The Great Gatsby and the tainted American Dream Essay Example For Students

The Great Gatsby and the tainted American Dream Essay Benjamin Franklin coined the phrase, American Dream during the early infancy of our country, proposing this dream as, That pursuit of a better existence and a higher quality of life through hard work, determination, and devotion. While this may be what many of the characters in The Great Gatsby believe (Jay Gatsby in particular), one critical ideal is discarded in Fitzgeralds twisted refinement of Franklins definition: morality. It is apparent that Jay Gatsby achieves his wealth and social status through illegal and immoral means, such as bootlegging alcohol. The irony becomes remarkably stunning when one realizes that the section of Franklins autobiography, which outlines his method for achieving this dream, is entitled Moral Perfection. Fitzgerald presents a dark satire by portraying the immoral Jay Gatsby as an icon for the decay of the dream Franklin proposed and promoted so avidly. Fitzgerald masterfully allows the reader watch the evolution of Franklins American dream from its fertilization in the ambition of James Gatz to its dominance over Gatzs life, eventually spawning Jay Gatsby (Gatz-bye) a self-destructive man holding on to a dream that can never become a reality. In addition to Gatsbys delusional pursuit of happiness, Nick Carraway, our narrator, suffers from the same addiction to a dream, which, if made true, will never live up to its expectations. It is obvious that Nick envies Gatsby, hence the title of the novel. Nick is in awe of Gatsbys wealth, social power and moreover, and most of all, the carefree lifestyle it allows. Nick, at the same time he is completely unaware of the illicit means by which Gatsby has gained his wealth. Following Gatsbys death at the end of the novel, Fitzgerald shows Nicks awakening from his dream to persuade the reader to walk away from his novel understanding the lesson that Nick learns from Gatsbys folly. Fitzgerald strives to expose a striking realization that the American dream that Franklin proposed will never be able to deliver its promise of a better existence in a society where morality is tossed aside so casually. Fitzgerald litters the novel with a cast of characters who are struggling to chase either emotionless dreams or impossible ones. All of these other characters suffer from this plague of disillusionment that has come to be known as a staple in modernist writing. Morality seems critical, by Franklins standards, to the success of his American Dream, but when one looks through the novel, searching for characters that are morally sound, one will find that they are few and far between. We, the readers, are witness to multiple adulterous affairs, murder, illegal alcohol use, as well as a lack of camaraderie between friends. Fitzgeralds diagnosis that decadence is the real killer of the American dream manifests itself in many characters and in many ways throughout The Great Gatsby. The most obvious is Gatsby whos dream is to come back from his time spent in the armed forces, much wealthier than he left, with the hope that his newfound wealth will allow him to win back the heart of Daisy who he left behind. When Gatsby left he didnt have the financial power to secure Daisys devotion to him, for she became much more interested in the material possessions than love, which made her vulnerable to Tom Buchanans wealthy appeal. Gatsby sees that the only way he can reclaim her is by impressing her with a fortune . Gatsby becomes so intent on accomplishing this goal that in his mind the ends justify the means, without question. We are never told exactly how Gatsby procures his wealth, except that it most likely from illegal bootlegging and perhaps some ties to the mafia. This is Gatsbys first major deviation, chronologically, from Franklins American Dream. Next, he turns his back on our narrator, Nick, who offers to help him achieve his goal by arranging a meeting with Daisy. Gatsby, whos self-indulgence blinds him to ignorance, practically treats Nick as a pimp instead of a friend, thinking all the while that hes being quite sincere and helping Nick, who is not as well off as himself. In the opening of chapter five, Nick and Gatsby meet in front of Gatsbys mansion where Nick informs Gatsby that hes going to arrange for Daisy to arrive the following day for tea. At the end of the conversation, Gatsby decides to suggest his indecent proposal of some work on the side to Nick. We both looked down at the grass there was a sharp line where my ragged lawn ended and the darker, well-kept expanse of his began. I suspected that he Gatsby meant my grass. Theres another little thing, he said uncertainly, and hesitated. Would you rather put it off a few days? I asked Oh, it isnt about that. At leastHe fumbled with a series of beginnings. Why, I thought why, look here, old sport, you dont make much money, do you? Not very much. This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently. I thought you didnt, if youll