. . And one fine morning." (189). Gatsby reached an emotional plateau, upon which he expected to find utopia. But the flimsy, shadowy structure he built to reach that point won't support him in.
his crisis of self, and he is forced to realize that all of his ambitions have been in vain. Without the dream, there is no Gatsby. In the wreckage of so many falls from grace, Nick alone resurfaces, burdened by his understanding of the entirety of the tragedy. .
The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream, and the downfall of those who attempt to reach its illusionary goals. The attempt to capture the American Dream is central to many novels. This dream is different for different people, but in The Great Gatsby, for Jay, the dream is that through wealth and power, one can acquire happiness. To get this happiness Jay must reach into the past and relive an old dream and in order to do this he must have wealth and power. .
Jay Gatsby, the central figure of the story, is one character who longs for the past. Surprisingly he devotes most of his adult life trying to recapture it and, finally, dies in its pursuit. In the past, Jay had a love affair with the affluent Daisy. Knowing he could not marry her because of the difference in their social status, he leaves her to amass wealth to reach her economic standards. Once he acquires this wealth, he moves near to Daisy, "Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay (83)," and throws extravagant parties, hoping by chance she might show up at one of them. He, himself, does not attend his parties but watches them from a distance. When this dream doesn't happen, he asks around casually if anyone knows her. Soon he meets Nick Carraway, a cousin of Daisy, who agrees to set up a meeting, "He wants to know.if you'll invite Daisy to your house some afternoon and then let him come over (83)." Gatsby's personal dream symbolizes the larger American Dream where all have the opportunity to get what they want.
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