TGG: The American Dream Flashcards
Decline of the American Dream
• Symbolic meditation of 1920’s America and disintegration of the American Dream
• Decayed social and moral values - reckless jubilance epitomised by Gatsby’s opulent parties
• Unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassing noble and innocent goals
Decline of American Dream Context
• After the end of WWI young americans became disillusioned to the morals and culture of the past before the war
• The stock market rose and the overall wealth of the country followed causing people to spend and consume significantly more
• Prohibition caused a rise in demand for alcohol and many people became rich due to the trade of illegal substances such as alcohol
• The American Dream originally centred around ideas of discovery, individualism and the pursuit of happiness but as social values began to relax dreams such as these became corrupt and instead society seemed to favour ideas surrounding materialism and wealth
East Egg vs West Egg
• East egg represents the established aristocracy (old money)
• West egg represents the self made rich who made their fortune by capitalising off of prohibition and taking advantage of the rise in organised crime and bootlegging
Places and Objects
• TJ Eckleberg’s eyes symbolise Gods judgement of society as a moral wasteland
• Green light symbolises hopes and dreams of american society but also Gatsby’s dream of winning over Daisy
Gatsby and Daisy
• Gatsby instills Daisy with a notion of idealised perfection that she doesn’t have in her relationship with Tom
• Gatsby’s dream is a microcosm of the American Dream, he only loves Daisy because of her class and social status
• Daisy is an unworthy object and Gatsby’s pursuit of her is futile because of his origins she will never choose to be with him
‘I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking […] for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game’
Tom focuses on his career as a football player in college because that was his only accomplishment and challenge he has ever faced in his life, he is consumed by nostalgia and a desire for the past
‘But [Doctor Eckleberg’s] eyes, […] brood on over the solemn dumping ground’
The eyes represent the superficiality of wealth as it is weathered and faded and symbolise the breakdown of religious institutions like the church after WWI as they are compared to the eyes of god
Kazin - ‘In a land of promise, failure will always be a classic theme’
Fitzgerald explores the hollowness of the American Dream and the consequences of its pursuit, depicting the failure of characters in finding true happiness and fulfilment despite their material wealth
