The American dream in The Great Gatsby

Résumé du document

Essay on the novel and history of "The American Dream in the Great Gatsby": "His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him" (F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby).

Extraits

[...] The author already feels that speculation risks have reached a no return point and takes the opportunity to denounce a too materalistic society. Through the use of symbols, Fitzgerald tends to make us believe that we all are Jay Gatsby. As he promises himself that : “tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther » (F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, 1925), we think we do the same. At that point, the novel contains a part of universalism and, beyond the American ideals, question some metaphysical essentials. [...]

[...] The novel appears full of symbols and meanings.To start with, the Green light represents the heroe's inner hopes toward his lover, Daisy. There is a confrontation between real love expression and ideal one. And obviously, the high one loses. This is a typical American theme. Then, we may notice the symbolic Valley of Ashes, which accounts for the great and awful consequences of Americans' obsession for money and richness. At that point, New York perfectly embodies this process of one's dream fading away. [...]

[...] Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby). If these words perfectly transcribe the complexity and risk involved in the process of following one's dream up to the end, they also accurately paste to the strength of the American Dream in this highly portraying and pessimistic novel. Here comes an ordinary heroe, Jay Gatsby, with two dreams which show how unrealistic is the great American Dream. At that point, we may ask why is it so linked to fatality and despair ? Let's first define the concept of American Dream. [...]