The Great Gatsby Seminar
By: AJ Bossio & Josh Martenstyn
What Is the American
Dream?
What is the “American Dream”?
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Date’s back to the 1600’s when people started
finding new land in North America and wanted to
start a life, have a family, run a business.
There is no true definition, it can be different for
every person.
It is supposed to be having a happy and
successful life, however you see it best.
Some may even call it a form of innocence.
Which Characters Lose Their
“American Dream”
With Or Without A Dream
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Characters That Lose
Their American
Dream:
Gatsby
Wilson
Tom
Myrtle
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Characters with an
American Dream:
Daisy
Jordan
Nick
American Dream In The Great
Gatsby
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In the novel the author shows a lustful love between
Daisy and Gatsby behind the values of the true
American Dream that was decaying.
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In a time where social values were becoming
lessoned, Gatsby embodies the idea of a corrupt
American Dream through his pursuit of money to
find “happiness”
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Daisy is depicted as the temptress, she manipulates
and exploits Gatsby’s feelings toward here, causing
him to lose his true definition of the American Dream
and become corrupt through his climb of the “social
latter” to find Daisy’s love
Gatsby & Tom
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Gatsby: He loses the idea of his American Dream when
he finds out about Daisy after the war. The woman of his
dreams didn’t wait for him and married another man,
thus forcing Gatsby to change his entire outlook on what
he thought was his “American Dream” in order to fit her
version of it. He believed if he did this, they would be
able to be together.
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Tom: Tom losses his version of the American Dream
when he starts loving Myrtle after he marries Daisy. His
morals begin to change and he doesn’t see things the
way he did when he first married Daisy.
George and Myrtle
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George Wilson: George loses his idea of an
American Dream when he finds out that his wife
is cheating on him. He wants to leave the life he
has to start over no matter what he is leaving
behind. Once Myrtle dies George believes that
he has nothing left to live for and kills himself.
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Myrtle Wilson: Myrtle marries George, however
she is very selfish and doesn’t care about his
wellbeing, she only wants material items. She
loses her American Dream by marrying George
because he couldn’t provide her with the wealthy
life she wanted, no matter how hard he tried.
How Did Money Play a Role
In The Great Gatsby?
The Role Of Money In The Great
Gatsby
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Money separated the way people acted and
lived their lives in The Great Gatsby.
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Money is the social root in the novel. Your social
class would be determined by the amount of
money you had.
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They had the higher class wealthier people such
as Tom and Daisy, and they had the lower class
less wealthy people such as George Wilson and
Myrtle.
Tom & Daisy
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Tom and Daisy lived together in East Egg. If they
every wanted something they would buy it
without any hesitation because they had so
much money.
Tom brags about his wealth whenever he gets
the chance, for example when he talks to Nick
about his house.
Daisy marries Tom mainly because he is rich,
and she wants a luxurious life. That is the
reason Daisy didn’t wait for Gatsby even though
she “loved” him.
George and Myrtle Wilson
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George and Myrtle Wilson live between East and
West Egg at a place called “The Valley of
Ashes”. George runs an auto-repair shop where
he works for as much money as he can to
comfort his wife, Myrtle.
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Myrtle is unhappy with her non-wealthy
husband, and unfaithfully falls in love with Tom
who buys her whatever her heart desires;
something George couldn’t do for her.
What Places in the
Novel Represented
Money?
Money in Places
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West Egg represents the “New Money” in the novel.
They are the people that became wealthy by themselves
and got to where they are through hard work.
East Egg on the other hand is full of the “Old Money”
people that have become wealthy mainly through others.
They do not know the true meaning of what it takes to
earn your money, so they spend it like it’s nothing.
The valley of ashes and New York City represent the
constant struggle to work and barely get by with what
you have. The people working at the valley work all day
and are covered in ashes. George Wilson works all day
to please his wife yet he doesn’t make enough to move
West like he had planned too.
How Does Money Relate to
the Death of the American
Dream?
Money and the Death of the
American Dream
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The only reason Gatsby wanted to be rich was
so that he could have a life with Daisy. In the
book he says “Can’t repeat the past? Why of
course you can!” (116)
Myrtle wanting money ruins Georges life
because he can’t provide it for her, and she is
his “American Dream”.
George kills himself because he does not have
enough money causing his wife to be unfaithful
to him.
What Is Your American Dream?
Work Cited
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(which, 1925 he was known primarily as the historian of the Jazz Age. "THE GREAT GATSBY, by F."
www.people.vcu.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://www.people.vcu.edu/~bmangum
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"The Demise of the 1920s American Dream in The Great Gatsby – InfoRefuge.com." Info Refuge. N.p., n.d. Web.
29 Nov. 2011. <http://www.inforefuge.com/demise-of-american-dream-the-great-gatsby>.
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Thomson, Paul. "Old Money vs. New Money in the Great Gatsby - Printer Friendly." DIME-Co.Com Articles and
Video articles. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://www.dime-co.com/books/Old-Money-vs-New-Money-in-theGreat-Gatsby_printer.shtml>.
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"Articles: Making Good on the American Dream." American Thinker. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/making
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"The American dream: Is it slipping away? - Los Angeles Times." Featured Articles From The Los
Angeles Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/27/opinion/laoe-rodriguez-dream-20100927>.
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Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.