The Collapse of Dreams in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great...

The novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream, and the downfall of those who attempt to reach its illusionary goals. In the Great Gatsby the dream is that through wealth and power, one can acquire happiness. To get this happiness, Jay Gatsby must reach into the past and relive an old dream. In order to achieve his dream, he must have wealth and power. Jay Gatsby is one character that longs for the past. He devotes most of his adult like trying to recapture it and dies in its search. In Jays past, he had a love affair with a wealthy woman named, Daisy. Knowing he could not marry her because of the difference in their social position, he leaves her to make his wealth to†¦show more content†¦Eventually, Gatsby uses his new friendship with neighbor Nick Carraway to see Daisy again. At tea Gatsby asks Daisy to go next door to his house so he can show her around. Trying to impress Daisy with his wealth. He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them one by one before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick fine flannel which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray, (97). Daisy is just stunned by how he lives and the things that he has in his life. Gatsby is a man who has devoted his whole life to something and is never sidetracked. All he wants is to return to the time when Daisy loved him. Gatsby needs to determine if what he is striving for is foolish or is a tangible goal. Take into consideration that things never stay the same, and people change their minds about others over time. Gatsbys power and wealth are demonstrated in a situation where he avoids a policeman by showing him a card that he received from the commissioner. We slowed down, taking a white card from his wallet he waved it before the mans eyes, (72). Many times money and power can acquire happiness, but sometimes the two can fail. An example of Gatsbys failure of power is displayed at the time of his death. The residents of East and West Egg have moved on to different cities without tellingShow MoreRelatedViews of Entitlement in the Great Gatsby1596 Words   |  7 PagesThe Great Gatsby as Fitzgerald’s explanation of an American Reality which contradicts the American Dream That was always my experience—a poor boy in a rich town; a poor boy in a rich boys school; a poor boy in a rich mans club at Princeton.... However, I have never been able to forgive the rich for being rich, and it has colored my entire life and works.   —F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters, ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli. New York: Scribners, 1994. pg. 352. The Great Gatsby, by F. ScottRead MoreIllusion and Reality in The Great Gatsby Essay1548 Words   |  7 Pagesand Reality in The Great Gatsby  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about one mans disenchantment with the American dream. 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