The 'Great Gatsby' can be regarded as a social satire and an observation of The American Dream - Discuss
The 'Great Gatsby' can be regarded as a social satire and an observation of The American Dream Navina Kurup IBS-1 English November 11,2004 The Great Gatsby is observed as a social satire of the United States in the roaring twenties, where Fitzgerald exposes the American Dream as a flawed fantasy merely generated by over-indulgence. America was established in the conception of equality, where any individual could have equal opportunities and success on the substratum of their abilities and effort, which can be described as the American Dream. The former president Abraham Lincoln confirmed this surmise, as he himself was an impoverished, disadvantaged little boy who became president through his efforts. The Great Gatsby is set in the twenties, which was a period of contradictions and inquietude. The ghastly shock of the war was just ended, and it was now time for people to forget their wretchedness and have fun. This created a society obsessed with materialism and prodigality which eliminated moral values and traditional beliefs, and became engaged in a life of pointless extravagance and indulgence. The 'Great Gatsby' can be regarded as a social satire and remarks on the downfall of moral values and excessive indulgence of society. When different characters in the novel are viewed, it is obvious that not all have the same social standings in society. Nick's father comments
'The American Dream not only fails to fulfil its promise but also contributes to the decay of social values' (Tyson 1999). How far does The Great Gatsby demonstrate this view of the American Dream?
'The American Dream not only fails to fulfil its promise but also contributes to the decay of social values' (Tyson 1999). How far does The Great Gatsby demonstrate this view of the American Dream? The American Dream is often portrayed in literature as the pursuit of ultimate happiness with regard to life and employment. The stereotypical protagonist of an early-twentieth century American novel is self-reliant and a hard worker, seeking to make a successful living through motivation and perseverance. Jay Gatsby himself has pursued this dream and is a success story in terms of wealth, though the novel may be viewed as an exploration of the corrupted ideal that the American Dream became in the 1920's when people with newly acquired wealth sought to flaunt what they owned. It is largely the owned wealth in the novel that is presented as an ideal; social values and morality are shown as corrupt and indeed unimportant alongside material prosperity. Nick narrates in Chapter One, "I decided to go east and learn the bond business," and presents a stark contrast between his small new house and those on either side that 'rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season'. This affirms the importance of wealth from Nick's perception and equally from that of the other inhabitants of West Egg. They are the newly rich, who have worked hard and earned their money in a relatively short period
The Great Gatsby
Steven Lin Period 8 English 11 Mr. Glatt The capacity to dream is a natural characteristic possessed by all mankind. Americans living in a country based on the philosophy of pursuing great American dreams go about pursuing their own goals in many ways. Ironically the American dream itself is the ultimate illusion that can never satisfy those who pursue it. The American dream was only possible when it was a potential. Nick in Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, realized this as he imagines a past when the Dutch first laid their eyes on the vast wilderness of the uninhabited United States. Gatsby's ideals in this novel are the ideals of all Americans. Gatsby and Americans search for a dream and yet nobody truly understands what it is they are really in search of. People go about fulfilling these dreams by using cheap reality and in the end it does not measure up to the size of the dream itself; the dreamer is bound to be disappointed with every accomplishment of the dream. At the conclusion of Fitzgerald's book, The Great Gatsby, the main character Gatsby has recently died and Nick stands facing the front door of Gatsby's mansion. From this moment, Nick looks at Gatsby's house for a last time. He sees a swear word on the wall, and like Holden in the book, The Catcher in the Rye, he too crosses the word out; trying to preserve the innocence. Nick wants to keep
Was Gatsby Great
How Great is Gatsby? The title of the novel, 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is ironic as the heading's character is neither 'great' nor named Gatsby. He is a criminal who has altered his harsh surname of Gatz to the melodic Gatsby and the life he has created for himself is an illusion. The book's name is the first feature that appeals to the reader. Before even opening the book the person expects Gatsby to be great. The caption, 'The Great Gatsby', itself suggests a theatrical billing given to an artist. It could also symbolise the act of Gatsby's life in the novel. Fitzgerald presents Gatsby as living a luxurious life, with plenty of friends, no worries and an honest man. Yet by the end of the novel his whole illusion unravels and the reader discovers that he has many problems, he is dishonest and has no true friends. One of the ways in which Gatsby is 'great' is the fact that he is extremely wealthy and owns many material items such as a yellow station wagon and a "Rolls-Royce". Fitzgerald uses descriptive words such as "hulking patent cabinets', "massed suits" and "shirts pilled up like bricks in stacks a dozen high" to emphasise Gatsby's luxurious lifestyle. Furthermore, to encapsulate his wealth Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby in royal, rich colours like "Indian blue" and "apple green and lavender." Materialism is important to Gatsby as he sees it as the only
Death of the American Dream
Death of the American Dream In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, all the characters are, in one way or another, attempting to achieve a state of happiness in their lives. The main characters are divided into two groups: the rich upper class and the poorer lower class, which struggles to attain a higher position. Though the major players seek only to change their lives for the better, the idealism and spiritualism of the American Dream is eventually crushed beneath the harsh reality of life, leaving their lives without any meaning or purpose. Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the rich socialite couple, seem to have everything they could possibly desire; however, though their lives are full of material possessions, they are unsatisfied and seek to change their circumstances. Tom, the arrogant ex-football player, drifts on "forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game"(Fitzgerald pg. 10) and reads "deep books with long words in them"(pg. 17) in order to have something to talk about. Though he appears happily married to Daisy, Tom has an affair with Myrtle Wilson and keeps an apartment with her in New York. Tom's basic nature of unrest prevents him from being satisfied with the life he
Symbolism in the Great Gatsby
Symbolism in The "Great Gatsby" The critic Harold Bloom once wrote, "Never has symbolism played such a crucial part in the very foundation of a novel as it does in Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby." Essentially the great gatsby appears to be a novel depicting the doomed romance between a man and a woman. However, the main theme of the novel is a completely un-romantic one. Although the novel only takes place over several months, and only in New York, it serves as a microcosm for the 'Jazz Age' of America, and of the famous American Dream. Fitzgerald illustrates this time as being one of moral deprivation ( Tom Buchanan's racism), as well as a decay in social values, as the characters actions are powered by greed, and the empty pursuit of pleasure ( the promiscuity of Tom, Daisy and Myrtle). This sort of behaviour was typical of the 1920's and because of this behaviour ,parties- not dissimiliar to the opulent parties hosted by none other than 'The Great Gatsby'- were in abundance in this time. These parties were a corruption of 'The American Dream' because 'The Dream' was no longer about achieving a better life than your parents, however in the eyes of money americans 'better' translated to 'richer', so the thirst for money depicted in the novel, is symbolic for the attitudes of both men and women in 1920's America. Nick explains in chapter 9, that the
Symbolism in The Great Gatsby.
