...The American Dream, dating back all the way back to the colonial era, is the promise of a new beginning, no strings attached. This dream to many people includes the promise of a living wage, retirement funds, and the opportunity for their children to achieve in life and move up the social ladder.The optimistic dream seems to ignore the misogyny, racism, xenophobia, and overall inequality that exists in America. Because of this, the American Dream has become a something that more than half the country believes to be impossible. The American Dream is little more than an illusion—hollow, distorted, and unattainable. Inequality growth in the U.S has caused key elements in the American Dream to become unaffordable to most of the population. To...
Words: 610 - Pages: 3
...Throughout history, countless Americans have pursued the American Dream in order to create better lives for themselves. The freedom of the American Dream, with no limitations on who can achieve it, has often lured numerous people. However, many have ulterior motives behind the dream that go beyond simply obtaining better lives. The character of Jay Gatsby is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is one of these people. Throughout the novel, Gatsby represents the American Dream through both his wealth and his lavish lifestyle to once again win the love of Daisy Buchanan. Besides the fictional Gatsby, millions of others throughout history have also found the American Dream to be quite attainable. The idea of the Dream is and always has been...
Words: 1781 - Pages: 8
...achieve his American dream in the beginning to how he eventually fail to attain it with money. The color green reminds us of hope and renew. In the book, Gatsby himself views the green light as a sign of he should go for his dream. He always believes Daisy will leave Tom and choose to marry him again. In real life, when the traffic light turns green, it is a sign tells us it is safe to go. Gatsby interprets this as he is right with everything he is doing right now and he will soon achieve his goals. When he says “I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,” he said, nodding determinedly. “She’ll see.”(Fitzgerald, 110.), it shows he has the confidence that he is on the right track. However, the narrator Nick...
Words: 999 - Pages: 4
...The American Dream or the American Scream? A thought that runs through the minds of Americans from the beginning up until present day. Does it really exist? Is it worth it? Is it a goal someone will be able to achieve? One thing people know for sure is that the American Dream is common for everyone but the views of it differ for each individual. It depends mainly on your surrounding and someone’s social status. Americans have seen this ‘American Dream’ in everything from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book ‘The Great Gatsby’, to Thomas Jefferson’s ‘Declaration of independence’, and even to Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. All of those individuals are have the same idea of the American Dream throughout their piece but their view on what that Dream actually is differs. Patrick Henry does an exceptional job on portraying his view on the American Dream through strong imagery, allusions, tone, and appealing...
Words: 1168 - Pages: 5
...is caught reaching towards the green light as if he expects Daisy’s hand to be next to his. Gatsby has a sense of hope when looking at the light. That hope is carried on throughout the book. He believes that it is his way of staying connected to Daisy and hope to be reunited once again with her. He hopes that Daisy will learn to love him like she once did, and things would go back to like they were before. Daisy, of course, can’t bring herself to leave Tom for Gatsby. Gatsby continues in his hopeful fantasy of the past. He becomes overly consumed by his fantasies that his thought process in the present is manipulated into thinking that are just simply not reality. Its a dream that Gatsby strives for, and will go to any lengths to get it. When Gatsby realizes at the hotel that Daisy also shares love for Tom, Gatsby’s hope wavers a bit. The lost hope causes Gatsby to lose control at the hotel and go back to his non-gentleman ways. At the hotel we get a strong sense that Gatsby is so consumed by the past and his hope for Daisy. The strive for the “American Dream” is an undeniable symbol of the green light. It is Gatsby's inspiration as he aspires toward his unattainable dream. The American Dream...
Words: 1410 - Pages: 6
...F Scott Fitzgerald’s Classic American novel, The Great Gatsby, depicted the 1920’s American Dream and a strong side of hope that could drive your life in a positive direction, but can lead to a life of emptiness. The “Roaring Twenties” was a period filled with lavishness and carelessness. The stock market and economy was flourishing and being a part of this experience was every man’s dream. The true love Jay Gatsby had experienced in his young life as a soldier with the beautiful Daisy Buchanan- daughter of great American wealth, led him to follow the American Dream in hopes of making Daisy the happiest girl in the world by showering her with his wealth. But, Fitzgerald claims that even with Gatsby’s hard work and wealthy and hopes and elaborates dreams of stealing Daisy back, life doesn’t go as he anticipated. There isn’t much to lose for many men and women immovable in the lower classes of European society and in the poor lower class of the south and the Middle West regions in growing America. These people decided to come to the big cities on the East Coast in search of a new beginning-- just like Gatsby. Gatsby was born in a poor mid-western family. When he met Daisy, the love of his life, he decided that in order to please her he would have to leave everything he knew behind and follow the American Dream with the other men searching for a better, richer life. He was able to carry out this idea of the American Dream and became unthinkably rich. Once this was achieved he was...
