COMMENTARY ON THE AMERICAN DREAM IN
"THE GREAT GATSBY"
During a discussion with a former teacher of mine, she
told me about her commentary on The Great Gatsby. She
talked to me about how F. Scott Fitzgerald had a very
pessimistic out look on the whole idea of the American
Dream. She told me that the character of Jay Gatsby was a
character who was always trying to reach the American
Dream but that it was impossible for him to ever reach.
The way Gatsby obtained his money was different from how
others of his high social class obtained their money.
Gatsby was on the wrong side of the egg and would never
be able to reach the American Dream.
After listening to what my former teacher had to say,
I began to have my own thoughts and ideas of the American
Dream in The Great Gatsby. The biggest example of the American Dream
that we see in this novel is Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby rose from an
impoverished childhood to then become a very wealthy man. Gatsby was
always trying to reach the American Dream, but it was also to far from
his grasp.
In the first chapter of the book one of our main characters, Nick,
is coming home from his cousin daisy house. When he gets home he sees
his neighbor Gatsby staring out across the sound to standing on the lawn
with his arms reaching out toward the dark water. Nick looks out at the
water, but all he can see is a distant green light that might mark the
end of a dock. In reality the green light is coming from Daisy's house
and Gatsby is craving strongly for Daisy.
One thing many people might not notice is that color plays a big
roll in The Great Gatsby. The color green represents Gatsby's lust not
only for Daisy, but also Daisy and her money. One thing that really
draws Gatsby to Daisy is her large sum of money. Another color that
plays into The Great Gatsby is the color white. At one point in the text
Daisy talks about her "white" child hood. She uses the term "white" as a
way to show that it was pure. Often in the novel Daisy is seen in white,
which then give her this sort of pure essence.
Another big idea in The Great Gatsby is where
the characters live. East Egg (where Daisy lives
with Tom) is where the wealthy and rich live, the
upper class. The West Egg (where Nick and Gatsby
live) is still nice but isn't where the majority
of the rich people live. Gatsby lives on West Egg
and this factor is odd for someone of his social
status. This shows us that it's just one more
reason Gatsby can't reach the American Dream.
Through out the novel Gatsby is trying to
reach his American Dream. He gets Nick, Daisy,
Tom, Jordan, and a whole skew of characters to get
involved with him. Through out the novel we see
all of these factors of Gatsby trying to reach
the American Dream, but in the end it is the cause
of his death. He tried so hard to get what he
wanted, he tried so hard to reach something
unreachable and in the end it killed him.
In the novel Gatsby says a quote that actually shows where people
fall in to the American Dream. "There are only the pursued, the
pursuing, the busy, and the tired." This quote is a great example of
where people fall into place and stay. This novel is one of the best
examples of the American Dream.
