels everything is far less important. She does non care about how her actions will impact her relationship with her hubby or how she is impacting Tom and his married woman Daisy. Fitzgerald uses Myrtle as a contemplation of a adult female ‘s avidity to be associated with privileged things such as wealth, money and position or the American dream. Sometimes people are cognizant of what the American dream is capable of making to a individual but can non forbear themselves from being a portion of it.
Nick Carraway is an mean and individual adult male who moves to West Egg to larn about the bonds concern. He lives following door to the multi-millionaire Jay Gatsby. Nick is introduced by Tom and Daisy to Jordan Baker, a immature and successful Golf participant. Jordan is non merely celebrated for playing golf but besides for rip offing at it. Jordan was “ incurably dishonest ” ( Fitzgerald 58 ) . Nick merely describes her by stating thatA ” her mentum raised a small, as if she were equilibrating something on it which was rather likely to fall ” ( Fitzgerald 13 ) .A His description of Jordan Baker is rather elusive, but when he describes Daisy, he does it passionately and depict a battalion of things including her voice as “ the sort of voice that the ear follows up and down every bit if each address is an agreement of notes that will ne’er be played once more, ” ( Fitzgerald 13 ) . Nick does n’t depict Jordan like he does with Daisy because he sees the many defects which outline her nature. Even though Nick criticizes her, he is still attracted to the sort of environment that accompanies her and pursues her with the same ground he attends Gatsby ‘s parties. Nick says “ Every one suspects himself of at least one of the central virtuousnesss, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have of all time known. ” ( Fitzgerald 60 ) . Although Nick claims to be honest, one would non acquire the feeling that he is. Throughout the fresh Nick seems to suit in yet stand out, he criticizes the rich and superficial people but at the same clip he is attracted to the same environment that the rich are a portion of. Nick notices Jordan because he is attracted to this environment and why he discretely falls for Jordan, “ Her wide area network, contemptuous oral cavity smiled, and so I drew her up once more nearer, this clip to my face. ” ( Fitzgerald 80 ) . Nick is non an exclusion to this chase of the American dream but is merely one out of the many characters. Although the American dream does non impact Nick like it does so greatly to others.
Jay Gatsby is the invented individuality of James Gatz, born to a hapless mid-western farm household, he “ sprang from his Platonic construct of himself ” ( Fitzgerald 104 ) . Gatsby started out when he warned millionaire Dan Cody that a coming air current might bust up his yacht, Cody employs Jay Gatsby in a “ obscure personal capacity ” ( 106 ) . After indulging himself in Dan ‘s life style, Gatsby became concerned with one thing, populating the American dream by any agencies necessary. In the novel Gatsby says that he worked in the apothecary’s shop and oil concerns, excluding the fact that he was in actuality, an intoxicant moonshiner, something that he was rather successful with due to alcohol prohibition at the clip. Gatsby keeps his business a enigma throughout the novel and he prefers to be merely a gracious host. Gatsby buys his West Egg sign of the zodiac with one sole purpose, which is to be across the bay from Daisy ‘s green visible radiation at the terminal of her dock. Throughout the fresh Gatsby works to reunite with Daisy. He foremost has dramatic parties in hopes that one twenty-four hours she excessively will go to his parties. After run intoing Nick, Gatsby employs him in his strategy by converting him to ask foring Daisy over for tea, so that he and she could reunite. Gatsby finds out that Daisy is married and even has a kid yet this still does non forbear him from prosecuting her, he worked so long and so difficult for her that he was non traveling to allow anything acquire in his manner of acquiring Daisy. The truth is Gatsby was ne’er truly attracted to Daisy but what accompanied Daisy, non merely the universe of the rich, but besides the credence into the old money order. Gatsby was non born rich ; he had to obtain his wealth doing him a individual of new money. Unlike the new the money order, old money are individuals who have ever been privileged throughout their lives, holding their position past down coevalss. Gatsby desires so much to obtain this position that he ignores all the contention that accompanies such an unrealistic thought that consequences in a province of catastrophe and in contingency leads to his death. Gatsby was himself an oxymoron, he was everything yet he was nil. In his head he had nil because he does non hold Daisy, a phantasy which becomes his personal version of the American Dream.
The Great Gatsby is filled with this incubus of a dream and F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys this thought throughout his novel with outstanding success. He informs readers about the dangers which are associated with the American dream and how it can take to one ‘s death. The American dream does non separate between rich or hapless, but is pursued by all categories. In The Great Gatsby we see this through the different characters and their categories. The biggest job with the American dream is that it is still merely a dream and therefore it can ne’er really be obtained merely pursued. The American dream proves to be an unfulfilling career for anyone who pursues it.