pardon my you see, I carry on a little business on the side, a sort of a sideline, you understand. And I thought that if you dont make very much Youre selling bonds, arent you, old sport? Trying to. Well this would interest you. It wouldnt take up much of your time and you might pick up a nice bit of money. Naming and describing plant parts Essay Faithfulness is only inherent in one married person in the book, George Wilson, but George has his own personality flaws and ends up committing a deadly sin of his own wrath. He has trouble controlling his temper and eventually snaps after he wife is killed and murders Gatsby and commits suicide. George is the only one that seems to have lost his dream a long time ago, when his wife began resenting him, then cheating on him, and has turned to religion to find happiness. He claims, after believing that Tom killed Myrtle, that, God sees everything. George has lost faith in the world for some time and it seems as though hes only living for the next life, which is proven by the fact that he is able to kill himself. The only people who dont really seem to be emotionally scarred, or killed by the events that take place in the novel are the surviving women in the book. Daisys dream is money, though as we know, it wasnt always that way. Jordan is likewise interested in material objects and not that concerned with love, although in the end we get a hint that maybe things will turn around for her and Nick. Overall, however, she is almost as guilty as Daisy for being naively drawn into the well of commercialistic coldness. Daisy seems to be able to leave Gatsby behind as a memory, though we dont know for sure that she is severely hurt by his death, or to what degree. We can speculate that her absence from Gatsbys funeral would suggest a lack of emotional burden. At the end of the novel, we dont really get any indication as to how Daisy ends up, and its hard to say because of the way she leaves with Tom in a situation that is foreign to the reader because for the first time neither one is interested in someone else. We can assume, however, based on Fitzgeralds message, that if Daisy never realizes that money cant buy happiness or love, she will be stuck chasing a dream that cannot be attained for the rest of her life. The same is true for Jordan, although we do get a suggestive hint that she may turn around because Nick has been enlightened, and now has a better understanding of the dangers that come with becoming obsessive over the impossible or the unimportant. Tom is yet another ambiguity when it comes to the end of the novel. There is no way to say what will become of him, although it seems hes got more reason than any to see the need for a change in his attitude on life. He came the closest to loosing everything, without actually doing it. He almost lost his wife to Gatsby and he did loose his mistress, though he was lucky not to loose his wife on account of his cheating. It seems that the significance of his disappearance with Daisy is meant to suggest that they have gone off to start a new life, but then again maybe its just to chase new dreams. This novel is able to adequately show the dangers involved in chasing a dream that is too fantastic, or purely material. Gatsby paid for his naive dream chasing with his life and his dream, not to mention the pain he caused those around him and close to him. This is evident because of the fact that only a few people show up to his funeral. He cared for only one person, who didnt really care for him, at least not to the same degree. Nick is lucky, by Fitzgeralds standards at least, because he is able to look inward, unlike the most of the other characters, and see what that kind of obsession is doing to Gatsby. He despises Gatsby too much to help him, but remains a friend out of pity and takes the knowledge he has gained to see where he could have ended up had he followed Gatsby and taken that job offer. Tom and Daisy both suffer from the sins of gluttony and avarice that dominate their dreams of happiness, they cant get away from thinking that the more they own the happier theyll be. This can be seen in the way Tom mourns little for Myrtle, but only worries about himself when George comes to see him after Myrtles death. If he feels a little hurt its because hell have to go out and find another mistress, and we cant say for sure whether or not he will. Fitzgerald is bent on making sure the readers take away one message, there is no more American dream. He doesnt stop there though, he goes on to warn his readers that if you dont believe him and decide chase your personal American dream and shoot too high or too low, you will end up miserable, possibly for the rest of your life. Lastly, there is no doubt that this novels message about the decay of the American dream is solely focused on an audience facing some of the most vastly changing times in our civilizations history and a warning that just like Jay Gatsby found out, there is no way to reclaim the past, that American dream, Franklins American dream is gone.