Symbolism in The Great Gatsby By 1925, author F. Scott Fitzgerald was known primarily as the historian of the Jazz Age and chronicler in slick American weeklies of the American flapper. Perhaps this is why critics and reviewers were caught off-guard in that year, at the height of the Roaring Twenties, when Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby, a story cited today as the Great American Novel. It is true, as Magnum Bryant says, "The simple romance of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan is merely the foundation for a narrative structure that accommodates Fitzgerald's ideas about irreconcilable contradictions within the American Dream and ultimately about the ideal quest itself"(Byrant n.pg.). The intricate weaving of the various stories within The Great Gatsby is accomplished through a complex symbolic substructure of the narrative. The primary images and symbols that Fitzgerald employs in developing the theme of The Great Gatsby are the green light, the Valley of Ashes, and the overlooking eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. The green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan's dock is the first use of one of the novel's central symbols. The initial appearance of the green light occurs when the narrator, Nick Caraway, sees Gatsby standing in front of his mansion, stretching out "his arms toward the dark water in a curious way" (Fitzgerald 26; ch. 1). From his own house Nick believes that he can
Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby,
Simon Everett Task A -Examine the relationships between the narrator of each novel and the character who so fascinates them in each case. Over the last fifty years, since the release of On The Road in 1957, it has not been uncommon for critics to draw parallels between Kerouac's semi-autobiographical novel and Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, released thirty-two years previously. It is for certain that both the novels share many similar traits, both examine concepts of American ideals and The American Dream, both are heavily influenced by the jazz age of the time, but nothing binds the novels closer to one another than the authors' use of the first person narrative and that narrators relationship with their leading character. It is perhaps the most common reading to see both Jay Gatsby and Dean Moriarty awarded iconic status by their corresponding narrators. The connotations concerning the epithet found in the very centre of Fitzgerald's title alone can bring an image to the reader's mind of one of history's great leaders, putting Gatsby in league with characters such as Alexander the Great, Catherine the Great, Peter the Great and Frederick the Great. It would seem obvious from the title that Gatsby is one beheld with admiration and respect by the narrator. The relationship between Kerouac's Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty is often viewed in much the same light. The
The Great Gatsby
Terence Landman Prose Essay The Great Gatsby Look closely at the details presented, the snatches of dialogue, and Nick's comments, in order to explain how Fitzgerald renders this episode in both positive and negative ways. The two-page extract from the Great Gatsby has various themes, motives and symbolism running at its roots. This essay will attempt at deciphering these symbols and clearly expressing their true meaning, as well as the course they help to create in Fitzgerald rendering this episode in both positive and negative ways. Gatsby's house is compared several times to that of a feudal lord, and his imported clothes, antiques, and luxuries all display nostalgia for the lifestyle of a British aristocrat. Though Nick and Daisy are amazed and dazzled by Gatsby's splendid possessions, a number of things in Nick's narrative suggest that something is not right about this transplantation of an aristocrat's lifestyle into a democratic America. Nick creates, through visual imagery an imaginary representation of Gatsby's house in his readers. He expresses the beauty embedded in the gardens, "the sparkling odour of jonquils and the frothy odour of hawton..." (88) the various eras and architectural designs, "Marie Antoinette music-rooms and Restoration Salons" (88) and lastly the different themes captured by these rooms, "through period bedrooms swathed in rose and
The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby symbolizes an era. It is both an indictment and a glorification of the 'Jazz Age' and proved the most enduring novel to come out of America in the inter-war period. Jay Gatsby, the hero of the title, represents all that is glorious and tarnished about the 'Roaring Twenties'. It was an age before the Great Depression, when the economy was booming and conspicuous consumption was the order of the day. Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda subscribed to this era of wanton abandon every bit as much as the characters in The Great Gatsby - it was hard to know which was the more celebrated - Fitzgerald or his work. At the same time as reveling in the affluence of the time, Fitzgerald could appreciate its lack of profundity. He was too intelligent to be a mere socialite, and his disenchantment is captured perfectly in The Great Gatsby This double view of his own existence contributes to the success of The Great Gatsby. We are presented with two characters who seemingly represent the dichotomy Fitzgerald sees in himself - Nick Carraway, the boy from the mid-West who is wide-eyed at the showiness of the materialism he sees around him; and Jay Gatsby, who represents and fully subscribes to this material world. However, as Fitzgerald states in his biographical work The Crack Up, 'the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold
