How Does Fitzgerald Present The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Tom continued to cheat on his wife even when she knew about his mistress. It had gotten

He grows up in a high social status with a lot of money. Since he is rich and can meet Daisy's material needs, they get married. On their honeymoon is the first time he is unfaithful. "The girl who was with him got in the papers, too, because her arm was broken- she was one of the chambermaids in the Santa Barbara Hotel"(Fitzgerald 77). This shows Tom's values because he believes he can have whatever he wants since he is rich.

Once again, this is hypocritical because he is so angry about Daisy having an affair with Gatsby, however at this point he, once again, having an affair with Myrtle so there really is no room for his complaints. Lastly, while fighting over Daisy’s love against Gatsby, Tom says to him, “[what’s] more, I love Daisy too… in my heart I love her all the time.” (Fitzgerald 131). Perhaps, if he really ‘loved’ Daisy, he wouldn’t have to go behind her back to secretly cheat on her. Outside of the book, Tom represents Fitzgerald’s stereotype of all the men who take the ‘trophy wives’.

He makes up lies as to why Daisy left, as to why she got married with Tom. “She never loved you, do you hear? he cried…. She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except me!”

This statement demonstrates how, despite her mass amount of wealth, Daisy is depressed with Tom cheating on her and wishes that her daughter could be ignorant to avoid the pain that she has experienced. The unhappiness is also applicable to Tom, who feels the need to cheat on his wife, in spite of his financial

Tom disregards Daisy’s elegant beauty in exchange for the physical endeavors he craves with Myrtle. In doing so, he disrespects the value of both women as he objectifies them as toys at his disposal. This results in a negative relationship between Tom and Daisy. When Myrtle calls Tom at dinner, Daisy “suddenly … [throws] her napkin on the table and excuse[s] herself and [goes] into the house” (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy’s reaction to Myrtle’s call captures her frustration with Tom.

Tom is an incredibly muscular man. Nick described him as having enormous packs of muscle shifting underneath his clothes as he moved his cruel body that was capable of massive amounts of leverage. Daisy describes Tom as “a brute of a man, a great big hulking physical specimen” (15).Tom is a very powerfully built man and uses this frame as he conducts himself around others. With his massive body, Tom can be overpowering and will often impose his will on others. When Nick first arrived at Tom’s mansion, Tom turned him around by one arm and physically shifted his view multiple times (10). Tom used his body to impose his will on Nick. To run parallel with his astounding stature, Tom’s personality begins to develop as the dinner scene takes place. On multiple occasions throughout the night, Tom would interrupt the current conversation between Daisy and Nick, and he would begin his own. As Tom continued to impose his thoughts and concerns on the others, he brings up his belief which he had read about that it is up to them, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things (16). Tom shows his side of racism and furthermore establishes his lack of consideration for others. From the first time the reader meets Tom, his character makes a bold, arrogant, and overpowering reaction that will continue to form throughout the story.

The American dream is a unique thing to think about, some say it is exists, and they want to live the American dream while others think it is a glorified idea of a good life. The two words, American Dream, is such a broad statement and holds a different meaning for every individual. What people thought the American dream was in the 1920s is different from what people think it is now. In the ‘20s the dream was living a lavish lifestyle, with lots of money and a high social ranking. Now the dream is the opportunity for everyone to be equal, and live a life that has shared options for everybody to achieve.

Later in the novel, while Nick reflects on what he has seen of Gatsby’s life, he gives into his cynical side. Nick begins to have insightful views into Gatsby's extraordinary life, but slowly he begins to extracts negativity he feels about the 1920’s optimistic fictitious exterior. During Nick’s last night in the city, he returns the Gatsby mansion one last time. America and the American Dream have dramatically altered in Nick’s mind, now that he has seen the epitome of his best friend’s dreams and hopes crash and burn. Nick’s newfound emotions embody the vertigo of ups and downs that represent Gatsby’s life and allude to Fitzgerald’s message of the unattainable quest for the American Dream.

Plus he does not mind being a bully in front of people and ordering people around as though he is the boss. First off he is cheating on his wife with another. Though Daisy knows she does nothing about it and just tries to ignore it as best she can. The women who is his mistress goes by the name of Myrtle Wilson who is ironically she on her husband with him. It doesn't seem that Tom treats her

Within the novel “THE GREAT GATSBY”, the main issue is that Gatsby falls in love with daisy while she married to Tom. He fall in love with Daisy and her wealth before he went to the war, when he was still a poor youth. He thought he could make Daisy loves him again, as he become a wealthy man, however, it leads to the death of him and the rejection of Daisy. In my point of view the failure of Gatsby is the symbol that represents the betrayal of his American dream.

In result of Tom growing up as a white boy he is now very selfish and inconsiderate. Tom makes

Almost everything Tom does is to assert his dominance. He believes that a real man has to be dominant and a bully, this is evident throughout the story. From the moment Tom is introduced in the story, he is portrayed as a wealthy brut that was a football star at Yale. The last party of the story displays how dominant Tom believes he is; he sends Daisy in the car with Gatsby alone, after figuring out they were having an affair, to have their last moments together. Tom making Nick come with him to his dinner party with his mistress despite being married to his cousin shows Tom’s true character. He has his small party in order to assert his dominance because it is easier to do with less people. Toms sleeps with Myrtle in the bedroom while Nick is uncomfortable in the living room, and then convinces Nick to have some fun with Myrtle’s sister Catherine. Tom then punches and breaks Myrtle’s nose because she disobeyed him by constantly repeating Daisy’s name after he demanded her to never say Daisy to him. Tom is a primitive, delusional man that believes he rules and controls everything, including other

One expression to describe the chaos of 1920’s would be the grand “American dream”. Everyone during this time period had an image of a grand life and everyone believed in it. The rich dreamed of being wealthier and gaining more superiority while the poor simply dreamed of having a better life for themselves and their families. To the people of the 20’s the American Dream was just another part of their day to day lives. The issue with this is that the so called dream was never actually attainable. The poor dreamt of becoming rich and being respected by the wealthy associations. The problem with this is if they were to become rich they would become “New money” scheme meaning you are newly added to the list of wealthy people the problem being that all of the “Old Money” people or the families that have gotten money passed down by generations never respected new money. Thus lacking part of the dream of being respected meaning that the American Dream was never really fully attainable . Fitzgerald shows this American dream through Old Money and New Money by using Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby through Nick’s eyes to show the different realities between the three characters and the different but similar, their dreams may be.

Though Tom has daisy as his wife, he does spend his time trying to show her his love. Instead, his interests are self-centered he doesn’t really care if Daisy actually likes him or not he just wants to the best out of anyone. For example, he wants to the best at all the sports he plays. He also has affairs with other women because of his selfishness.