Great Gatsby Thesis Essay Research Paper Fitzgerald

Great Gatsby Thesis Essay, Research Paper

Fitzgerald’s dominant theme in The Great Gatsby focuses on the corruption of the American Dream. By analyzing high society during the1920s through the eyes of narrator Nick Carraway, the author reveals that the American Dream has transformed from a pure ideal of security into a convoluted scheme of materialistic power. In support of this message, Fitzgerald highlights the original aspects as well as the new aspects of the American Dream in his tragic story to illustrate that a once impervious dream is now lost forever to the American people.

The foundation qualities of the American Dream depicted in The Great Gatsby are perseverance and hope. The most glorified of these characteristics is that of success against is that of success against all odds. The ethic of hard work can be found in the life of young James Gatz, whose focus on becoming a great a man is carefully documented in his “Hopalong Cassidy” journal. When Mr. Gatz shows the tattered book to Nick, he declares, “ Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always has some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind. He was always great for that” (Fitzgerald, pg 182). The journal portrays the continual struggle for self-improvement, which has defined the image of America as a land of opportunity. “By comparing the young James Gatz to the young Benjamin Franklin, Fitzgerald proves that the American Dream is indeed able to survive in the face of modern society.”(Website)

A society naturally breaks up in into various social groups over time. Members of lower statuses constantly suppose that their problems will be resolved if they gain enough wealth to reach the upper class. Many interpret the American dream as being this passage to high social status and once reaching that point, not having to concern about money at all. Though, the American Dream involves more than the social and economic standings of an individual. “The dream involves attaining a balance between the spiritual strength and the physical strength of an individual.”(Lehan, pg.53) Jay Gatsby fails to reach his ultimate dream of love for Daisy in that he chooses to pursue it by engaging in a lifestyle of high class.

Gatsby realizes that life of the high-class demands wealth to become priority; wealth becomes his superficial goal overshadowing his quest for love. He establishes his necessity to acquire wealth, which allows him to be with Daisy. The social elite of Gatsby’s time sacrifice morality in order to attain wealth. Tom Buchanan, a man from an enormously wealthy family, “seems to Nick to have lost all sense of being kind.”(Lehan, pg.60) Nick describes Tom’s physical attributes as a metaphor for his true character when remarking that Tom had a “hard mouth and a supercilious manner…arrogant eyes has established dominance over his face…always leaning aggressively forward…a cruel body…his speaking voice…added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed” (Lehan, p.61)

The product of hard work is the wistful Jay Gatsby, who epitomizes the purest characteristics of the American Dream: everlasting hope. His burning desire to win Daisy’s love symbolizes the basis of the old dream: an ethereal goal and a never-ending search for the opportunity to reach that goal. Gatsby is first seen late at night, “standing with his hands in his pockets” and supposedly “out to determine what share is his of our local heavens” (Fitzgerald, pg25). Nick watches Gatsby’s movements and comments:

“-He stretches out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and as far as I am from him I can swear he is trembling. Involuntarily I glance seaward-and distinguish nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might be the end of the dock.” (Fitzgerald, pg.25)

Gatsby’s goal gives him a purpose in life and sets him apart from the rest of the upper class. He is constantly striving to reach Daisy; from the moment he is seen reaching towards her house in East Egg to the final days of is life, patiently waiting outside Daisy’s house for hours when she has already decided to abandon her affair with him. “Gatsby is distinguished as a man who retains some of the purest traits of the old dream, but loses them by attempting to reach his goals by wearing the dream’s modern face.”(Lehan, pg.95)

“Fitzgerald attributes the depravity of the modern dream to wealth, privilege, and the void of humanity that those aspects create.”(Website) Money is clearly identified as the central proponent of the dream’s destruction; it becomes easily entangled with hope and success, inevitably replacing their places in the American Dream with materialism. This replacement is evident in Gatsby’s use of illegal practices and underground connection to attain his enormous fortune. His ostentatious parties, boundless mansion, and lavish clothing are all signs of his unknowing corruption. His ability to evade the law, demonstrated when his traffic violation is ignoring by a police officer, reveals his of status and privilege to get what he needs. Although Gatsby’s rise to prominence is symbolic of the nature of the new dream, the most odious qualities of that dream are evident in Daisy and Tom Buchanan, who live their lives with no hopes and no regrets because the true foundation of their characters is their opulence. While Daisy is never heard form again after Gatsby’s