sko
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Posts: 14 
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Post by sko on Jan 27, 2016 23:15:20 GMT
The characters that Fitzgerald created (i.e. Daisy, Tom, Gatsby) were portrayed in a way that showed their flawed morals. One interpretation of the American Dream is that everyone is equal in society, leading to happiness. However, in The Great Gatsby, this is clearly not the case. Everyone that Nick encounters seems to want to possess great wealth and riches. Daisy, in particular, marries Tom because he is rich. Tom also thinks of himself as superior to everyone else, showing that not everyone is equal though the "ideal" American Dream presents itself this way. In one of the chapters, he discriminates against certain social classes. Even when he talks to Wilson, Tom treats him as inferior.
Jay Gatsby is another character used to show the decay of the American Dream. Gatsby hopes to get back with Daisy and rekindle their former love, but as we see, Daisy only cares for wealth and materials instead of love and happiness. Gatsby struggles into the rich, upper class part of society in hopes to find Daisy again and to fulfill his dream, but this ultimately fails. As Gatsby dies, so does the American Dream.
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Post by Ms. McGettigan on Jan 30, 2016 20:31:25 GMT
Does this interpretation suggest that achieving the American Dream requires a lack of morals? It does seem like this is true in the book- is it true in society? Might it have been true in Fitzgerald's society?
Good ideas Stephanie!
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Post by margaretpalko on Jan 31, 2016 17:14:20 GMT
I think in this time period people were so obsessed with wealth that people were willing to do whatever to obtain it. That is really clear with Myrtle. She is with Tom because she wants his wealth and she does not care if she hurts herself or the people around in the process. But the same is true for the rich. Tom knows he is rich and he loves to flaunt it everywhere. He thought that everyone should just be below him because he was rich. I think people just disregarded morals because they didn't have time to think about who they wanted to be, they only thought about what they wanted.
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Post by emsykes on Feb 1, 2016 16:37:58 GMT
Mrs. McGettigan, I agree that people have to have a lack of morals in order to achieve the American Dream. To understand where I'm coming from, look at Gatsby. In the middle of the book, I would say that he was at the peak of the American dream in the 1920s. He had a mansion, riches, parties, a fairly successful buisness, and a love interest. What more could a man need? However, to reach these goals, he lacked curtesy. He didnt have this moral and it ultimately led to his downfall. He never told Nick the truth about his life, and he became obsessed with the idea of having Daisy to himself. In the end, Gatsby had to lack morals and almost go insane in order to reach the American Dream.
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sko
New Member
Posts: 14
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Post by sko on Feb 2, 2016 1:10:47 GMT
Mrs. McGettigan, I agree that people have to have a lack of morals in order to achieve the American Dream. To understand where I'm coming from, look at Gatsby. In the middle of the book, I would say that he was at the peak of the American dream in the 1920s. He had a mansion, riches, parties, a fairly successful buisness, and a love interest. What more could a man need? However, to reach these goals, he lacked curtesy. He didnt have this moral and it ultimately led to his downfall. He never told Nick the truth about his life, and he became obsessed with the idea of having Daisy to himself. In the end, Gatsby had to lack morals and almost go insane in order to reach the American Dream. I somewhat agree with this. However, on one hand, I think because there is a lack of morals, the American Dream is unattainable, and this is Gatsby's downfall. He can't understand why Daisy won't go with him and leave Tom. On the other hand, dealing with an outsider's perspective, it seemed like the American Dream was established due to the lack of morals. For example, Daisy and Tom are living an ideal life to others. They are wealthy and have a nice family, but on the inside, they are just another dysfunctional family. |
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Post by briwiegand on Feb 8, 2016 0:54:32 GMT
I agree that the Dream is decayed in the novel, however I disagree with the interpretations on Gatsby. To me, he is the only character in the novel who has morals. Yes he does criminal things to achieve his wealth and flaunts his material possessions, but the reason for all of it is for Dasiy. Everything in his life he did for Daisy. He achieved the time period "American Dream" in the process, but that's not what he wanted. However Daisy had been corrupted by the spoils of the corrupted time period. She chose Tom for money and didn't leave him for the same reasons. She couldn't go to Gatsby because she learned his income was unstable. She chose social status over love. Because of this, Gatsby is the only person who had a true "American Dream" in a time of corruption. His death signifies that his dream is not attainable. The only way to achieve success in the time was to abandon all morals. In other words success is more important than happiness.
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