the great gatsby essay thesis

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald

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The Great Gatsby Essays

Foreshadowing destiny olivia verma, the great gatsby.

<blockquote>[G]audy ... primary colors, and hair shorn in strange new ways, and shawls beyond the dreams of Castile. ... [T]he air is alive with chatter and laughter, and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot, and...

The Eulogy of a Dream James Boo

The central theme of <I>The Great Gatsby</I> is the decay of the American Dream. Through his incisive analysis and condemnation of 1920s high society, Fitzgerald (in the person of the novels narrator, Nick Carraway) argues that the...

Materialism Portrayed By Cars in The Great Gatsby Joanna Cruz

"But as I walked down the steps I saw that the evening was not quite over. Fifty feet from the door a dozen headlights illuminated a bizarre and tumultuous scene (58)."

After the first of Gatsby's parties that Nick attends, Fitzgerald dedicates two...

Role of Narration in The Great Gatsby Steven Rice

Renowned author F. Scott Fitzgerald became "the most famous chronicler of 1920s America, an era that he dubbed 'the Jazz Age.'" (Phillips 1). His fame grew in part from his widely published short stories, and also from the art of his novel, The...

A Great American Dream Jens Shroyer

The Great Gatsby and "Babylon Revisited," both by F. Scott Fitzgerald, are stories about the emptiness and recklessness of the 1920s. Each story has its distinctions, but Fitzgerald's condemnation of the decade reverberates through both....

Restless in West Egg Anonymous

To many Americans, wealth and happiness are inextricably intertwined. After all, the democratic ideals of our country are predicated on the notion of the âself-madeâ? man. Ironically, it is sometimes the striving for wealth or the striving for...

The Death of a Dream Martha E. Andrietti

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is regarded as a brilliant piece of literature that offers a vivid peek into American life in the 1920's. The central characteristics of the "Lost Generation" of the 1920's society are shown through the decay...

The Fall of the American Dream Josh Weiss

The figurative as well as literal death of Jay Gatsby in the novel The Great Gatsby symbolizes a conclusion to the principal theme of the novel. With the end of the life of Jay Gatsby comes the end of what Fitzgerald views as the ultimate American...

Jay Gatsby's Representation of America Josh Weiss

It was literary critic Lionel Trilling who quite aptly described the collective entity Jay Gatsby when he wrote, "Jay Gatsby [stands] for America itself." Jay Gatsby lives his life entrenched in unfathomable wealth. His true roots are rather...

Decay of American Greatness Michael Jin

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a shining example of the principle that the most powerful messages are not told but rather shown. Although the novel is written in the form of largely impartial narration by Nick Carraway, Fitzgerald's...

Through A Lens, Darkly: The Use of Eye Imagery to Illustrate the Theme of an Extinct God in The Great Gatsby Anonymous

Throughout history, the eye has always been an emblem of the deities. In the Egyptian pantheon, there is Horus, god of light, who is signified by his famous Eye; in the Roman pantheon, there is Juno, associated with the many-eyed peacock; and in...

Obsession Anonymous

In his book The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the psychology of love's fantasies and realities through the character of Jay Gatsby. During their five-year separation, Gatsby pines for his love, Daisy Buchanan, rearranging his entire...

Daisy and Her Men: Analysis of Character in The Great Gatsby Ashley Smith

Throughout literature, there are countless characters whose only positive attributes seem to be the fact that they are utterly detestable - the reader loves to hate them. From Shakespeare's conniving Iago to Dickens' endlessly cruel Estella, these...

The African American Dream B. L. Fox

Social class plays a dominant role in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In fact the title character is living proof that the American dream really exists. Readers recognize the importance Fitzgerald places on social class throughout the...

The Shift From Realism to Modernism Anonymous

During the modernist era, artists gradually moved away from realism towards themes of illusion, consciousness, and imagination. In the visual arts, realism evolved into cubism and expressionism. This movement is paralleled in literature, as...

Gatsby and Henry: Obsession Viewed in Two Different Lenses Ruth Tangonan

Ernest Hemingway's Farewell to Arms and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby revolve around one primary character who serves as a vessel that reveals the major theme of the book. The Great Gatsby chronicles Jay Gatsby's pursuit of love, while...

Money! Money! Money! Christopher R. DeConinck

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, as Jay Gatsby delves into his pursuit of wealth and need for materialism, his hopes and aspirations become shattered in a world of unobtainable and unreachable possibilities. While Jay Gatsby confidently...

The Bildungsroman Form in The Great Gatsby Sagar Shah

Maturation and personal evolution of main characters typify the bildungsroman, a distinct novelistic form. The growth of characters Tom Buchanan, George Wilson, Jay Gatsby make F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and important example of the...

The significance of the end of Chapter 1 of "The Great Gatsby" Anonymous

Luminosity and spiritual longing for something that had vanished a long ago are probably the two main characteristics of the last two paragraphs in Chapter 1 of “The Great Gatsby”. The scene takes place shortly after Nick's return from dinner at...

The Great Gatsby and the Decline of the American Dream Anonymous

F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the decline of the American Dream in one of his most famous novels, The Great Gatsby. Although this book only takes place over a few months, it represents the entire time period of the 1920s, in which society, mainly...

Gatsby's Fall from Greatness Anonymous

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby completes a decline from his carefully crafted image of greatness to his exposed, unsightly, and lonely death. The story of the novel is really the deconstruction of this image, and the...

Modernism and The Great Gatsby Bonnie Christine Smith

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has been hailed as one of the greatest literary works of Modernism. The Great Gatsby set the tone for the movement that defined American literature in the early decades well into the present day. The...

Fitzgerald's Prediction and the Great Depression Anonymous

Famed American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald could not have anticipated what was on the horizon when he penned The Great Gatsby in 1925. Fitzgerald was no prophet, but he seemed to have an innate sensibility that allowed him to step outside of...

House Versus Home in The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman Anonymous

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, both authors use their characters’ living space, the house, as a metaphor for the attainability of the American Dream of security, wealth, and...

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Critical essays on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby: Analysis and Feminist Critique

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The Great Gatsby: Abstract

Introduction, the great gatsby: summary and analysis.

This Great Gatsby essay explores one of the greatest novels written in the 1920s. It was created in the days when the society was by far patriarchal, and the concept of the American dream was different. Essays on The Great Gatsby usually explore how much men had dominated society, which led to women discrimination and objectification; the novel will help us understand the concept of feminist critique.

The feminist critique is an aspect that seeks to explore the topic of men domination in the social, economic, and political sectors. It aims to expose how much women characters have been discriminated in the society through the study of literature. This sample essay on The Great Gatsby will apply the concept of feminist critique with reference to the F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work to expose some of the aspects of patriarchal society as revealed in the novel.

The Great Gatsby starts by bringing in a male character, Nick Carraway, as the narrator. First, the narrator is just from the First World War and seeks to settle and takes a job in New York. Searching for wealth and happiness, he rents a bungalow in West Egg next to a generous and mysterious bachelor Jay Gatsby, who owned a mansion.

Nick describes the mansion as “a colossal affair by any standard – it is an imitation of some Hotel de villa in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (Fitzgerald 1).

