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The Great Gatsby And The American Dream

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The Great Gatsby And The American Dream
Fitzgerald and the “American Dream”

To some the American Dream is freedom, to others the American Dream is wealth and popularity. According to F. Scott Fitzgerald the American Dream was unattainable. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald gives us a glimpse into the life of the high class during the twenties through the eyes of Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel. The American Dream has become a superficial environment in which people do not understand what is reality and what is fiction. The life in New York City during the twenties also has an impact on the way the dream changed. The Dream would become corrupted because of society in the twenties. Lastly the American Dream was not all superficial, to some people the “American Dream” is …show more content…
It originated from the Declaration of Independence. Even though people are still worried about money and materialistic objects such as, jewelry, the newest cellphone, toys, TVs, etc. Superficial environment is one of the many reasons the American Dream ended. All people cared about were the parties, who knew who, and social status. Money also became an issue, whoever had the most money apparently had the American Dream or whomever owned the nicest car, house, hosted the best parties. Fitzgerald believed this was “the destruction of the American Dream” (Apasa Aici 1). The amount of artificial people during the twenties was outstonishing. The New Yorkers, no one was real with each other. Fake love, fake hate, no one knew who was friends with who, almost how it is now. “The cosmopolitan life in New York city” (Fitzgerald), by saying this Fitzgerald means that New York is a very advanced city, therefore people are not sure how to react to such drastic …show more content…
Although people might think differently about what their opinion on the American dream is, each individual is the only one who can make their own dream. The American dream was destroyed little by little. One of those destructions was due to materialistic means. People also played a big role in the ending of the American dream. The way they treated others. The corruption of the American dream. All these reasons added up to create the corruption of the American dream. Although there was much destruction, people still believe in the American dream as something good nowadays, like freedom. The American dream may still exist for some people out there. Although Fitzgerald believed it was over does not mean it is over in everyone else.

Work Cited Page

Aici, Apasa. “The Great Gatsby- The Death of the American Dream.” Http://www.e-scoala.ro. Scoala Online Romania, 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 12 Apr. 2013

Bloom, Harold, ed. “The Great Gatsby: The Corruption of the American Dream through Materialism” http://www.unc.edu. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1985. Web. 12

Carson, Clayborne. “The American Dream” www.standford.edu. Ebenezar Baptist Church, 4 July 1965. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

Fahey, William. F. Scott Fitzgerald and the American Dream. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1973.

Moyer, Bill. “Deeping the American Dream.” www.pbs.org. Public Affairs Television
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