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Essay / The American Dream in The Great Gatsby Essay - 932
Individuals perceive life simply as a dream. They had a glamorous dream only to grab it for a second and watch it disappear. The American dream has been falsely represented through the eyes of Nick Carroway and through the glorious persona of Gatsby. The dream was filled with lavish parties and desirable clothes, but if one didn't have the family tree, money was just a piece of paper. “He had walked a long time across his blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 180). Gatsby did everything he could to achieve the American dream, but was never able to fully realize it because Gatsby didn't have the old money he needed to win the girl. Gatsby had the wealth, the social support, but lacked the pedigree, which kept the American dream a dream. The Great Gatsby appears to be written about a wonderful man named Gatsby, but as the story goes on, he is just a cowardly, lovelorn man searching for the missing piece of the puzzle. “Gatsby believed in the green light, in the orgiastic future that lies before us year after year” (p. 180). Gatsby is stuck in the past and tries to recreate the memory he shared with Daisy in Louisville, hoping that she will fall in love with him again, meaning that the American dream is a fiction and cannot be obtained. “There must have been times even this afternoon when Daisy could not realize her dream, not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of her illusion” (p. 180). The Great Gatsby was a man in love who was blinded in life by the idea of being with Daisy. The “Great” Gatsby depicted in the title was just a miserable character from the past who never fully achieved the American dream. Through the eyes of Nick Carrow... middle of paper ...... about who comes from a humble background a family could potentially achieve their dream if they work hard enough. Eyes turn to the idea of the dream because it is practically unattainable, because for every rich family there are people a hundred times poorer. The dream may give an individual the money for the dream, but for the most part, they are like ashes in the valley, desperate and poverty-stricken. The American dream is just a dream that people wish they could achieve, but life goes on and we can't dwell on the past. “So we move forward, boats against the current, constantly brought back into the past” (p. 180). People get stuck in the past and can't seem to let go, but to make life enjoyable, you have to be willing to let go. Letting go of the past is the only way to turn the dream into reality. The metaphor represents the character of Gatsby and the dream.