1

Adrian Galer Mr. Anderson Honors American Lit. Period 7

There Are Only The Careless and The Dead: How The American Dream Disappeared The roaring twenties are portrayed as a time of ceaseless growth and progress. After World War One, America came out triumphant and became the strongest nation. Opportunity seemed to be at every corner and everyone thought they could fulfill their American Dream. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was published in 1925, during this exact time period. Unfortunately, Fitzgeralds life did not follow the American Dream promised to him and his experiences are exposed in The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby throughout the novel embodies the American Dream which is characterized by growing to the fullest development, and *life+ better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement (James Truslow Adams). Gatsby shows how both of these definitions failed to provide him satisfaction socially and emotionally. F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys the destruction of the American Dream as it pertains to human fulfillment in life to deter people from clinging to past dreams. While Jay Gatsby was born in the rough waters imperiling millionaire Dan Cody, James Gatz came from a valley of ashes. James Gatz ran away from a dead-end life. When he spotted lady luck in the waters of Lake Superior, James Gatz drowned. Jay Gatsby became James reincarnation, Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from His Fathers Business, the service of vast vulgar, meretricious beauty (105). In essence, the American Dream failed James and Jay. Being born to poor farmers, like the men in the ash

Galer 2

valley, he was destined to be unappreciated. The valley of ashes, from which the vast majority of the setting is comprised of, is the reality of many workers including himself and the Wilsons. The valley could be considered the mid-west. Although the mid-west is far from arid and supports the economy, Nick dismisses this region, That's my Middle West not the wheat or the prairies or the lost Swede towns, but the thrilling returning trains of my youth, and the street lamps (187-188). Instead of trying to battle through the desolate wasteland of immorality, dishonesty, infidelity, and violence, he chose to do what the rich do, inherit money. In birth, all babies are essentially clean and sterile. While the rich are literally born with wealth, James Gatz had to be baptized in the lake. James washed off the ash that weighed him down: his lack of connections, education, opportunity, and farming hat. He then embraced his new life and identity. Due to the metamorphosis of character neither man saw their dream come true; James Gatz died and Jay Gatsby did not earn his wealth. F. Scott Fitzgerald himself lived two different lives. Fitzgerald knew that the rich and the poor had very different lives and could only be a member of one. Without wealth from, This Side of Paradise, Fitzgeralds bestseller he would have never been able to get Zelda Sayre, the girl of his dreams. Connections and most decisively determination to win Zelda made him famous and allowed him to transcend classes. When doing so he was infected with his newly found wealth and became ill. The old Fitzgerald died like James and became a new rich man infected with alcoholism and dishonesty. The word meretricious in the first passage suggests that the world Jay was born in, comprises the same characteristics James Gatz lived in. The only difference between the two is the gold plated veneer.

Galer 3

The development of the green light throughout the book reflects the condition of the American Dream. The book begins the introduction of Gatsby reaching for the light, he stretch out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was tremblingand distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away (24). This may, at first, seem to characterize Gatsby as a creepy man looking out at someones dock, but at second glance the opposite can just as easily be concluded. A man that does all in his power to grasp his dream is a man to be reckoned with. At the start of the book, views on the world and Gatsby are not tainted. The American Dream is intact; in fact Jay has been reaching for his own dream since 1917, and now seems to be able to put his hand over it. However, on another mention of the green light has vanished: If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay, said Gatsby. You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one (100). This monumental quote embodies a ll that F. Scott Fitzgerald believed about the American Dream. Jay Gatsby has Daisy, the embodiment of his dream in front of him, yet the light disappears. Clearly he places more emphasis on the light rather than Daisy because he characterizes it as enchanted and is also absorbed in this disappearance. Gatsby has come to the realization that the light cannot exist if he has Daisy, and Daisy cannot exist if he has the light. Nick also previously wondered if Daisy will ever live up to Jays high standards. Both Nick and Gatsby hint at the fact that a dream is better kept a dream. Nick suggests that seeing Daisy would corrupt

Galer 4

Gatsbys dream, because she will not be all that he expected. Daisy might also corrupt his dream because Jay would finally see how the rich truly behave; he will see their everlasting carelessness and disregard to anything less than gold. Gatsby tried to better himself to conquer Daisy, and having a dream prevented him from falling victim to the follies of the rich, which as mentioned earlier is no different from the rough life of the poor. This parallels with F. Scott Fitzgeralds life in the sense that his uphill climb ended in disaster. He devoted his life to wooing Zelda Sayre, and his infatuation with her a led him to write the bestseller of the time, This Side of Paradise. Although they were wed in April 1920, Zelda began obsessing over a French pilot. This deteriorated their relationship to an unhealthy point and brought Fitzgerald down from his newly found wealth. Like Gatsby, his dream was better kept a dream. The final mention of the green light in the book further clarifies its meaning; Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but thats no mattertomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.And then one fine morningSo we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past (193). Nick uses a plethora of generalizing language such as we and our, in an attempt to bring the readers into this ending. This is a very mixed view. The optimism of the past, referring to Gatsbys summer of 1917 with Daisy lives on and if the world keeps striving and fighting the dream will live on. The second half states that the past also keeps us tied down. Being Borne ceaselessly into the past makes it impossible to develop the dream in the real world. This quote is also written on The Fitzgeralds tombstone. Scott Fitzgerald himself fought to keep his dream of prosperity and love alive, but he could only taste it for a second. This gives a more positive light on the eternity of the quote and Fitzgerald himself. Borne and born are homophones and this means that Fitzgerald even in death is born into a past of hopefulness and love. Even

Galer 5

though he must bear the weight of the past, the past is what keeps him going. He still keeps trying to run faster to catch up to his American Dream. Finally, the past inherently opposes the American Dream. While there is nothing wrong in remembering the past, F. Scott Fitzgerald creates a cautionary tale against clinging to the past. Gatsbys fate is death, similarly to the fate of the Wilsons. The common trait between them is trying to transcend social class. Gatsby is different. He tried to cling to his dream of marrying his golden-girl, Daisy. Fitzgerald provides this contrast to show that even when Gatsby succeeded material wealth his dream crumbled due to the weight of the past. Gatsby had everything he wanted but he asked for too much: Oh, you want too much!" she cried to Gatsby. "I love you now isn't that enough? I can't help what's past." She began to sob helplessly. "I did love him once but I loved you too." (141-142). The past, unfortunately for Gatsby, cannot be undone. Daisy understands that one must live in the present and so she lives. Gatsby, on the other hand, fails to change his dream to fit the present, and because it is impossible to live in the past he must pay the ultimate price. Nick further explains this idea, If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream (171). Indeed, Gatsby paid with his life. Once giving up on what he held most dear, he had already lost his life because the present was in such conflict with the past. Gatsby, who represents the American Dream, dies, ironically, due to his own dreams. Fitzgerald has created such a grim ending for a beloved character to warn his readers that their lives are not predestined to give them wealth and happiness. Perhaps, instead of throwing years of strife out the window, merely embracing the present would provide more nourishment to the soul than clinging to an improbable dream. As children, many people dream to become astronauts and musicians,

Galer 6

and as adults they dream of a millionaires life. In fact F. Scott Fitzgerald himself predetermined his life as a young adult; famous rich author with his beautiful wife, Zelda. The ghosts of his past, like Gatsby, eventually came to collect their dues. Fitzgerald was constantly in financial turmoil trying to sustain his wife and daughter. Life was not quite like he dreamed up in his years at Princeton and to combat reality, he drank heavily. The dissatisfaction with Fitzgeralds current life would take his life in the form of a heart attack. Fitzgerald relies deeply on real life parallels to develop Gatsby and a pessimistic view of the future of America and the American Dream. The connections to real life make the story more relatable and believable because Fitzgerald himself imparts his emotions into the book he is writing. F. Scott Fitzgerald is attempting to deter people from the stagnation of spirit that made him unable to change. The Great Gatsby, serves as guidance for people struggling to cope with the horrors of World War One and the lux of the rich. After the Great War many people did not know how life could ever be beautiful again. They compared the past and the present to the war. By analyzing the fates of the characters, the ones who died and the ones who lived, carelessness was the way to live. There are only the careless and the dead. Another less pessimistic way of looking at Fitzgeralds teachings is to daydream or dream in the present. The American Dream must not be a long-term decision, a two story house with a dog and two garages, but rather a day to day plan to squeeze every drop of life.