The introduction analysis brings out a theme of male occupying a more significant portion of wealth. These two men were relatively young and yet so rich to own such property at their age. The mentioned women, Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle, are just an attachment to the men in the society since they all at some level depict an aspect of lack of independence since men dominate every aspect of life.

Socially, men seem to dominate in the relationships in The Great Gatsby. Tom’s financial power sets him way ahead of that he can afford to have an affair outside marriage. That’s what he does in an open way as he invites Nick, Daisy’s cousin, to meet his mistress Myrtle Wilson. Nick’s reflection on the relationship between Tom and Daisy, Tom, and Myrtle shows a break of social norms.

Tom’s relationship with the two women is abusive and of so much control. He abuses Myrtle publicly in the name of making her straight by even beating her. Tom comes out as a man who has so much power to bully everybody, including Myrtle’s husband Wilson, he also has so much control in Daisy, his wife.

Usually, one will expect that Nick being a cousin to Daisy, will resist seeing their close relatives get involved in extra-marital affairs. Nick being a man, supports other men, Tom and Gatsby, in their moves. After knowing that Gatsby had been in love with Daisy before she got married, he allows reconnection to happen in his own house although Gatsby’s credibility was still in question to him.

He admires Gatsby’s having “an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness he had never found in any other person and which it was not likely he could ever find again” (Fitzgerald 1). This admiration overpowered his questions on Gatsby’s character and that of his company. This shows that men’s dominance was critical since women were to follow what the men wanted them to, not their choices.

The novel was written in a time when men could batter women if dissatisfied by their actions, absolutely ignoring women’s rights. In the meeting with Myrtle, when an argument ensued between Tom and the mistress, Tom broke her nose to shut her up. The whole thing looks normal and even when George complains to him, he is not moved by his cry.

Tom is the dominant character in the novel. He harasses people starting with his wife, his mistress, George and even Gatsby. Tom is seen doing the same thing Gatsby does, dating a married woman, but he has the guts to confront him on his affair with Daisy. When Myrtle died, he fires a battle between Gatsby and George by convincing him that Gatsby had an affair with Myrtle.

George kills Gatsby before killing himself as a sign of revenge. The revenge was purely egotistic to reclaim his position as Myrtle’s husband since his status as a man on top of the relationship had been invalid. This leaves a mark in moral decadence, which only happens in a patriarchal society that cannot be controlled by any other voice than the male voice.

The novel has so much influence geographically and culturally due to the approach used and the structure itself. Tom Buchanan’s treatment of his wife and mistress and Gatsby’s manipulation of Daisy, Tom’s wife, brings out the aspect of male domination. The male has a dominant part in the exploitation of power in the relationships, and marital status is nothing of a worry when one wants to pursue their mistresses. Men in the text have idolized women, and they justify their reasons for the exploitation of women.

For example, Gatsby’s life is made true by the fact that he managed to have a relationship with a lady he had loved before. He does everything to get her, which include him “buying a house in West Egg just so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (Fitzgerald 1). This was a crucial sport in being strategic in his plans.

Tom, on the other hand, uses his physical and financial powers to prove that he is in control. He and Gatsby set social structures that attract women to them. However, Nick, the narrator, was not able to relate with the unpredictable and manipulative Jordan Baker. Jordan Baker’s character of believing that she could do as much as a man could do scared him away. She is unlike Daisy, who chose to stay with Tom, although she was in the relationship for financial gains.

Gatsby describes her as one with “voice is full of money” (Fitzgerald 1). For Jordan’s belief in herself, Nick later blames his failure to cope with her on her partying, smoking, and drinking character without really revealing that he had the same character as being pragmatic.

Women in the great gatsby had been accustomed to so much submission; an example is in Daisy’s character. She has a complacent kind of character that makes it difficult to make her own decisions.

She exhibits incapacity to have an independent sense of self-will that Gatsby takes advantage of to win her by flattering her with words like “You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock” (Fitzgerald 1). The fact that she had a relationship before with Gatsby was enough to lead her in deciding to have an affair with him.

Myrtle also belongs to the same types of women as Daisy as she engages in a relationship with another woman’s husband just because they met and liked each other. This aspect manages to bring out a clear definition of gender roles and identity in the earlier days when the novel was written. Men ask, and women respond without looking at what could be affected in their decisions.

The Great Gatsby sample essay shows how the novel brings out an aspect of both genders reclaiming their positions in society in terms of gender relations. Though the male has dominated, and the female has proven to be dependent on men, they both need to redefine themselves as the victims of social norms.

The male gender has dominated the economic and social part of the society making sure that the role of women is reduced to being subjects to the male exercise of power. This has been shown clearly by women getting trapped in the misogyny and manipulation set by men hence making it hard for them to stand by their choices. Their gender nature dictates the character choice in the male-dominated world.

The male exercise their power over the significant female characters by ensuring that they remain the sole financial sources, and the women exercise their dependence by remaining in their marriages despite their involvement in affairs outside marriage. Though there are men like George, who have lost their position, they still exhibit their ego by defending their marriages.

Fitzgerald, Scott. The Great Gatsby. University of Adelaide, 2005. Web.

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IvyPanda . 2018. "The Great Gatsby: Analysis and Feminist Critique." June 9, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-great-gatsby/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Great Gatsby: Analysis and Feminist Critique." June 9, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-great-gatsby/.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Scott Fitzgerald — “The Great Gatsby”: Theme and Symbols

"The Great Gatsby": Theme and Symbols

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The Extensive Guide to Analysing ‘The Great Gatsby’ for English: Summary, Context, Themes & Characters

The Great Gatsby explores themes of the American Dream, wealth, love, and disillusionment through the tragic story of Jay Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy Buchanan and their complex relationships.  Stay tuned for the full Great Gatsby summary, characters, context, themes and more!

We’ve even got a step-by-step guide on how to write Band 6 analysis for The Great Gatsby that’ll blow your teachers away! 

And here’s a bonus for you — we’ve also created an analysis table (aka a TEE table ) and a sample paragraph that’s all free for you to download.

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Summary of The Great Gatsby Key Characters Historical Context The Great Gatsby Themes Sample Band 6 Analysis of The Great Gatsby

Summary of The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a tragic love story that revolves around Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire who strives to rekindle his relationship with his old flame, Daisy Buchanan.

It takes on the narrative of Nick Carraway, who witnesses the events between Gatsby and Daisy to tell a tale about doomed love in the world of the wealthy. 

Meet Nick, Daisy, Tom and Jordan

In 1922, Nick Carraway moves to a modest home in Long Island, New York in hopes of claiming his own American Dream. He lives next to the famous Jay Gatsby, who had his own mansion and threw lavish parties every weekend. 

One day, Nick travels to the other side of Long Island to visit his cousin, Daisy Buchanan and her husband, Tom whom Nick had known since their university days at Yale. They introduce him to Jordan Baker , who tells Nick about Tom’s mistress.

Later on, Daisy confides in Nick about her unhappiness in her marriage. Nick returns home to see his neighbour, Jay Gatsby, in front of his mansion, stretching his hands across the bay and towards the green light at the end of the Buchanan residence. 

Image sourced from LitHub

Meet Myrtle

Nick is then invited to visit the city with Tom and his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, who is married to a repairman named George and lives in an industrial wasteland nicknamed “valley of ashes”.

They party at Tom’s apartment, where an argument about Daisy breaks out between Tom and Myrtle, which ends in Tom breaking Myrtle’s nose. 

