The Dissolution of a Dream in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The...

The Dissolution of a Dream in The Great Gatsby A dream is defined in the Websters New World Dictionary as: a fanciful vision of the conscious mind; a fond hope or aspiration; anything so lovely, transitory, etc. as to seem dreamlike. In the beginning pages of F. Scott Fitzgeralds novel The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story gives us a glimpse into Gatsbys idealistic dream which is later disintegrated. No- Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men. Gatsby is revealed to us slowly and†¦show more content†¦What he wants is his dream, and that dream is embodied in Daisy. Ironically, Daisy Buchanan, is a much more realistic, hard- headed character. She understands money and what it means in American society, because it his her nature; she was born into it. Gatsby intuitively recognizes this, although he cannot fully accept it, when he remarks to Nick that Daisys voice is full of money. Gatsby will not admit this essential fact because it would destroy his understanding of Daisy. In the end, this willful blindness helps lead to his ultimate tragedy. Gatsby is a romantic, a man who began with a high and exalted vision of himself and his destiny. He aspires to greatness, which he associates with Daisy. If he can win her, then he will have somehow achieved his goal. Gatsbys wealth, his mansion, his parties, his possessions, even his heroism in battle are but means to achieve his ultimate goal. Gatsby is mistaken, however, in his belief that money can buy happiness or that he can recapture his past if he only becomes rich. One of these examples is when the epigraph becomes clear: the four-line poem of Thomas Park dInvilliers that Fitzgerald quotes on the title page describes exactly what Gatsby has done. He has symbolically worn the gold hat; he has bounced high, accumulating possessions forShow MoreRelatedPsychology and Author’s Purpose in the Great Gatsby2923 Words   |  12 PagesPsychology and Author’s Purpose in The Great Gatsby It was 1931, six years after the publication of The Great Gatsby, when historian James Truslow Adams coined the term The American Dream (â€Å"The Epic of America†, 415). Yet, his was a new take on an old concept. F. Scott Fitzgerald did not have to wait for Adams to brilliantly propose that the ideal of social equality and the pursuit of Happiness is a dream like enterprise, which has little to do with reality (US 1776). In the 1920’sRead More Nick Carraways Epiphany in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby2859 Words   |  12 PagesEpiphany in The Great Gatsby A soft breeze lifts off the Sound and brushes Nick Carraway’s face as he emerges from the shadows into the moonlight. His eyes first gaze across the bay to the house of Tom and Daisy where Nick sees past the walls to people who â€Å"...smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together...† (Fitzgerald: 187- 188). Nick’s head then turns to his side where he views Gatsby’ s mansion. HisRead MoreEssay on The Legacy of Romanticism in The Great Gatsby3369 Words   |  14 PagesThe Legacy of Romanticism in The Great Gatsby The development of American Literature, much like the development of the nation, began in earnest, springing from a Romantic ideology that honored individualism and visionary idealism. As the nation broke away from the traditions of European Romanticism, America forged its own unique romantic style that would resonate through future generations of literary works. Through periods of momentous change, the fundamentally Romantic nature