Words: 871 - Pages: 4
...I stand before you today in a country with great turmoil. The American nation, as a whole, has lost its guidance. We are missing a strong leader. We need a leader that can bring back our jobs, can bring back our manufacturing, can bring back our military, and can take care of our vets. Our vets have been abandoned. We need to ensure that every Veteran gets timely access to top-quality care through the Veterans Administration or private Medicare providers if the Veterans Administration cannot provide timely access The Veterans Administration needs to be fixed and we need to help veterans to find good paying jobs. Veterans should come first in the country they fought to protect, and under a Trump Administration, they will. Our military is slowly...
Words: 667 - Pages: 3
...When The American Dream Fails The American Dream can mean several different things for each individual person. Some people have small dreams while others have crazy dreams that may be hard to achieve. Many people believe that if they achieve their American Dream, they will have a feeling of complete happiness and fulfillment. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan’s dreams bring them pain because they are never satisfied with what they already have. Jay Gatsby is an exceptional example of the American Dream failing. At first, the novel makes Gatsby appear very snobby and glamorous. But then we realize he’s just a simple man who’s in love with a very unattainable girl. He bases all of his dreams and his whole life off of one person. He only pursued his career to win back Daisy’s love. Gatsby moves into a house in the West Egg across from Daisy’s House in the East Egg. Only so he can gaze at the green light of Daisy’s dock and imagine being with her. In a way, the green light symbolizes Gatsby’s hope of achieving his American Dream. Which is to be wealthy, live in an extremely nice home, and have Daisy for himself. He goes through so much just to be with her again, changing his whole life and even lying for her. Daisy was the one who ran over Myrtle but Gatsby took the blame because his love for Daisy was so strong and all he wanted was his American Dream. So he would do whatever was possible to attain it. This dream failed because you...
Words: 548 - Pages: 3
...Illusion of the American Dream: The Great Gatsby It is the aspiration of every individual to obtain what he or she desires and to live a happy lifestyle. The American Dream is an idea that believes that all people can overcome financial and social challenges that are brought upon them and that they can become an important person to the country. In Fitzgerald’s mind, the characteristically American idea is an amalgam of feelings, romantic and adolescent emotions. After moving to Long Island, New York, Nick caraway finds himself fascinated in his mysterious and wealthy neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Getting to know him more, Nick found out that Gatsby was once left by the love of his life. Daisy also Nick’s cousin, after leaving for war and since then he went on a journey to success to hopefully one day impress and win back her love. Nick saw Gatsby as a man trying to live up to the American Dream and achieve all the goals that he works hard to reach, but only sees how it did not work. Fitzgerald’s novel can be interpreted as a mockery of the concept of the American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, through its thorough use of situational irony,...
Words: 941 - Pages: 4
...nation, but both used their writings to bring awareness about the follies of society. Hurston and Fitzgerald challenge the preconceived status quo of a perfect and progressive American society—set with values such as separate but equal, social classes, consumer culture, and so on—through their respective essay and novel, the former dealing with the erasure of African American culture due...
Words: 1156 - Pages: 5
...Immigration When you think of immigration, you think of Illegal immigration and Mexicans invading our country. Immigration goes back centuries. There are so many aspects of it and various cultures that immigrate to different countries. Let’s start with the immigration that I’m most familiar with which is Mexican immigration. I myself find the process very interesting. I was lucky enough be born in the United States, as well as my siblings; my parents however, weren’t as lucky. All, my life I thought that they were born in Mexico and someday my grandfather thought to bring his family to the states and that was it. When I grew older, I started to notice that both my parents had to show the customs agents their green card. I didn’t understand why. I asked my mother why she did that and she said “that’s how I can cross back to the states and we can all go home.” And here I thought all I had to say was “American Citizen”. Years passed and both my parents became naturalized citizens. I started working at my recent job about a year ago and a co-worker was getting married. She told me that she set the date for April but she was going to get married through the court house in November because she wanted to get the immigration paperwork started as soon as possible. She then started to tell me the process, and honestly, it’s exhausting. There are different types of process that you can take while immigrating someone. Some examples are: You can marry a Mexican...