Meet Gatsby

As the summer passes by, Nick receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s extraordinary parties. Nick attends the party and bumps into Jordan.

He then meets the Great Gatsby himself, who turns out to be a remarkable young man who looked like he was longing for something as he peers over his own party. 

As the party winds down, Gatsby speaks to Jordan privately. Jordan would later tell Nick about how Gatsby had met Daisy in Louisville back in 1917 and fell in love with her then.

Gatsby is still deeply in love with Daisy, so he hosts many extravagant parties in hopes to see her again. 

Gatsby and Daisy reunited 

As Nick and Gatsby become closer, Nick accepts Gatsby’s request to invite Daisy over to Nick’s house , with Gatsby arriving unannounced. Daisy is surprised to see Gatsby after five years apart.

Although awkward at first, Gatsby and Daisy warm up to one another, and begin a love affair. 

Tom gets suspicious 

After a while, Tom starts to suspect something fishy between his wife and Gatsby, so he invites them over for luncheon . At the table, Gatsby responds in a manner that reveals his love for Daisy, which Tom picks up.

Despite having his own affair, Tom gets extremely angry and forces the party to drive to a suit in the Plaza Hotel, New York City. 

Gatsby insists that Daisy claims her love for him in front of Tom, but she backs out after realising her devotion to Tom . Tom begins to assert his own history with Daisy over Gatsby’s and reveals his own private investigations into Gatsby’s job as an illegal alcohol dealer.

Astounded, Daisy runs away and Gatsby chases after her. Daisy and Gatsby take off in Gatsby’s car.

Image sourced from Curbed New York

Myrtle’s death

The party drives back to the buchanan residence with nick, jordan and tom in another car. as they pass through the valley of ashes, they find out that gatsby’s car had crashed and killed myrtle, tom’s mistress..

When Nick returns to Long Island, Gatsby tells him that Daisy killed Myrtle as she was driving the car and Gatsby was willing to take the fall. 

Gatsby dies 

The following day, Tom informs Myrtle’s husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver that killed Myrtle. A miserable, grieving Tom comes to the conclusion that Gatsby was Myrtle’s secret lover and proceeds to kill Gatsby in the pool of his mansion . Tom then shoots himself. 

Nick arranges a funeral for Gatsby, which no one attends as the world starts to forget about him. Disgusted by the people in Gatsby’s life, Nick moves away from New York to escape the hollowness and moral decline of the higher class.

The novel ends with Nick standing where Gatsby once stood, peering across to watch the green light flicker at the now abandoned Buchanan residence. Although Nick acknowledges that Gatsby was “great” because of his ability to manifest his dreams into reality, he realises that both the pursuit of Gatsby’s and the American dream are, sadly but ultimately, futile. 

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Key Characters in The Great Gatsby

Nick Carraway  As Nick is the main narrator, his perceptions and judgements shape how the story is being told. As a young, bright man, Nick attended Yale and fought in World War I before moving from Minnesota to New York City to learn about the bond industry.  Soon enough, he becomes friends with his wealthy neighbour, Jay Gatsby. He also has a cousin, Daisy Buchanan, who lives across the area and happens to be Gatsby’s former lover. He plays a pivotal role in facilitating the reunion between Gatsby and Daisy.  He claims his own character to be honest, open-minded and quiet, so many trust to confide him with their secrets, no matter how scandalous it may be. 

Jay Gatsby Jay Gatsby makes the title of the book as the main protagonist — a mysterious young millionaire who hosts luxurious parties every Saturday night to impress his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.  Born as James Gatz on a humble farm in North Dakota, Gatsby’s strive for his American Dream steered him out of poverty and into the upper class world. During his days training as an officer in Louisville, he met Daisy and fell in love with her. Unfortunately, he had to leave for the army, so he swore to come back to her through acquiring as much fortune as he could. Whether it’d be selling illegal alcohol or trading stolen goods — he would do anything to become rich so he could be back with Daisy.  Although Nick sees Gatsby as a dishonest man, we have to give it to Gatsby and his extraordinary ability to transform his dreams into a reality as he reconstructs an identity for himself as the legendary “Great” Gatsby. 

Daisy Buchanan Daisy Buchanan is Nick’s cousin and Gatsby’s love interest. As a young beautiful socialite, she attracted many men in Louisville, including Gatsby. Although she promised to wait for Gatsby, Daisy longed for love and gratification. So, when Tom (a wealthy, hunky hot mess) asked for her hand in marriage, Daisy decided not to wait for Gatsby and married Tom instead.  Gatsby sees Daisy as the perfect woman for him due to her charm, grace and wealth. In reality, Daisy is sardonic, superficial and cynical — representing the flaws of the aristocratic. 

Tom Buchanan Tom is Nick’s former college mate from Yale who was born into an aristocratic, wealthy family line. He is a big bully who exudes arrogance, aggression and cold-heartedness as he projects racism and sexism onto anyone he interacts with. An outright liar and hypocrite, Tom has no second thoughts about his feelings for Daisy during his extramarital affair with Myrtle, yet becomes enraged at Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship. 

Jordan Baker Jordan is Nick’s love interest and Daisy’s socialite friend. As a professional golfer, Jordan naturally belongs to the upper class of society as she plays a sport exclusive to the wealthy. While Jordan is described as alluring and beautiful upon first meeting, Nick later discovers that she is quite cynical, self-centred and a liar. For example, Jordan’s success is built on lies as she cheated in her first major tournament to win.  Jordan’s sly and self-focussed nature reflects the “new women” of the Roaring Twenties, otherwise known as “flappers” who can be recognised by their bobbed hair, short skirts and makeup that is symbolic of the Jazz Age. The “new women” were open towards sexuality, digressing from the conventional domestic life alike Daisy’s, to welcome a new age of women. 

Myrtle Wilson Myrtle is Tom’s mistress and a married woman, wedded to a mechanic who owns a garage in the valley of ashes. Desperate to escape her social situation, Myrtle enters an affair with the rich Tom Buchanan, who rents an apartment where she can pretend that she belongs to the upper class world. Unfortunately, Tom treats Myrtle as an object, inflicting violence upon her whenever she tries to assert her will. 

George Wilson George Wilson is Myrtle’s exhausted husband, tirelessly working to run his auto shop in the valley of ashes. Despite Myrtle’s ferocity and snappy attitude, George worships the ground that Myrtle walks on. Soon after learning about his wife’s death, George becomes consumed by grief and commits murder to exact his revenge.  In a way, George reflects Gatsby as both were dreamers whose lives were destroyed by their unrequited love for the women who pursue people like Tom — rich, immoral and selfish. 

Context of The Great Gatsby

Coined as the Great American Novel, The Great Gatsby is a classic piece of American fiction that is revered for its reflective take on American social classes during the Jazz era .

With its imagistic prose and rich history, it teleports us to the 1920s post war society, known as the “Roaring Twenties”.

It was a chaotic period in American history in terms of its politics, society and economy. 

To understand The Great Gatsby, it is important to know its historical roots first. Let’s dive into America’s most turbulent time of growth, prosperity and corruption. 

