Views of Entitlement in the Great Gatsby - 1596 Words

The Great Gatsby as Fitzgerald’s explanation of an American Reality which contradicts the American Dream That was always my experience—a poor boy in a rich town; a poor boy in a rich boys school; a poor boy in a rich mans club at Princeton.... However, I have never been able to forgive the rich for being rich, and it has colored my entire life and works. —F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters, ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli. New York: Scribners, 1994. pg. 352. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, has been celebrated as one of the greatest - if not the greatest - American works of fiction. Of course, one could convincingly argue that Gatsby barely qualified as fiction, as it is the culmination of a trio of Fitzgerald’s work that†¦show more content†¦The culture of the wealthy Americans represented in The Great Gatsby was defined mainly by consumerism and excessive material wealth. Wherever given the opportunity, Jay Gatsby went over the top, as shown in his flamboyant style of dress and his huge mansion where he throws lavish parties. This is actually not all that different from Fitzgerald’s life. After his first work was published to great fanfare, Fitzgerald was the talk of the town. As was the case with Gatzby, many of those around him did not – and never would – actually know Fitzgerald. They wished merely to be close to someone famous. Fitzgerald shunned all the attention, eventually mov ing to France. It was there that he looked at the supposed American Dream from a different perspective. To Fitzgerald, it was clear that the sudden wealth that many Americans began to acquire caused leisure and idleness to replace traditional ethics like hard work as qualities that were admired. (Decker, 28) Certainly the Buchanans and Gatsby cared little about hard work once they had achieved their material goals. Gatsby believed that in order to fulfill his own concept of the American Dream he needed to win Daisy’s love, and to do that he would need to â€Å"establish himself as Somebody.† Although he loves Daisy, he also sees her as more of a goal – a step toward the perfect life promised by the American Dream. In a way, Gatsby views Daisy much the wayShow MoreRelatedThe American Dream In The Great Gatsby Analysis758 Words   |  4 Pagesdetermination and hard work. Everyone has equal opportunity to achieve this dream. This may not be the case in this tragic love story, The novel The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. By corruption, unfaithfulness, and entitlement we see a different view of the American Dream. Through the characters and plot in the novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald suggests the pessimistic view that the American Dream of social mobility is a modern fallacy. In the first place, Gatsby’s unrealistic American Dream signifies the longingRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay1435 Words   |  6 PagesHypothesis: Gatsby s failure arose from his deluded and futile dream of Daisy. After reading and studying F. Scott Fitzgerald s great mark on American literature which is The Great Gatsby, I have concluded that Jay Gatsby s failure arose from his deluded and futile dream of Daisy. I have found two critics perspectives on The Great Gatsby in relation to my hypothesis. The two critics I studied were McLennan (2014) and Islam (2014). I hypothesized that Gatsby s failure arose from his deludedRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay1421 Words   |  6 Pages We begin our introduction to Gatsby in a fantasy of mansions and money. However, the film s progression unravels Gatsby’s superficial layer of wealth to reveal a delusional man who has built himself on a futile dream. Together we will explore the religious and sociological views upon Gatsby’s failure as dictated by McLennan (2014) and Islam (2014). I hypothesized that Gatsby s failure arose from his deluded and futile dream of Daisy. Gatsby s failure is that he continues to pursue Daisy, whoRead MoreThe Madness Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby996 Words   |  4 Pages(Taylor). This article is similar to the novel, The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald because both discuss the idea of wants versus needs. Gatsby is the main character, however Nick Carraway is the narrator throughout the entire story. They have been neighbors ever since Nick moved to West Egg. Nick and Gatsby become close friends when Nick reunites Daisy, Nick’s cousin, with Gatsby after five years of separation. Unfortunately, their reunion leads to a great deal of heartache which was all sparked by greedRead MoreThe Great Gatsby And A Street Car Named Desire1468 Words   |  6 Pagesin both The Great Gatsby and A Street Car Named Desire. F.Scott Fitzgerald and Tennessee Williams use these themes to shape characters as well as drive the plot. 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Nick Caraway’s narration is conflicted between a realistic point of view and a fantastical point of view throughoutRead MoreThe Great Gatsby And A Street Car Named Desire1715 Words   |  7 Pagesboth The Great Gatsby and A Street Car Named Desire. F.Scott Fitzgerald and Tennessee Williams use these themes to shape characters as well as drive the plot. These themes are also present in the setting, narration and characterisation. Illusion and fantasy dominate The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. They are essential to narration, setting and characterisation in the novel. Nick Caraway’s narration is conflicted between a realistic point of view and a fantastical point of view throughoutRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1722 Words   |  7 PagesThe Beginning of Everything â€Å"Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone...just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had† (Fitzgerald 1). 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For example, Nick describes Tom Buchannan as â€Å"a sturdy straw-hairedRead MoreTheme Of Carelessness In The Great Gatsby1174 Words   |  5 PagesThe Great Gatsby is a true classic of twentieth-century literature based on the views of the main character, Nick Carraway. Published in 1925, The Great Gatsby is based on the Jazz Age, a time of prohibition, illegal trade of alcohol, increase in crime and bootlegging and the rise of the ‘new rich’. There are multiple significant themes portrayed throughout this novel, such as destruction, corruption, love, hope, manipulation, and carelessness. F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby is a literary