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Question 6
From work authored by F Scott Fitzgerald on the novel the Great Gatsby, there are major mixed concerns about the American dream portrayed by the literature work. According to the literature, a character such as Gatsby, a major actor, has mixed feelings of both a criminal and a morality mogul concerning the American dream. This is present due to the participation and engagement in crime and other mischievous activities to achieve richness. Gatsby seems to have a significant concern with money and alcohol. He could participate in any money-earning activities without second thoughts on the repercussion or the moral outcome. From the novel, Gatsby can be characterized as a commentary whereby he has committed significant crimes such as bootlegging to get a wealthy status in society. In this case, he chooses to ignore the ethical ways of conducting healthy business and participated in suspicious activities to climb on the social class ladder.
Gatsby’s lifestyle is characterized by Shady and corruptive activities, making him known by the whole city. From the novel, Gatsby is better known for extravagant parties, which are full of alcohol accompanied by jazz music. Such activities made him known in the city and thus nicknamed New York City (Scott, pg. 44). In his whole life, he associates himself with a man who is claimed to have fixed the world series in back the year 1919, and he participated in the act of illegal trafficking of liquor. Due to the class struggles in the society during the time, Gatsby was participating in any activity that could make him get money, even if it is illegal. In this case, he chose to engage in alcohol trafficking and hosting parties in the city to imitate the wealthy class. Notably, he is characterized by participating in carrying out shoddy work to raise money and achieve the American dream.
Considerably, the American dream is much characterized by illegal activities portrayed by the novel’s leading players. A character such as Tom is dissatisfied with what he had and thus engages in other illicit activities to achieve more wealth. Tom was born from a wealthy class with all that rich men needs in life. However, he has wealth and power, which characters like Gatsby was only dreaming to have in the future. He seems to be a racist, sexist and classist. He participates in keeping the mistresses, and due to money and power, he doesn’t even hide them from his wife. Notably, Tom believes that the best days have already passed, and thus he settles to idle and even in carelessness without even striving to dream of achieving much more in life. In these cases, a character like Tom seems to have little concern with the American dream since whatever others dream about the future, and he seems to have already achieved and thus small struggles to attain the objective.
As per the characters portrayed by Daisy, the American dream seems to be more than associated with the rich and materialism as the key concept for a better life. Daisy, who has married Gatsby, a peasant as per the social class level. From the novel, Gatsby has a major unending love for Daisy, and he commits himself to any form of business with a critical intention of making his wife happy(Fitzgerald, pg. 13). However, Daisy chooses to leave him and start a relationship with Tom, who had material wealth and richness. Although Daisy, in a way, seems to be much in love with Gatsby, she found more passion in material wealth. In one of her reunions, she breaks in tears into the shirts, which she is shown representing wealth and the means to get wealth. However, the main reason for the breaking into tears was all about the worldly wealth she had with Tom and not the true love she had for Gatsby.
The American dream seems to be more than diverse, with characters having different social classes and believes. From Nick’s perspective, he appears to be confused and mixed up by the new generation and the lifestyle portrayed by the new era. In this case, he feels more than disturbed by how he operates in the city and the type of activities people are carrying out in the town with a critical need to achieve the daily needs. He has seemed people are getting rich through participating in shoddy activities to get rich. As per this, he feels more than confused after relating the past life and the current life, whereby he chooses to move out of town to a safer place. In this concept, the American dream is much of confusion with significant changes in the social class. Thus, it poses a pivotal challenge to some characters, such as Nick, while others, such as Gatsby, feel the urge to achieve and be associated with the rich wealthy class in the society.
From work, Fitzgerald uses an in-depth knowledge of the literature on describing the American dream to the readers. In this case, he uses various understanding of how people were using to achieve the American goal. In his work, characters such as Gatsby and Tom are more than oriented in using any idea with a significant concern of achieving the dream. The characters participate in illegal activities such as the sale of illicit liquor to get rich. Notably, the author gives various verdicts that portray that the American dream was characterized by illicit activities and the struggle in the social classes as people tried to achieve wealth and richness (Fitzgerald, pg. 93). Notably, the authors believed that the American dream was more of competition with the poor people in the society indulging into dubious business to achieve wealth just like the rich. Conversely, the rich were oriented to accumulating more wealth while limiting the poor from society’s status quo.
Works cited
Fitzgerald, Francis Scott. The Great Gatsby (1925). na, 1991.
Scott, Fitzgerald F. The great gatsby. Рипол Классик, 2017.