Warren Harding’s Presidency 

After World War I ended in 1919, Warren Harding became the President of the United States and targeted the economy to rebuild America’s morale. It was a time of scandal and corruption as the presidency sided with management in disputes over unions, minimum wage and child labour, which compromised the labourers. 

To make matters worse, Harding and his next-in-line, Calvin Coolidge established tax legislation, which benefited the rich more than the other classes. Further policies also forced people to relocate to urban areas to earn a living, as rural industries such as agriculture, textiles and mining were disadvantaged.

Despite their migration, these people were unable to achieve the better life they sought out for, striving to live in the harsh conditions like that of the valley of ashes in Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby. 

Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution: Prohibition 

In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution: prohibition was approved. This meant that it was illegal to manufacture, sell or transport any type of alcohol. The Americans at that time felt that this was a moral decision, as it would remove any vices associated with drunkenness. 

Yet, things didn’t turn out as planned. Many broke the law and consumed illegal liquor, which boosted demand for illegal alcohol to the extent where organised crime activity took hold of its profitability. This new line of industry generated fortunes for the nouveau riches (newly rich) founders such as Gatsby.

Understanding this part of American law in the 1920s is very important to understand the weight of Gatsby’s crimes, and how amoral his actions were to become one of the filthy rich. 

Materialism

As the economy prospered, the people earned more money and spent more money at a rate that is higher than any other period in history. People also started to spend more time and money on leisure goods and activities, making sports an enjoyable recreational pastime. 

The Roaring 20s

The “Roaring 20s” was a retaliation against the chaos and violence of World War I which left America in a state of shock . A wild, exuberant lifestyle was what the generation needs to drown the trauma they’ve inherited from the cruel war.

The generation also turned away from the worn out conservative values of the past, charging into the wealth, opulence and extravagance that America’s economic prosperity provides them. 

Like Gatsby, Fitzgerald worked hard through writing to please his aristocratic wife, Zelda, who was everything he wanted to become, yet became everything he regarded with contempt . After cycles of endless parties all day and night, Fitzgerald became tired of his luxurious lifestyle as he found himself empty under a fake facade of wealth, longing for the return of his moral crux. 

Image sourced from History Collection

The Great Depression

In the early 1920s, wealthy Americans got even wealthier through stock dividends, corporate profits and wages. As technology and means for productivity improved, production costs reduced and the economy flourished. 

However, good things must come to an end. In 1929, the stock market crashed and flooded in a new age of financial decline known as The Great Depression.

Personal income, tax revenue and profits dropped, but the ones who were hit the hardest were the lower class. For some countries, its effects lasted until the start of World War II. 

Although Fitzgerald didn’t know this would happen, he did figure that too much of a good thing is a bad thing, hinting that the opulent Jazz Age has its own impending doom. 

Image sourced from Bushcraft Buddy

The American Dream

The American Dream is an ideal where anyone can achieve success if they work hard in a society that facilitates upward mobility, regardless of which class they are born into.

Simply put, even if you’re poor, the American Dream states that you can get real rich — if you just work real hard. 

The concept of the American Dream began from the Founding Fathers, who established independence from England and started a free America.

However, Americans in 1918 were disillusioned after experiencing the harsh brutalities of war, finding cynicism and emptiness within the Victorian social model. 

Additionally, as the stock market skyrocketed and people gained money from all avenues (legal or not), people from all backgrounds who could make themselves a fortune and become what is known as “new money”, were scorned by those who were born with wealth, coined as “old money.” 

While Fitzgerald first portrays the American dream as a positive ideal of self-discovery and the pursuit of happiness, he reveals the moral corruption of those obsessed with wealth — noting the greed, hunger and selfishness that consumes them.

Despite any sacrifices to achieve this dream, Fitzgerald points out how the goal of obtaining wealth, like Gatsby’s dream of obtaining Daisy, is empty, futile and unworthy. 

As the American Dream fell apart, the 1920s generation sought refuge in the past where their dreams were once meaningful, in a bygone era where the American values remain untainted. 

Themes from The Great Gatsby

1. disillusionment of the american dream.

In “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald meticulously portrays the disillusionment of the American Dream through the lives of his characters. Jay Gatsby, the embodiment of this dream, chases the illusion of wealth and success to win back his lost love, Daisy Buchanan. However, as the story unfolds, the hollowness of this pursuit becomes evident.

One significant quote highlighting this disillusionment is when Nick Carraway, the narrator, reflects on the futility of Gatsby’s aspirations:

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.”

Moreover, the tragic demise of Gatsby himself serves as a poignant testament to this theme of disillusionment, highlighting the tragic consequences of chasing an elusive fantasy.

2. Emptiness of the Wealthy

Beneath Tom Buchanan’s immense wealth is a profound lack of fulfilment. As he discusses books with Nick, he demonstrates an attitude of cynicism:

“Civilization’s going to pieces… I’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things.”

The extravagant parties hosted by Gatsby also symbolise the superficiality of wealth. Amidst the glittering festivities, Nick observes the juxtaposing emptiness that lies beneath such lavish displays of affluence:

“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”

Despite amassing vast riches, Gatsby’s life also lacks genuine substance. Even Daisy, a symbol of wealth and status, cannot fill the void in his life, as seen in his longing for an idealized version of her from the past.

Fitzgerald masterfully weaves these instances throughout the narrative, revealing the hollowness and vacuity that often accompany material wealth, thereby dissecting the emptiness within the lives of the ostensibly prosperous characters.

3. Moral Conflict in Pursuit of the American Dream

Jay Gatsby is driven by an unwavering desire for success, but his methods often clash with moral integrity. As he chases after Daisy, Gatsby becomes entangled in a web of deception and corruption.

One notable instance highlighting this moral conflict is when Nick Carraway, the narrator, reflects on Gatsby’s nature, stating,

“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.”

This quote underscores Gatsby’s eventual tragic end, emphasizing the ethical dilemmas inherent in his pursuit of wealth and love.

His relentless ambition and compromised morality ultimately lead to disillusionment, exposing the emptiness behind the façade of the American Dream and revealing the price one might pay when morality is sacrificed in the relentless pursuit of success.

4. The Power Struggle Between Social Classes

F. Scott Fitzgerald also keenly explores the power dynamics inherent in social classes, showcasing the stark divisions and struggles between the wealthy elite and those striving for acceptance.

Gatsby, despite his immense wealth, faces continual rejection by the old-money aristocracy. He yearns for Daisy’s acceptance into their world, realizing the limitations imposed by his nouveau riche status. As he laments,

“Her voice is full of money.”

The novel’s portrayal of lavish parties and opulent lifestyles juxtaposed with the struggles of characters like George Wilson also underscores the societal imbalance and the desperation of those outside the elite circles.

Writing Band 6 Analysis for The Great Gatsby in 3 Steps

We know how easy it is just to jump in and answer the question right away when you’re writing your essay for The Great Gatsby. However, we do recommend that you start by building a solid in-depth analysis of the text before you get writing!

This is because a strong foundational knowledge of the text inside and out can help you identify ideas from it and compose a comprehensive thesis !

So, here is a step-by-step guide on how to drill into an analysis for The Great Gatsby!

Step 1: Choose your example(s) 

A pro tip is to choose an example with a technique . Techniques allow you to delve deeper into the hidden messages that the author is trying to communicate. 

