The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Essay by HumbickHigh School, 11th gradeA-, February 2003

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In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, although the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, is an example of a tragic hero, his flaws lead him to remain a failure, which symbolize the failures of the American Dream. There are many sections of the novel that show direct connections between the real world and the life the Jay Gatsby lives, such as the green light, which also plays an important role in the failure of the American Dream.

In The Great Gatsby, there are plenty of parts in the novel that are symbolic to the American Dream. In this novel, it is safe to say that the "American Dream" can essentially be replaced by "Gatsby's Dream". Gatsby's dream is similar to the American Dream because both dreams are believed to bring happiness, which can be acquired by attaining money. The reader finds out towards the end of the novel that Gatsby is not only interested in Daisy because of his deep love for her.

The reader, in fact, is finally able to realize that Gatsby's love for Daisy is tied in with his attraction to her wealth and standard of living. The wealth and lifestyle that Daisy lives is called Old Money. Old Money is wealth that is passed down from an older generation. Tom and Daisy are both perfect examples of this. The reader senses that Gatsby is after Daisy's "Old Money" lifestyle when Nick, the narrator, says,

"... Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor." (p. 157).

With Old Money, there is a particular way of acting. This is what separates it from new money, which is recently acquired...