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Copyright(c)1992;Vaqar Khan
May be used for essays on The Great Gatsby! Its amazing...
"Ämêτïçäⁿ Dτéäm"
The "American Dream" is a lifestyle many can dream of, but
only a few can accomplish. It is the concept of making money and
fulfilling all of one's dreams and fantasies through any means
necessary. When people picture America, two things come to mind:
the red, white and blue, and the land of opportunity. America may
be the land of opportunity, but one must take advantage of
opportunity because opportunity only knocks once. The nineteen
twenties was a very strange, yet illustrious time for many. It was
known as the "Jazz Era" and the western-world was in an economic
boom. The majority of the world was literally "minting" money,
through various legitimate and illegitimate forms of business.
Man's ultimate goal in the twenties was wealth and, "Being the best
you can be!" Francis Scott Fitzgerald's critically acclaimed novel,
The Great Gatsby reveals the corrupt "American Dream" of the
twenties by revealing the lusts, wants, and moral depravity of the
main characters, Nick Carraway, Myrtle Wilson, Jay Gatsby, Daisy
Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan.
When one pictures the corrupt "American Dream", often a
devious undermining criminal comes to mind, but Nick Carraway is a
far cry from being a criminal. Nick Carraway is a young, upcoming
bond salesman from the Midwest who comes to New York to seek fame
and fortune. His morals and style are that of a gentleman, but his
overwhelming desire for wealth, his fascination with Jay Gatsby,
and his lust for Jordan Baker help destroy the "true" gentlemen.
Nick Carraway is a person who desires wealth. He wants to fit in
with the "rich crowd" and he lusts for life in the fast lane"
he to (Nick), like Gatsby, had come East from the
Middle West that "seemed like the ragged edge of
the universe" to seek his fortune.
(Stavola, 1979, 133)
This quotation reveals that Nick seeks his fortune, and he
unfortunately is no different from anyone else. Nick's stint of
attending parties also shows a sense of wanting to belong and be
wealthy.
Nick can gaze in envious wonder across the bay at
"white palaces of fashionable East Egg."
(Lee, 1989, 102)
This quote reveals that Nick is fascinated by and envious of the
rich and powerful. After Nick meets Tom and later Gatsby, he
attends many parties and get togethers that he is truly fascinated
with.
Nick not only wants to be wealthy, but he also desires the
friendship and respect, of perhaps the wealthiest man in all of New
York, Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby, to Nick, is "God and the Devil",
both rolled into one. From the moment the novel begins, Nick shows
a desire to meet The Great Gatsby : "As soon as I arrived I made an
attempt to find my host." (Fitzgerald, 1980, 43) Nick says this
quote when he arrives at his first "event" at Gatsby's palace. As
the novel progresses, Nick and Gatsby become the best of friends.
Nick constantly defends Gatsby against the remarks made by the
media and Tom on how Gatsby made his fortune and where Gatsby
earned his education. The last thing Nick does to help earn
Gatsby's friendship and respect is he helps reunite Daisy. He
arrange's the first re-acquaintance between the two (the tea party
at Gatsby's house) and he later starts to bring Daisy to many get-
togethers hosted by Gatsby.
Nick's party attending stint leads him to his last lust,
Jordan Baker. Jordan Baker, to Nick, is a goddess. He is blinded
by her beauty and he goes to a great deal to impress and hope fully
attract her into a relation ship. Nick Carraway starts off as a
kind-hearted gentlemen who symbolizes innocence, but by the end of
the novel, his lusts and desires get the best of his morals.
Myrtle Wilson is strange and somewhat a morally deprived
character. Her sense of "values" are superficial and they are
expressed by her desire for wealth and fame and by the affair she
has with Tom Buchanan. She is an attractive young woman who is
married to a gas station owner. Throughout the novel Myrtle's
greed is to get the better of her. She wants to be rich and
famous. She attends many parties and she uses her "lover" Tom for
his money. Halfway through the novel, Myrtle has party with her
"closest" friends, and Tom and Nick. Throughout the duration of
the party Myrtle brags about her clothes and jewellery that Tom
bought for her.