Here is a famous quote from the Great Gatsby: 

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year receded before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter- to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther… and one fine morning- So, we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” 

This is a pretty long quote from The Great Gatsby, so when you’re writing this into your essay, remember that you can always chop it up into short excerpts to help your essay flow better. 

Step 2: Identify your technique(s)

The best technique is one that allows you to explore the underlying message behind the text. 

Look out for literary techniques that represent another meaning such as metaphors, symbols and motifs, as this can help demonstrate your depth of understanding. 

If you can find multiple techniques within one quote or example, that’s even better!

For the above quote, there are techniques such as metaphor, symbolism and alliteration. 

Step 3: Write the analysis

When writing the analysis, it is important that you explain what the effect of the technique is and how this backs up your argument . In this example, we are going to analyse how this quote discusses the deterioration of the American Dream, one of the prominent Great Gatsby themes.

The green light is a classic symbol of the unattainable American Dream with its greed, materialism and wealth. As Gatsby reaches out to the green light until his death without ever attaining it, it’s a metaphor of how the American dream is far from our reach.  Furthermore, the alliteration of “b” in “beats”, “boats” and “borne back” elicits the effect of being beaten back, which accentuates Gatsby’s futile pursuit of wealth.  There is also another metaphor with the boats moving backwards into the current. This symbolises Fitzgerald’s reflection on his own generation and their reversion to the past ideals once dispelled of the flawed American Dream. Alternatively, this can be perceived as how pursuit of success beats us back into our humble beginnings, reinforcing that true success in the name of wealth is ultimately unattainable. 

If we put all these together in our analysis, it will look like this:

Although the “green light” represents hope in the beginning chapters, it becomes a symbolic image of the flawed American Dream with its “green” colour reminiscent of money and its greed,  superficiality and materialism. Fitzgerald reinforces the unattainable reality of the American Dream through the “green light” which Gatsby yearns for but never acquires, symbolising how the American dream is far from our reach. The alliteration of “b” in “beats”, “boats” and “borne back” evokes the sensation of being beaten down, which reveals how the American Dream has failed individuals with its empty promise, despite its sacrificial pursuit of success. As the boats, representative of society, are metaphorically “borne back ceaselessly into the past,” Fitzgerald reveals how one’s progress in the pursuit of wealth is worthless, as they are tied to their original socioeconomic roots due to systemic injustice perpetrated by the “old money” clan. 

Need help analysing a different text?

Check out other texts we’ve created guides for below:

• Romeo and Juliet
• Run Lola Run
• In Cold Blood
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• The Book Thief
• The Tempest
• Blade Runner
• Things Fall Apart
• Mrs Dalloway

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How to Write a Compare/Contrast Essay for The Great Gatsby

Book Guides

These compare/contrast essays are an opportunity for you to tie the character similarities and differences to larger observations about society and class, the American Dream , or identity in the novel. They also allow you to practice standard English class skills: close reading, using lines from the text as evidence, and taking a stance and presenting a supporting argument in an essay.

We’ll go over some basic dos and don’ts for writing compare/contrast essays before diving into some analysis of the most asked-about character pairings. Keep reading if you have a Compare/Contrast assignment on the horizon!

Article Roadmap

• The do's of a compare and contrast essay
• The don'ts of a compare contrast essay
• Why some characters are paired for comparison more often than others
• Nick and Gatsby
• Tom and George
• Tom and Gatsby
• Daisy and Jordan
• Daisy and Myrtle

What to Do in a Compare/Contrast Essay

Like anything you write for English class, your essay should be clearly organized, with a thesis statement (a one-sentence summary of your argument), and topic sentences for each body paragraph.

And you should definitely have an overall argument! The point of the compare/contrast essay isn’t for you to just list the differences and similarities between two characters, you need to take those observations and make a larger argument about the novel as a whole . That larger argument allows you to practice writing an essay that contains an argument, which is a skill that nearly all English teachers are focused on building.

To take a quick example, don’t just list the differences between Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. Instead, make an argument like, “Fitzgerald’s portrayal of wealthy New York society through Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan allows him to critique both old money and the newly rich, while reserving his most pointed critiques for the old money crowd.” (Obviously, that’s just one example, and there are dozens of potential arguments you could make while comparing and contrasting characters in Gatsby!)

Make sure to address your larger argument in each body paragraph as you draw out the similarities and differences between the two characters. Don’t get caught in the weeds as you tease out the many differences and similarities in each character pair. Always link back to the bigger picture.

Finally, analyze each quote you use – in other words, don’t stick a quote in your essay and do nothing with it. Make sure to explain how and why the quote demonstrates a key similarity or difference, and what that means for your bigger argument.

What to Avoid in a Compare/Contrast Essay

Don’t just list differences and similarities without an overarching argument . Although you can definitely start brainstorming by making a list of similarities and differences, just presenting that list in essay form won’t get you a good grade, since you need to go deeper and explain what the similarities/differences suggest about the novel as a whole.

And, on the other side, don’t make big claims without some evidence from the text to back them up . For example, don’t say “Tom is selfish while Gatsby cares about others.” Prove those two separate claims (Tom is selfish” and “Gatsby cares about others”) with relevant lines from the book. (And if you’re having a hard time locating good quotes, find a digital version of Gatsby you can search using the CTRL-F function. It’s a lifesaver when gathering relevant quotes for an essay!)

Why Are These Characters Paired Most Often?

We will tackle these major pairings in the next sections of this article:

Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby

Tom buchanan and jay gatsby, tom buchanan and george wilson, daisy buchanan and jordan baker, daisy buchanan and myrtle wilson.

Before we dig into the analysis, you might be wondering: “why are we only comparing characters of the same gender?” or maybe “why not other pairings? Why not Jordan and Myrtle, or Nick and Tom?” We are focusing on these specific pairings because they are by far the most commonly asked about pairs in essay prompts and discussion topics for The Great Gatsby . And we want this guide, first and foremost, to be helpful to students as you work on assignments involving Gatsby!

Furthermore, these pairings help teachers get you to explore some of the novel’s larger themes . For example, comparing Daisy/ Myrtle or Tom/George can help you explore the differences between the wealthy and the working class . Comparing Daisy/Myrtle or Daisy/Jordan can help you explore the changing status of women during the 1920s. Comparing Tom and Gatsby can get at the old money/new money divide. Finally, differences between Nick and Gatsby raise some of the novel’s larger questions about the American Dream , repeating the past, and identity. In short, these pairings have become common because they each allow fairly easy access to one of the novel’s larger issues.

That’s not to say you couldn’t also explore some of those themes by comparing, say, Jordan and George, or Daisy and Gatsby, but cross-gender compare/contrast essays can be challenging because the status of women and men is so different in the novel. If you are interested in seeing how a particular male and female character are paired, you may be better off studying them through the lens of love, desire, and relationships in the novel, or through the way they relate to one of the novel's symbols or motifs.

With those thoughts in mind, let's jump into the top 5 pairings! For each pairing, we will suggest a few possible larger arguments you can either build from or disagree with, but these are far from comprehensive! You should add to our analysis of the characters and come up with an argument you’re excited about.

Quick Note on Our Citations

Our citation format in this guide is (chapter.paragraph). We're using this system since there are many editions of Gatsby, so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book. To find a quotation we cite via chapter and paragraph in your book, you can either eyeball it (Paragraph 1-50: beginning of chapter; 50-100: middle of chapter; 100-on: end of chapter), or use the search function if you're using an online or eReader version of the text.

