The Great Gatsby (Essay Sample)

Students Name Instructors Name Course Name Due Date The Great Gatsby (Question 3) The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald that takes the Roaring Twenties as its setting, stands out as one of the most insightful pieces of writing about the American Dream and its inherent corruption through the excesses of money and materialism. First published in 1925, the novel praises the spirit of an age that had fallen under the spell of unprecedented economic growth, rampant industrialization, and a constant focus on and obsession with material wealth. While glittering on the surface, the story underlines the deception of the American Dream through the lens of Jay Gatsby's pitiful life story. By using the example of Jay Gatsby, whose sole desire was to fulfill his dream, the novel illustrates the connections between dreams, wealth, and time, showing that individuality and impermanence could be the end results when one strives for material gain. The symbol value of Gatsby, the book's mysterious millionaire, becomes undeniable as his enormous wealth and exaggerated lifestyle only serve as a mask for his genuine desire to re-live the nostalgic past with a lover he once lost. The American Dream, which the author seeks to convey, is rooted in the character of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire whose wealth and lifestyle hide a longing for the past and a desperate endeavor to restore a lost love. Gatsby's journey is defined by a firm conviction that money, no matter what the circumstances, is capable of erasing time and social barriers, although it ended tragically for him (Cain, 453). Through Fitzgerald's depiction of the American Dream, the central contradiction lies within the promise of mobility and the social divide by class and status. Gatsby's lavish mansion and over-the-top parties serve as a screen to mask his fixed idea of being able to win back the love of the woman he once loved, Daisy Buchanan, who now belongs to the upper class (Cain, 457). Propelled by such a romantic dream, Gatsby unseeingly chases after wealth as a mere tool, not knowing the void and disenchantment he will experience. The American Dream of the 1920s was tarnished by the compulsive, unrestrained, and materialistic pursuit of wealth, as can be seen in the novel's portrayal of the lives of the rich and famous. The ostentatious parties that are lavishly thrown and the manifestations of wealth in the book provide a beautiful contrast to the dreams and hopes of the working class represented by characters like George Wilson and the inhabitants of the Valley of Ashes. The American dream in the 1920s, according to Fitzgerald, was criticized because the pursuit of wealth and status often denied moral integrity, human connection, and true happiness. Egregious actions and moral decay of characters such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the elite class, are the symbols of emptiness and artificiality during this period of money pursuit (Jiajia 131). Fitzgerald is seen to portray the situation of the American dream in the way it once stood for the values of hard work and progression, becoming corrupted by the ills of greed and materialism. The relationship between dreams, money, and time is one of the major themes in The Great Gatsby, and the novel is an exploration of the pointlessness of trying to return to the past by means of material possessions. Gatsby's fixation on re-living his once-great love for Daisy Buchanan urges him to gather immense wealth and create a grandiose facade that he hopes will enable him to reclaim Daisy's love (Fitzgerald 8). On the other hand, their dream finally falls apart under the influence of the grim nature of time and the unfeasibility of the authentic revival of the past. Through Fitzgerald's depiction of Gatsby's demise, we come to realize that wealth is only transient and in vain, trying to control time with objects. The novelist hints at the fact that regardless of how much wealth one manages to amass, the past remains impervious to change, and the attempt to revert to the past is a waste of time that eventually results in disenchantment and sadness. The fate of Gatsby shows the deceptive side of money, which tells us we cannot buy back the lost time or rewrite history. ...