Myrtle Wilson also has a meaningless marriage. The fact that
she has an affair with Tom Buchanan while still being married is
the "icing on the cake". She simply can get a divorce from her
husband, but she would rather have both a husband and a boyfriend.
Myrtle Wilson's lust for wealth, fame and her affair with Tom
Buchanan lead to her death.
Jay Gatsby is the ideal symbol of the "American Dream". His
corrupt lusts and desires exemplify the moral depravity of the
twenties. His overwhelming desire for wealth, Daisy, and respect
from the public portray a twisted sense of values and morals. Jay
Gatsby, simply put, is a "crook". His wealth was derived through
many illegitimate forms of commerce. Throughout the novel, many
people such as media and Tom Buchanan hint at how Jay Gatsby made
his money. "Didn't you know? Gatsby made his money through
bootlegging, oil, and drugs." (Fitzgerald, 1980, 76) This quote is
said about Gatsby's fortune by his adversary Tom Buchanan. Jay
Gatsby can also be perceived as a "stranger in a strange land".
The falseness portrayed by the library in Gatsby's house shows that
Gatsby is an alien trying to conceal his true identity. All of the
books in Gatsby's library are a masquerade. They have never been
opened or read. This proves that Gatsby's library is simply a show
- piece that used to make Gatsby's home feel like everyone else's
"ritzy" home.
Jay Gatsby's ultimate goal in the novel is the love of Daisy
Buchanan.
His dream could certainly be extended to Gatsby's
worship of Daisy Buchanan : one of the "gorgeous"
things that "had nothing to do with god"
(Magnum, 1991, 56)
This quote reveals that Daisy is the one desire the Gatsby wants
fulfil. Jay Gatsby goes through a great deal for Daisy Buchanan.
His desire for wealth was only motivated by the love of Daisy.
Gatsby's idealized conception of Daisy is the
motivating force that underlies his compulsion to
become successful.(Magnum, 1991, 53)
Earlier, Daisy and Gatsby were madly in love, but because Gatsby
was poor, Daisy deserted him at the altar. Gatsby must realize he
cannot have Daisy because you can not always get what you want.
On the most concrete level, the reader must
believe that Gatsby will not win Daisy, a
symbol of the American ideal.
(Lee, 1989, 149)
This quote shows that the "American Dream" may get one everything,
but the one thing money cannot buy is love. By the end of the
novel Gatsby still does not win the love Daisy Buchanan.
At the end of the novel, in spite of all his wealth
and possessions, Gatsby is alone and helpless while
waiting in vain for Daisy's phone call.
(Piper, 1963, 93)
Jay Gatsby not only desires animate objects, but he also
desires inanimate objects such as respect. One of Jay Gatsby's
biggest goals is to be recognized and respected. He constantly
throws parties every weekend, not as a gesture of good faith, but
merely as a way to be recognized for his wealth. Gatsby also tells
Nick false truths about how he accumulated his wealth and his
Oxford education hoping Nick may spread the "good" word and gain
him respect. Jay Gatsby's superficial desires, and immorality are
no different from anyone else's, but unfortunately his wealth and
power could not buy him all he wanted.
Innocence may seem to be unscathed by lust, desire, and moral
depravity, but who is to say that being "innocent" is nothing more
than an illusion from one's true self. Daisy Buchanan is the
"innocent" character in The Great Gatsby, but unfortunately she too
is scatted by the characteristics of the "American Dream". There
are two primary characteristics that reveal Daisy Buchanan's
corrupt personality-her superficial belief that if you are not rich
you are no body, and her on-going romance to Jay Gatsby while still
being married Tom Buchanan. Daisy Buchanan is a money-grubbing
thief like all other people of the twenties. Her marriage to Tom
Buchanan was simply for his money. She out-rightly says throughout
the novel, "I am no more in love with him then he is with me."
(Fitzgerald, 1980, 36) This quote reveals that she does not love
him and therefore, she is only married to him because of his wealth
and power.