Although Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway vary both in outlook and temperament, they are also alike in interesting ways. Despite somewhat similar desires, attitudes, and social positions, Nick and Gatsby make very different choices during the novel.

Love and Romance . Nick and Gatsby both want women that are out of their reach, although in different degrees. Daisy is miles above Gatsby in terms of social class. Jordan and Nick are of the same social status, but Jordan doesn't seem free to make her own decisions since an aunt controls her financial life. There is a significant passion gap between Gatsby and Nick as well. Gatsby obsesses over Daisy - he has thought of nothing else for five years, going as far as to buy a house across the bay from her just in case she notices. Nick, meanwhile, is attracted to Jordan's cool and self-sufficient demeanor, but he is clearly not in love with her, as he himself notes ("I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity" (3.159)). 

Approach to Women.  Both men are not particularly interested in the inner lives of the women they want to be with. Gatsby is devastated when Daisy doesn't want to renounce her relationship with Tom completely. Similarly, Nick cavalierly discounts Jordan's penchant to lie, cheat, and generally be cynically uninterested in other people, and then is deeply disappointed when she acts this way after Myrtle's death.

Class and Social Standing.  Although both Gatsby and Nick are outsiders to the wealthy communities of East and West Egg, Nick is a much more in-between character socially than Gatsby. Nick is familiar with the ways of the old money crowd because of his own family's privilege and the fact that he is related to Daisy. Gatsby is not only self-made, but is a criminal who is desperate to pass as part of the old money elite without knowing its customs or rules of behavior. What isolates Nick from East Egg life is his Midwestern values and the importance he places on morality and decency. Gatsby is isolated from everyone by the fact that he can never actually be himself - he is always playing a role and putting on his "Oxford man" persona. It may be this sense of feeling out of place that connects them.

Outlook and Temperament.  Gatsby is an optimist (almost to a delusional degree) while Nick is a realist who finds Gatsby's idealism inspiring and admirable. Gatsby believes in his ability to shape his own life and future, which makes sense since he has managed to transform himself from a farmer to a successful gangster, to impersonate an "Oxford man," and to accumulate a fantastic amount of wealth in a very short time. This belief in his power translates to Gatsby being sure that he and Daisy can go back to their month of idyllic love ("'Can't repeat the past?', he cried incredulously. 'Why of course you can!'" (6.129). Nick tries his best to be an objective realist and to reign in his tendency to judge others. He is deeply in awe of self-directed men like Gatsby, and even Wolfshiem (Nick is amazed to think that one man could be behind a huge event like the rigged World Series). 

Ambition.  Gatsby dreams of greatness. As a young man his mind “romped like the mind of God,” and so as an adult, he seems to have made good on this promise by buying the most ridiculous mansion and throwing the most extravagant parties (6.134). Nick is much less ambitious in comparison. While he comes to New York seeking excitement, he doesn't want to be the wealthiest bond salesman on Wall Street or to have the biggest house. He is happy to be an observer at the edge of the drama rather than being in its midst.

Nick and Gatsby Essay Ideas

Here are potential arguments to build on or disagree with based our observations. These are certainly not the only possible arguments, so be creative! Make sure your essay considers what the similarities and differences between Nick and Gatsby reveal about the novel as a whole.

• Nick is a passive person and Gatsby is active, which is why Gatsby is the hero and Nick simply the observer.
• Nick has much more in common with Gatsby than he thinks he does, which explains why he becomes so enamored of him.
• Nick serves as a foil (someone who serves as a contrast) to Gatsby, which makes Nick the best possible observer of Gatsby.
• At the end of the novel, Tom says that Gatsby “threw dirt in [Nick’s] eyes, just like Daisy’s,” meaning that both Nick and Daisy were taken in and could never see the true Gatsby: a narcissist and a criminal. Tom is right - the whole novel is Nick trying to spin a negative character into a positive one.

As they battle over Daisy’s love, Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby sometimes seem surprisingly similar - particular in their self-centeredness, wealth, and concern with appearances. At the same time, these surface parallels point to major conflicts in their social class, and say a lot about the world of the novel.

Appearance.  Gatsby is driven by his materialism to be very invested having fashionable clothes, a beautiful mansion, and visually overwhelming parties - for him, the outfit is the thing that makes the Oxford man . Meanwhile because Tom doesn't have to dress the part of the moneyed elite to be one, he is instead very attuned to the behavior of others. This is why he immediately sees how fake Gatsby's persona is, both because of Gatsby's overly ostentatious clothes, and because of how much Gatsby misreads the fake invitation from the Sloanes. Tom is never fooled into thinking that Gatsby is anything other than an upstart, and mostly likely a criminal one.

Self-Centeredness.  Tom and Gatsby are both completely selfish, and fully convinced that their desires have to be acquiesced to by those around them. Tom, for example, starts his affair with Myrtle by pressing himself against her on a train platform - basically, his version of flirting is bodily assault. Gatsby, meanwhile, also thinks nothing of starting an affair with a married woman, assuming that his obsessive feelings are enough to justify any behavior.

Wealth.  Despite the fact that both are unimaginably rich, these men come from totally different sides of the big money divide. Tom comes from old money and is forever worried about the encroachment of the nouveau riche, minorities, and others onto what he thinks is his. At the same time, Gatsby is the most successful of the novel's many ambitious social climbers, using his lack of ethical scruples to parlay his criminal activity into a higher social status.

Power.  Tom loves being powerful and wields his power directly. He is physically aggressive and uses his body to threaten and intimidate (Nick, for one, is clearly very cowed by Tom's bulk). He is also quick to violence, whether it's socially sanctioned - like his football accomplishments - or not - like when he breaks Myrtle's nose without a second thought. Gatsby also holds significant power, but his methods are much more indirect. Still, whether he is offering Nick some illegal bond trading action, or showing off his get-out-of-a-ticket-free card to a cop on the highway, Gatsby is clearly happy to be in control of a situation.

Love. Tom and Gatsby both seem to be in love with Daisy. But what does that really mean to each of them? For Tom, Daisy is clearly partly appealing because she completes his horse-riding, East Egg, 350-thousand-dollar pearl necklace lifestyle. He cheats on her because he clearly has never denied himself anything, but he also understands Daisy as a person. He knows that she is too weak to leave him, but he also loves her enough to tolerate her affair with Gatsby and to stay with her after Myrtle's murder. Gatsby's love, on the other hand, is in some ways purer because he so idealizes Daisy and connects her to all of his other hopes and dreams. But this love is overly pure - he doesn't really seem to know Daisy as anything other than an idealized object, and is incapable of accepting that she has led a life apart from him for five years.

Tom and Gatsby Essay Ideas

In a compare/contrast essay, you can’t just present a list of similarities and differences. You also need to have an underlying argument you’re supporting. Feel free to take these at face value or as jumping-off points for your own thoughts.

• Tom loves Daisy as a person, Gatsby loves her as an idea.
• Both Tom and Gatsby’s tendency to control women and see them as prizes reveals the misogyny of the 1920s.
• Although Tom sees Gatsby as someone from an entirely different class than him, what they have in common (selfishness, affairs, obsession with appearances) makes a larger argument for an overall moral hollowness of the rich of any class.
• We see both Gatsby and Tom through the eyes of Nick, who worships one of them and hates the other. In reality, they are both much more similar than different, and their different treatment reveals Nick's insecurities and biases.