Words: 1028 - Pages: 5
...Immigration When you think of immigration, you think of Illegal immigration and Mexicans invading our country. Immigration goes back centuries. There are so many aspects of it and various cultures that immigrate to different countries. Let’s start with the immigration that I’m most familiar with which is Mexican immigration. I myself find the process very interesting. I was lucky enough be born in the United States, as well as my siblings; my parents however, weren’t as lucky. All, my life I thought that they were born in Mexico and someday my grandfather thought to bring his family to the states and that was it. When I grew older, I started to notice that both my parents had to show the customs agents their green card. I didn’t understand why. I asked my mother why she did that and she said “that’s how I can cross back to the states and we can all go home.” And here I thought all I had to say was “American Citizen”. Years passed and both my parents became naturalized citizens. I started working at my recent job about a year ago and a co-worker was getting married. She told me that she set the date for April but she was going to get married through the court house in November because she wanted to get the immigration paperwork started as soon as possible. She then started to tell me the process, and honestly, it’s exhausting. There are different types of process that you can take while immigrating someone. Some examples are: You can marry a Mexican...
Words: 1028 - Pages: 5
...Many of the characters in the novel, The Great Gatsby, such as Gatsby, try to attain the American Dream throughout the story. For instance, Gatsby works as hard as he can in order to build up a substantial amount of money. He longs for Daisy to see all of the progress he has contrived in his life. Having Daisy as his wife, and having an abundance of money to spend is Gatsby’s perception of the American Dream. The poem “My life closed twice before its close” by Emily Dickinson can undoubtedly relate to Jay Gatsby’s character and his endeavor to attain the American Dream. Gatsby spends every day of his life working toward obtaining Daisy’s love and affection. He throws enormous parties with the hope that Daisy will attend one of them and he will be able to sweep her off her feet once again. When he finally meets Daisy again, Gatsby spends all of his time attempting to amuse her. He...
Words: 725 - Pages: 3
...Death of a Salesman Analysis In the play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller crucifies the old-fashioned American Dream. Miller, while striking down the old idea that being well liked equates to being successful, shows that the American Dream of yesteryear can no longer be achieved. This idea is shown in both the last section of Act 2 and in the Requiem. Arthur Miller illustrates the condemnation of the old American Dream through Biff’s epiphany, Happy’s delusional success, and Willy’s funeral. While Biff flees Oliver’s office, he comes to a sudden realization that he’s been lying to himself his entire life and that Willy’s outdated version of the American Dream is unachievable for Biff and has caused him to fail. To reiterate this, Miller uses the “sky” (Miller, 1520) as a symbol for Biff’s possibilities. This is ironic, because Biff is running through “the middle of the [office building] and [he saw] the sky” without there being any windows mentioned. The “sky” (1520) that Biff sees isn’t the real sky, but the open-ness and the freedom that it grants. The sky also represents Biff’s chance to escape the web of lies that he has entangled himself in since high school, as its vastness is open and clear. The next way that Biff’s realization shows that the old American Dream has been demolished is that he denounces himself and his father of faking their way through life. As Biff and Willy argue, Biff admits that “[he is] not a leader of men” (1520) and that Willy is not either...
Words: 1215 - Pages: 5
...help portray the actual situations the occurred during the 1920s. Fitzgerald used symbols, such as Dr. T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes, the green light, and the Valley of Ashes, throughout the story to bring about the true meaning behind the theme of “The American Dream”. In the beginning of Chapter 2, Fitzgerald first mentions the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. “The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic--their retinas are one yard high” (pg. 27). Shortly after, the narrator talks about meeting Tom Buchanan's mistress. “... we walked...
Words: 632 - Pages: 3