Daisy is not only motivated by Tom's money, but she also is
motivated with Gatsby's money or lack of it. Prior to the
beginning of the novel, Gatsby and Daisy were romantically
involved, but Daisy left Gatsby stranded at the altar because he
was not "financially sufficient". However later, she falls in love
with Gatsby; coincidentally this is when Gatsby is rich and
powerful entrepreneur. Even though Gatsby is wealthy, Daisy still
does not marry him. This is yet another poor character trait of
Daisy. She leads Gatsby into believing she is in love with him,
but she never marries him in the end. An innocent character like
Daisy Buchanan may seem unscathed by the corrupt "American Dream",
but her innocence is simply a "mask" for her true colours.
When one thinks of the word corrupt, often a crooked criminal
with no values what-so-ever comes to mind. Tom Buchanan is that
crooked criminal. He is a character that symbolizes corruption,
greed, and immorality. Tom Buchanan is the husband of Daisy
Buchanan. Through the duration of the novel, he cheats on his
wife, while feeling no regret. Tom wants to be married to Daisy
and he also wants to have Myrtle as a girlfriend. When Gatsby,
Tom, Nick, Jordan, and Daisy were all getting ready to go to their
cars. Tom got upset when Daisy and Gatsby rode in a car together
and Daisy did not ride with him. This shows that Tom still cares
for Daisy's love. Tom's wealth is also somewhat of a false
fortune. Tom inherited a great deal of his money, but he also made
a very large amount of his money through various forms of
illegitimate business ventures.
"I thought you inherited your money."
"I did, old sport, " he said automatically, "but I
lost most of it in the big panic-the panic of the
war."...
"Oh, I've been in several things, " he corrected him-
self." I was in the drug business and then I was in
oil business.
(Fitzgerald, 1980, 91)
This quote revels that Tom's money is no more authentic than
Gatsby's money. Tom Buchanan's thirst for power reveals his sense
of immorality. Tom's mistress, Myrtle Wilson, dies when she is
struck by a car driven by Daisy, but Gatsby takes the blame even
though he was the passenger not the driver. Tom knows that Gatsby
was not driving and this eventually lead to Gatsby's murder. This
shows a thirst for power and possessiveness on Tom's behalf. Tom
believes that Daisy is his and she will always be his, yet he still
lead on an affair with another woman. Tom cannot and will not let
go of Daisy. Tom's moral depravity, greed, and lusts help him
become the antagonistic villain in The Great Gatsby.
"America as a wasteland where labour, love, and ingenuity
result in disillusion and death." (Magnum, 1991, 59) This quote
best represents the major themes in The Great Gatsby, the corrupt
"American Dream". The corrupt "American Dream"-it's lust, desires,
and moral depravity are best represented in The Great Gatsby
through the mains characters, Nick Carraway, Myrtle Wilson, Jay
Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan. The corrupt "American
Dream" is simply a sense of superficial values and morals.
Superficial values such as greed and adultery eventually lead to
one's downfall. Being "All you can be" is a crock. One should
realize that simply said, "Money can't buy everything." Characters
such as Tom Buchanan, Jay Gatsby, and Daisy Buchanan desired money
as if it was the hallmark of life itself. Tom Buchanan, Jay
Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson all thought that Money
would solve all of their problems. However money and their corrupt
values eventually lead to all their downfalls by creating as many
problems as it solves. Nick Carraway was the one person who
thought he could see through people's corruption, but Nick
unfortunately became what he hated and least respected corrupt.
Nick let his passion and fascination with money get the best of
him. Often people see money as the "key" to success. However,
people fail to realize that "money is the root of all evil". Money
corrupts one's mind, body, and soul. Corruption is the one that
all of the characters in The Great Gatsby have in common.
Reference List
1. Fitzgerald Scott Francis 1986 The Great Gatsby
New York: MacMillan Publishing
2. Magnum Bryant 1991 A Fortune Yet
New York: Garland Publishing
3. Lee Robert 1989 The Promises of Life
Chicago: Vision Publishing
4. Stavola Thomas 1979: A Crisis in America identity
Chicago: Vision Publishing
5. Piper Henry 1963: A Collection of Critical Essays
New York: MacMillan Publishing