At first, most readers see Tom Buchanan and George Wilson  as opposites. But, these markedly different characters face very similar circumstances and offer two takes on masculinity and power in the novel.

Appearance and Presence.  Where Tom is strong and cowering, George is meek and shrinking. Tom exudes power and confidence while George tends to just fade into the background. These differences are borne out in the way these two men interact with the world. Tom is violent towards others, while George’s instinct is to be passive or to try and escape situations, the notable exceptions being his locking up of Myrtle and murder of Gatsby. Tom is confident, privileged, and assured while George is timid; George is “ruled by his wife” where Tom is selfish and acts on his own desires.

Reaction to Adversity. There is a dramatic difference in the way the two men react to the fact that their wives are cheating on them. Tom notices Daisy’s love for Gatsby and immediately starts making power plays. On the other hand, George discovers Myrtle’s affair and is undone by it. Nick compares the two men in a memorable description:

“the shock had made him physically sick. I stared at him and then at Tom, who had made a parallel discovery less than an hour before--and it occurred to me that there was no difference between men, in intelligence or race, so profound as the difference between the sick and the well. Wilson was so sick that he looked guilty, unforgivably guilty--as if he had just got some poor girl with child" (7.160).

In this description, Tom is “well” and George is “sick.” These are certainly arresting ways to describe Tom's more traditional masculinity and George's less overtly masculine character. Tom is self-assured in the face of adversity and immediately takes action to win Daisy back, insisting on driving Gatsby's car, bullying those around him into driving to Manhattan, and using his romance skills to remind Daisy of the pluses of their relationship. Meanwhile, George's weakness makes him look sick and guilty as he contemplates Myrtle's betrayal and is driven to violence to reassert his power over her.

Approach to Women.  Both Tom and George assume they know what’s best for their wives: Tom dismisses Daisy’s professed love for Gatsby despite their obvious closeness, while George is determined to take Myrtle out west once he learns about the affair. But, while it seems that Tom does fundamentally understand Daisy and is right about her unwillingness to leave their marriage, George is unable to hold on to Myrtle either emotionally or physically. She is killed trying to run away from him.

Tom and George Essay Ideas

Differences in attitude and outcome, despite a relatively similar situation, reveal some unexpected truths about the world of the novel. Argue the reverse of any of these topics for a really provocative essay!

• The fact that Tom manipulates George into killing Gatsby and then himself (which allows Tom and Daisy to walk away from the entire affair without consequence) shows the huge privileges of having money in the novel.
• Nick's approach to Tom and George shows his admiration of a physical, brutish, domineering kind of masculinity. 
• The fact that the relatively good guy turns into a murderer while the bad guy lives to cheat another day is a very cynical take on what happens in a world without a moral compass.

Despite Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker 's similar “white girlhoods” (1.140) in Louisville, their attitude and motivations are quite distinct, making them really interesting to compare and contrast.

Attitude and Outlook.  Both Daisy and Jordan display an entitled, bored attitude that’s typical of Fitzgerald’s depiction of the old money segment of wealthy New York society. The fact that they are introduced in tandem, both lying on the couches in their white dresses, speaks to their initially similar attitudes. But soon we see how different their takes on this kind of life are. Daisy is increasingly despondent, even nihilistic, asking in Chapter 7 , “what shall we do today, and tomorrow, and for the next thirty years?” (7.74).  Jordan meanwhile is a pragmatic opportunist, who sees possibilities everywhere, arguing that “life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall” (7.75). In other words, Daisy’s pessimistic attitude from Chapter 1 comes through again, while Jordan, despite coming across as cynical and sharp, actually still seems excited about the possibilities life has to offer.

Appearance and Personality.  Both Daisy and Jordan very alluring in their own way, though Daisy’s allure comes through her enchanting voice and feminine charms, while Jordan is masculine, “jaunty,” witty, sharp, and physical. Daisy maintains a squeaky-clean reputation despite moving with a fast crowd, while there are plenty of rumors about Jordan’s cheating in golf, and Nick comments on her dishonest attitude. More significantly, Daisy is incredibly self-absorbed while Jordan is very observant.

Role in Society.  Daisy seems caught between what society expects of her and some deeper, more powerful desires she can’t name, resulting in restlessness, depression, and her affair. Daisy is sticking to her prescribed societal role by marrying and having a child, while Jordan plays golf, “runs around town” and doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to marry, at least in the beginning of the novel. Perhaps Jordan is still somewhat optimistic about the possibilities of life since she hasn’t settled down yet, while Daisy realizes that nothing major in her life will change at this point. Jordan, meanwhile, is content to chase after fun and intrigue via other people’s bad behavior. And she doesn’t get dragged down by the tragedy in the book – on the contrary, she is callous in how little Myrtle’s death seems to shake her, coolly calling Nick the next day and asking him to meet like nothing has happened (8.50-61). Perhaps her motivations are a bit less accessible to the reader since her role was significantly downsized between some of Fitzgerald’s earlier drafts. But in any case, as we watch Daisy struggle in her marriage, what we see of Jordan is cool, calm, collected, and rather uncaring.

Daisy and Jordan Essay Ideas

So what are some possible conclusions we can draw from Daisy and Jordan’s characters? One of the most common strategies is to tie the differences between these women onto one of the book’s larger themes, like the role of society and class or the American Dream . Another is to think about an important feature of the novel, like Nick’s narration, and see what these two characters can reveal about it. With those strategies in mind, here are some potential arguments you could argue for or against!

• Jordan and Daisy, because they are generally disempowered, both use their sexuality in different ways to gain power, with different results.
• Despite Jordan’s overt cheating and lying, Daisy is, in fact, the more morally compromised person.
• The way Nick treats Jordan versus the way he describes Daisy reveals the novel’s preoccupation with Gatsby above all, to the detriment of the female characters.

While Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson obviously come from very different backgrounds and have conflicting motivations, they also have some surprising similarities.

Physical Appearance.  Daisy and Myrtle both derive power from their looks. Myrtle's comfort with her voluptuous body is clearly appealing to Tom, while Daisy's magnetic voice and ethereal presence obsess Gatsby. Throughout the novel, Myrtle is frequently reduced to being just a body - one to be used or violated by those around her. Tom sees little in Myrtle besides someone to either rub up against, have sex with, or punch at will; George resorts to imprisoning Myrtle while she eggs him on to "beat" her (7.314) the way Tom does; and finally, Daisy gruesomely rips Myrtle's body apart with a car. Meanwhile, Daisy's voice also serves to make her less of a person in her own right and more of an idealized, mythic figure from fairy tales. For Gatsby, Daisy's voice is appealing because it is "full of money" (7.105) - he is attracted to her not because of who she is, but because he sees her as a prize.

Social Standing.  Myrtle puts on the airs that Daisy has been born and raised with. This allows Myrtle to wield considerable social power within her group, as seen by how her guests fawn on her at the Manhattan party she throws. Daisy, in contrast, never exerts such overt power over a group – rather, she seems to move with crowds, doing what it expected of her (for instance marrying Tom despite still loving Gatsby). 

