THE AMERICAN DREAM
WHAT WAS IT TO AMERICANS?
• “That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer
and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to
ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European
upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us
ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream
of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social
order in which each man and each woman shall be able to
attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable,
and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the
fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."
• James Truslow Adams, in his book The Epic of America, which was written in
1931, first defined the American dream
• It represented to those who colonised the USA that they were free from the
traditional powers of Europe
• This shows that the dream was misinterpreted by many, which caused the
societal greed we see in Gatsby
DISINTEGRATION OF THE DREAM IN THE 1920S
• Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in
its overarching cynicism, greed and empty pursuit of pleasure
• The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music resulted in the
corruption of the American Dream, as the unrestrained desire for money and pleasure
surpassed more noble goals; this is portrayed through Gatsby’s parties that have an
underlining current of corruption.
• When World War 1 ended in 1918, the generation of young Americans who had fought
the war became intensely disillusioned as the brutal carnage that they faced simply
portrayed the stuffy Victorian values as hypocritical
• The rise of the stock-market in the aftermath of the war led to a sudden, sustained
increase in the national wealth heralding an era of unprecedented prosperity and
material excess.
•
•
Though this increased material value, it caused a corruption of the dream
He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing throwing them, one by one, before us … lost their
folds as they fell and covered the table in a many coloured disarray: pg 76, chapt. 5
• A person from any social background could potentially make a fortune: e.g. Gatsby.
However, the American aristocracy scorned this “new Money” i.e. Tom’s belittling of
Gatsby’s wealth.
• The passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919 which banned the sale of alcohol
created a thriving underworld designed to satisfy the massive demand for bootleg liquor
among rich and poor alike.
GREEN LIGHT
• A physical, metaphorical representation of Gatsby’s
hopes and dreams for the future.
• Gatsby associates this green light with Daisy, and in
Chapter 1 he reaches toward it in the darkness as a
guiding light to lead him to his goal– leaning
towards Daisy.
• In chapter 9, nick reflects on how the light
represents America–Like America rising out of the
ocean, so does the Green light.
COLOUR OF THE GREEN LIGHT
• The colour of the light green;
Green- colour of money and wealth- exacerbates
the fact that American society is driven by opulence
and wealth- that is the majority of people’s American
dream
Green- colour of life i.e. plants– perhaps symbolic of
the vitality in Gatsby’s dreams
Colour of hope
Colour of Daisy’s eyes – she is all that matters to
Gatsby
QUOTES ON THE GREEN LIGHT
• "a single green light, minute and faraway, that
might have been the end of a dock.“ Chapter 1
”Minute and faraway”- shows the obscurity of
Gatsby’s dream- unachievable
”Single Green Light”- idea of individualism, each
person has a differing American dream so it
emphasises that the American Dream cannot be
generalised– Single Green Light shows that despite
Gatsby’s opulence, he has one dream and that is
Daisy.
QUOTES ON THE GREEN LIGHT
• “Gatsby believed in the Green Light, the orgastic
future, that year by year recedes before us”
Chapter 9
This quote demonstrates Gatsby’s romanticised
view of his life.
He continues to pursue the American Dream and
his ultimate happiness, that previously eluded him
In the end his ideas are dated or stuck within the
past.
These words conclude the novel. Nick reflects on
the struggle to achieve their goals.
MYRTLE’S DREAM
• “She let four taxicabs drive away before she
selected a new one, lavender-coloured with grey
upholstery … into the glowing sunshine”
-She chose a specific cab: POWER
-Glowing sunshine – marks the step Myrtle takes from her life
to the dream
• “She announced”
-This verb is associated with power/command
• “These people! You have to keep after them all
the time”
- Myrtle always talks about the “lower orders” as if she’s not
one of them
MYRTLE’S DREAM CONTINUED
• “Toms got some new woman in New York...she
might have the decency not to telephone him at
dinner time”
- Myrtle will do anything to achieve her dream. Because she is
having an affair with a rich man like Tom, she feels as though
she has the right to call him anytime. She does this to continue
feeling that she belongs in a higher social class
• Myrtle and Gatsby both have something in
common: they both want to rise above their class!
- Gatsby wants to be of a better class to get Daisy (His
American Dream)
- Myrtle wants to be of a better class to lead a better life (Her
American Dream)
CONTINUED…
• “Beat me…throw me down and beat me you dirty
little coward!” (to George)
- Myrtle would rather be beaten by a rich man than cared for
by a poor man.
- She tries to dominate George as she believes she is from
another class.
• Like Gatsby, Myrtle trying to achieve her American
Dream led her to death.
• “Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in
the road and mingled her thick dark blood with the
dust”
- although she tried to reach her dream of becoming rich, in the
end, her blood and life always belonged in “The Valley of the
Ashes”
NICK’S DREAM
• Nick, as a narrator, sinks into the background of the
text, however he is able to channel some of
Fitzgerald's ideas
• Some images in the text are given extra meaning
e.g. T.J. Eckleburg
• Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he
was lookingat the eyes of Doctor T.J.Eckleburg, which had
just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving light
pg.102 Chapt. 8
• Nick sees the ability to create meaningful symbols
as part of AD - thats what the first americans did
GATSBY’S DREAM
• Daisy is Gatsby's dream
• The green light at the end of the dock symbolises
daisy etc
• Both Gatsby and nick represent the cynicism that
has crept into the dream with those returning from
war
• Daisy is perfected in Gatsby's mind - these
exaggerated qualities ruin the dream by the
"unworthiness of its subject" just as AD was ruined by
the unworthiness of the money