In The Great Gatsby, By F. Scott Fitzgerald, Many Themes Essay Example For Students

In The Great Gatsby, By F. Scott Fitzgerald, Many Themes Essay are enclosed; the most salient of these themes is relatedto the American Dream. The American Dream is based on theidea that any person, no matter what they are, can becomesuccessful in life by his or her hard work. The dream alsoembodies the idea of a self-sufficient person, anentrepreneur making it successful for themselves. The GreatGatsby is about what happened to the American Dream duringthe 1920s, an era when the dream had been corrupted by therelentless pursuit of wealth. In this novel, the pursuit ofthe American Dream and the pursuit of a romantic dream arethe ultimate causes of the downfall of the books titlecharacter, Jay Gatsby. Throughout the story, Jay Gatsby avoids telling thetruth of his hard, unglamorous childhood. He does this tokeep his superficial image of himself and to save himselffrom the embarrassment of being in a state of poverty duringhis youth. His parents were lazy and unsuccessful peoplewho worked on the farm, and because of this Gatsby neverreally accepted them as his parents. Jay Gatsbys real nameis James Gatz and he is from the very unexciting NorthDakota. He changed his name to Jay Gatsby when he wasseventeen years old, which was the beginning of his versionof the American Dream. In all realities Gatsby arose fromhis Platonic view of himself, the idealistic self-view thata seventeen year old boy has of himself (Fitzgerald 104). Though concealed for most of the story, Gatsbysembarrassing childhood is a major source of determination inhis attempt to achieve the American Dream. During Gatsbys early adulthood, he joined the army. Hefirst met Daisy when he was at Camp Taylor and he and someother officers stopped by her house. He initially lovedDaisy because of her extraordinary house and because manyother men had been with her already. One evening inOctober, during 1917, Gatsby fell in love with Daisy Fay,and in turn she fell in love with Gatsby. Daisy was thefirst ?nice girl that he had ever known (Fitzgerald 155). Their love was an uneasy one at first for Gatsby tocomprehend because he wasnt rich by any standards and hefelt that he wasnt worthy of Daisys affection, but hisuneasiness was uplifted when he and Daisy fell in love andwhen he found out that Daisy knew a lot because he knew avariety of things that she didnt. Their month of love wasphysically ended when Gatsby had to go to war, but theiremotional love never ended. As Gatsby performed brilliantlythroughout the war, they wrote each other frequently. Daisycouldnt understand why Gatsby couldnt come home. Shewanted her love to be their with her, she needed someassurance that she was doing the right thing. It didnttake long for Daisy to get over Jay because in the Spring of1918 she fell in love with a rich, former All-Americancollege football player named Tom Buchanon. This broke JayGatsbys heart. His love for Daisy was a strong one and hewas determined to get her back. This first love with Daisyhad a great impact on his idea of one of the aspects ofachieving the American Dream. Throughout the novel, the reader is mislead about howGatsby became wealthy. Gatsby claims on several differentoccasions that he inherited his parents immense fortune. This is a story that Gatsby made up in order to keep hisself-image up by not letting people know about hischildhood. The truth is that Gatsby got rich by illegalmeasures. He was friends with the notorious MeyerWolfsheim. Meyer Wolfsheim was the racketeer who supposedlyfixed the World Series of 1919. He was Gatsbys connectionto organized crime, in which Gatsby became rich. Gatsbystrue sources to richness were selling bootleg liquor in hischain of drug stores and creating a giant business to getrid of and sell stolen Liberty bonds (Mizener 188). Gatsbys methods of gaining wealth corrupt the morality ofthe American Dream although they help him to achieve it. It did not take long for Gatsby to attempt to win Daisyback after he returned from the army. Jay Gatsby had thisromantic view of Daisy and himself together and happyforever. He felt the best way to achieve this idea would befor him to become at least as rich as Daisys husband TomBuchanon. He knows that the best ways for him to pryDaisys affection away from Tom are gaining wealth andgaining material possessions. Daisy is a shallow woman whois easily overwhelmed by material items. Gatsbys main wayto show off his wealth and material possessions were tothrow lavish parties. His parties featured the finestdrinks and live jazz bands. The parties were so huge thatNick Carraway, Gatsbys best friend and the narrator of thebook, alluded to them as the Worlds Fair. Not only did theparties fulfill Gatsbys reasons for having them, but theyalso showed his grand sense of pride that stemmed from hisrichness. Is it Glorious to Die for your Country? EssayThese things never happen but it is the fact that Gatsby wasconcerned about her well- being and Daisy was not concernedwith Gatsbys well- being that is important. She is just ashallow person who does not know the meaning of the wordlove. She is caught up in the times and in living themoraless and careless lifestyle that she leads. She couldcare less about what happens to anyone except for herself. This whole situation proves that she is definitely notdeserving of the high pedestal that Gatsby has placed her on(Internet 1). This is the greatest blow to his romanticdream of him and Daisy being together forever because shechooses Tom over Gatsby in a time of crisis. It shows thatthe man that she truly wants to be with the most is the manshe is living with now. Gatsby realizes this and his lifebegins to be pointless. This is his dream brought toreality. The dream is completely dissipated and will knowsit will never be achieved. It did not take long for George Wilson, Myrtleshusband, to trace the yellow car which killed his wife backto Jay Gatsby. Because George Wilson wants revenge for hiswifes death, and he believes it is Gatsby who killed hiswife, he goes to Gatsbys estate and kills Gatsby and thenhimself. This is the tragic end of Gatsbys life. All ofhis heroism, his rapid rise to the top, all brought to acalamitous end because Daisy did not love him as much as heloved her. Although Gatsbys romantic dream was alreadydead, his version of the American Dream was still alive andbeaming. He still had everything going for him; his youth,money, and personality. Gatsby is morally superior to hisfellow East Eggers and Nick acknowledges this when he tellsGatsby, Youre worth the whole damn bunch put together. (Fitzgerald 162). To have it all taken away for somethinghe had not even done was the greatest misfortune of theentire novel. Gatsbys death is made even more saddening at hisfuneral. Nick tried to make Gatsbys funeral respectablebut only he, Gatsbys father, and one of Gatsbysacquaintances attended the funeral. None of Gatsbysracketeering friends came, nor did the love of his life,Daisy. Nick truly cared about Jay Gatsby although nobodyelse did. He exemplified what a true friend is and did whatonly a friend would do for another friend. Daisy did notseem to feel a tiny bit of sadness over Gatsbys death. This is shown in her not attending his funeral and insteadgoing away with Tom on a vacation. In the end, the most that can be said is that The GreatGatsby is a dramatic affirmation in fictional terms of theAmerican spirit in the midst of an American world thatdenies the soul (Bewley 46). Gatsbys strong desire forwealth and Daisy, the American and romantic dreamrespectively, prove to be the greatest reasons for his gravedownfall at the hands of a ruthless society. Works CitedBewley, Marius. Scott Fitzgerald and the Collapse of theAmerican Dream. Modern Critical Views: F. ScottFitzgerald. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea HousePublishers, 1985: 32-45. Mizener, Arthur. F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby.The American Novel: From James Fenimore Cooper toWilliam Faulkner. Ed. Wallace Stegner. New York:Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1965: 180-191. Scott Fitzgerald, Frances. The Great Gatsby. New York:Macmillan Publishing Company, 1925. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Online: SchoolPapers, Microsoft Network, November 19,1997. Way, Brian. The Great Gatsby. Modern CriticalInterpretations. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: ChelseaHouse Publishers, 1986: 87-105.