The Destruction Of The American Dream English Literature Essay

The American Dream is a journey through life that people venture out on to accomplish ends, fiscal stableness and felicity. One can state that dreams went manus in manus with strength and hope. Although that is true, the clip of the 1920 ‘s dreams were tainted by the demand of mercenary points and munificent life styles. Author Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald reveals the devastation of the American dream through symbolism in the life of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is determined to resuscitate his past immature love affair with the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan but unluckily his dream is destroyed because of his greed. Gatsby knows that he wants something and person that he can ne’er hold.

Jay Gatsby destroys the opportunity of holding a normal life when he pushes himself to make an impossible end of being with Daisy for the remainder of his life ; desiring to do her his married woman. In order to be the adult male she ‘ll of all time desire and necessitate, he changed himself from a hapless adult male who is James Gatz to a successful Jay Gatsby. This end greatly impacted his life and would alter him everlastingly. His thrust was so strong that he had even gone through with such illegal behaviours such as bootlegging. The lone ground why Gatsby had invested so much clip to go wealthy is merely because he knew this is what Daisy needed in adult male. Gatsby knew that Daisy would ne’er get married a adult male without fiscal stableness and security, so Gatsby worked himself to be a adult male that Daisy could get married. No affair how hard he tried to be a suited adult male for Daisy, Gatsby would ne’er hold the opportunity to marry his love.

A A A A After Gatsby has established himself as a successful adult male, he feels ready to reunite with Daisy. Now cognizing Gatsby is the perfect adult male, the love of her life that evidently has a batch of money ; Daisy begins to pass her clip reminiscing about the love they shared. Gatsby still remains highly close to Daisy, invariably prosecuting her and wishing that one twenty-four hours she will portion the feelings he has and would desire to be with him everlastingly. Towards the terminal of the novel, it can be seen that Daisy will non go forth the life she has now to be with Gatsby. Gatsby is “ … left standing in the moonlight-watching over nil ” ( 153 ) .

“ And as I sat at that place, dwelling on the old unknown universe, I thought of Gatsby ‘s admiration when he foremost picked out the green visible radiation at the terminal of Daisy ‘s dock. He had come a long manner to this bluish lawn and his dream must hold seemed so near that he could barely neglect to hold on it. He did non cognize that it was already behind himaˆ¦ . ” ( 189 ) The green visible radiation symbolizes a hope and dream of Gatsby ‘s hereafter with daisy. Although his bosom pushes him frontward and he remains strong, his dreams are destroyed by his stuff ownerships, much like how the American society is now with it ‘s compulsion with wealth. Gatsby ‘s dream dies because of sloppiness and shallowness. Gatsby reaches for his hopes, ranges for the green visible radiation as if he was a worshipper of some kind. His mission of deriving Daisy is a religious one and non merely a physical enterprise. “ He was a boy of God – a phrase which, if it means anything, means merely that – and he must be about His Father ‘s concern, the service of a huge, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented merely the kind of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old male child would be probably to contrive, and to this construct he was faithful to the terminal. ” ( 63 )

The symbolism in The Great Gatsby, show that the American dream has been corrupted. Gatsby has finally corrupted himself and his ain dream before he even set out to accomplish it. He fails in his mission because of the mercenary success he must possess to fulfill the love of his life. So hence, his dream fails before he even begins. So, Gatsby ‘s dreams become merely another hope, another visible radiation at the terminal of Daisy ‘s dock. “ Gatsby believed in the green visible radiation, the orgiastic hereafter that twelvemonth by twelvemonth recedes before us. It eluded us so, but that ‘s no affair – tomorrow we will run quicker, stretch out our weaponries farther aˆ¦ And one mulct forenoon – So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back endlessly into the yesteryear. ” ( 115 )

Gatsby ‘s life was led by dishonest success and unanswered love. He abandoned a life of being potentially a better individual from his earlier life. Gatsby was foolish and threw his life off to derive Daisy ‘s love. He wanted more than he could of all time manage emotionally or physically have. She ruined his life. Scott Fitzgerald is capable to capturing an of import word picture of how the American dream was destroyed and how it affected work forces like Gatsby. Gatsby ‘s being in West Egg was wholly for Daisy. Gatsby changed who he was to suit into Daisy ‘s life. Gatsby merely wanted to be the adult male that was able to hold Daisy and in the terminal they both ruined him and ne’er reunited.