Posted: May 1st, 2022

The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The American Dream In The Great Gatsby
The American Dream is a pipe dream that many people have. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby
Generally speaking, “the American dream” is a phrase that refers to an individual’s desire for success, material prosperity, and other achievements of a different sort, which implies rise from societal bottoms – such as poverty – to recognition, money, and glory. It can also refer to the desire for prosperity and confidence in the future, which manifests itself in the ability to purchase a home of one’s own, obtain a decent career, and rise to a prominent position in society. Additionally, it can convey the possibility of becoming extraordinarily wealthy. The aforementioned characterizes the American dream in the public mind of citizens of the United States, and as such, it is written in the dictionary of the English language. However, once the concept is introduced into the literary work, it is subject to the writer’s comprehension and is filtered through the prism of his or her perception. A fascinating and ambiguous version of this concept can be found in Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby.” Because of the unrealistic ambition of a “earthly sanctuary for a single person, perfect equality of opportunity, and limitless space for an individual, the roots of the major conflict may be traced back to the origins of all American social backgrounds. People flock to the “American Dream,” which captured the imagination of the novel’s protagonist, Jay Gatsby.

“The American Dream” is a fantasy of an earthly haven for a “single person”: in America, in this land of universal equality, the common man is stymied on his approach to the top rungs of the social ladder, and this is known as “the Great Divide.” A complete code of conduct for every believer in a “Dream,” Jay Gatsby has established for himself from his youth, and Gatsby is determined to try diligently, thriftily, and work hard in order to make his way in life, to demonstrate by his own example that the odds are equal for all and that only the qualities of the individual are important. As the novel “The Great Gatsby” illustrates, the ability to concurrently maintain two diametrically opposed concepts, entering one into the other and resulting in dramatic plot movement and character development was termed by the author himself as “double vision.” The sad nature of the main character is reflected in the novel’s dualities. There are numerous metaphors used to contrast this double perspective with the events that occur within it: a carnival on the Gatsby estate – a garbage dump adjacent to his house, a “green light” of happiness – dead eyes looking from a giant billboard, and so on. The fragile poetry of the “Jazz Age” and its polar opposites: rampant grasping instincts, which characterized the period.

The Novel’s Symbolic Pathos
The ideological and moral pathos of the story is derived from the fact that the author began with the notion of historical regularity in order to interpret the “dream.” It is by this technique that the protagonist’s figure is shown as though in two dimensions: he is a romantic, a dreamer who worships beauty and kindness, and at the same time he is the bearer of the ideals of the “consumption” culture, complete with its extravagant magnificence and ostentation. So we have a romantic image of the hero (Gatsby having a dream about meeting Daisy) and an entirely practical, business-like image (Gatsby’s activity as a bootlegger) in the depiction of the hero. It is true that very little is said about the hero’s second side of his life, as Fitzgerald felt it was more important to reveal the tragedy of a young man’s romantic aspirations, which he did by revealing the tragedy of ideals and dreams that had been lost to him both socially and morally in the past.

The character of Gatsby is characterized by obscurity and vagueness. In reality, he is “vague” because he is torn between two conflicting aspirations, two opposing conceptions. A belief in Gatsby’s naivety, the simplicity of the heart, the unwavering reflection of the “green light,” the star of “the tremendous future happiness” in which he believes with all his heart is one of these beliefs. The other is the level-headed individual who has become accustomed to the insecure but lucrative game of the bootlegger, and who, on the happiest day of his life, when Daisy walks through the door of his home, dials his phone and gives directions to the various branches of his “business.” On the one hand, this is an indication of wishful thinking; on the other, it is an illustration of practicality and financial promiscuity, without which there would be no home or millions of dollars. Excellent deeds and a flexible conscience that flow seamlessly into one another Fitzgerald is drawn to energy and strength, yet he is bothered by a waste of energy that isn’t being used.

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