Love and Relationships.  Daisy and Myrtle’s marriages are strikingly quite different. Daisy and Tom are able to stay together even through serial affairs and murder. They end up loyal co-conspirators, protected by their wealth. Meanwhile, Myrtle has nothing but disdain for George despite his evident love for her. Still, both women use affairs with other men as a way to escape. Daisy wants to get away from an increasingly unhappy marriage and try to recapture the spontaneity and possibility of her youth, while Myrtle loves the status that her affair with Tom grants her. However, both learn that they can’t escape forever through their affairs. Obviously, their biggest difference is that Daisy gets to walk away from the novel unscathed, while Myrtle gets killed. 

Daisy and Myrtle Essay Ideas

Here are ways to write about these different women who face similar choices with dramatically opposite conclusions.

• Despite their similarities in action and motivation, Daisy is protected from any lasting harm by her wealth and old money status, while Myrtle is punished for the same behavior, revealing how the class system in America protects the wealthy.
• The novel refuses to give any inner life to women, and instead reduces them to their physical qualities no matter what social class they come from. Daisy and Myrtle's similar treatment by the narrator and by the men around them shows that gender trumps class when determining status. 
• Daisy and Myrtle’s similarities reveal how hollow the progress of the women’s movement really was at that point in time. Despite the big gains the movement made in the early twentieth century, including winning the right to vote and pushing for more freedom in how they could dress and act, both of these women’s lives aren’t vastly improved. They’re both trapped in unhappy marriages, they both rely on their looks/charms/sexuality to get what they want, and neither of them has even a chance of pursuing a fulfilling life through a career.

What’s Next?

Now that you’ve gone over the novel’s most popular compare/contrast pairings, check out our analysis of the novel’s romantic pairings in our guide to love, desire, and relationships in The Great Gatsby .

Have an essay about a symbol or motif? Get started with our symbols overview  and motifs overview.

Still a little hazy on some of the plot elements in Gatsby? Not to worry, we have you covered with our complete book summary !

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• Introduction

Life in West Egg and East Egg

Resurfacing gatsby’s past, a deadly crash and a shooting, setting and historical context, publication history, legacy, and adaptations, the meaning of the great gatsby.

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The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby , novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald , published in 1925 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Set in Jazz Age New York , it tells the story of Jay Gatsby , a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth .

Commercially unsuccessful when it was first published, The Great Gatsby —which was Fitzgerald’s third novel—is now considered a classic of American fiction and has often been called the Great American Novel.

• Who is Jay Gatsby, and what are the parties like at his house?
• How does Tom Buchanan react to the relationship that his wife, Daisy, has with Gatsby?
• What shocking event occurs when Daisy, seated beside Gatsby, is driving his car, and how does it affect everyone involved?
• How does The Great Gatsby capture the essence of the Jazz Age?
• How did The Great Gatsby ’s popularity change over time?
• What is the significance of West Egg vs. East Egg, and which wins in the end?

These AI-generated questions have been reviewed by Britannica’s editors.

Plot summary

The Great Gatsby is narrated by Nick Carraway , a Yale University graduate from the Midwest who moves to New York after World War I to pursue a career in bonds . He recounts the events of the summer he spent in the East two years later, reconstructing his story through a series of flashbacks not always told in chronological order.

In the spring of 1922, Nick takes a house in the fictional village of West Egg on Long Island , where he finds himself living among the colossal mansions of the newly rich. Across the water in the more refined village of East Egg live his cousin Daisy and her brutish, absurdly wealthy husband Tom Buchanan. Early in the summer Nick goes over to their house for dinner, where he also meets Jordan Baker, a friend of Daisy’s and a well-known golf champion, who tells him that Tom has a mistress in New York City . In a private conversation, Daisy confesses to Nick that she has been unhappy. Returning to his house in West Egg, he catches sight of his neighbor Jay Gatsby standing alone in the dark and stretching his arms out to a green light burning across the bay at the end of Tom and Daisy’s dock.

Early in July Tom introduces Nick to his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, who lives with her spiritless husband George Wilson in what Nick calls “a valley of ashes”: an industrial wasteland presided over by the bespectacled eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, which stare down from an advertising billboard. Meeting her at the garage where George works as a repairman, the three of them go to Tom and Myrtle’s apartment in Manhattan. They are joined by Myrtle’s sister and some other friends who live nearby, and the evening ends in heavy drunkenness and Tom punching Myrtle in the nose when she brings up Daisy. Nick wakes up in a train station the morning afterward.

As the summer progresses, Nick grows accustomed to the noises and lights of dazzling parties held at his neighbor’s house, where the famous and newly rich turn up on Saturday nights to enjoy Gatsby’s well-stocked bar and full jazz orchestra. Nick attends one of these parties when personally invited by Gatsby and runs into Jordan, with whom he spends most of the evening. He is struck by the apparent absence of the host and the impression that all of his guests seem to have dark theories about Gatsby’s past. However, Nick meets him at last in a rather quiet encounter later in the evening when the man sitting beside him identifies himself as Gatsby. Gatsby disappears and later asks to speak to Jordan privately. Jordan returns amazed by what he has told her, but she is unable to tell Nick what it is.

Nick begins seeing Jordan Baker as the summer continues, and he also becomes better acquainted with Gatsby. One afternoon in late July when they are driving into Manhattan for lunch, Gatsby tries to dispel the rumors circulating around himself, and he tells Nick that he is the son of very wealthy people who are all dead and that he is an Oxford man and a war hero. Nick is skeptical about this. At lunch he meets Gatsby’s business partner Meyer Wolfsheim, the man who fixed the World Series in 1919 (based on a real person and a real event from Fitzgerald’s day). Later, at tea, Jordan Baker tells Nick the surprising thing that Gatsby had told her in confidence at his party: Gatsby had known Nick’s cousin Daisy almost five years earlier in Louisville and they had been in love, but then he went away to fight in the war and she married Tom Buchanan. Gatsby bought his house on West Egg so he could be across the water from her.

At Gatsby’s request, Nick agrees to invite Daisy to his house, where Gatsby can meet her. A few days later he has them both over for tea, and Daisy is astonished to see Gatsby after nearly five years. The meeting is at first uncomfortable, and Nick steps outside for half an hour to give the two of them privacy. When he returns, they seem fully reconciled , Gatsby glowing with happiness and Daisy in tears. Afterward they go next door to Gatsby’s enormous house, and Gatsby shows off its impressive rooms to Daisy.

As the days pass, Tom becomes aware of Daisy’s association with Gatsby. Disliking it, he shows up at one of Gatsby’s parties with his wife. It becomes clear that Daisy does not like the party and is appalled by the impropriety of the new-money crowd at West Egg. Tom suspects that Gatsby is a bootlegger, and he says so. Voicing his dismay to Nick after the party is over, Gatsby explains that he wants Daisy to tell Tom she never loved him and then marry him as though the years had never passed.

Gatsby’s wild parties cease thereafter, and Daisy goes over to Gatsby’s house in the afternoons. On a boiling hot day near the end of the summer, Nick arrives for lunch at the Buchanans’ house; Gatsby and Jordan have also been invited. In the dining room, Daisy pays Gatsby a compliment that makes clear her love for him, and, when Tom notices this, he insists they drive into town.

Daisy and Gatsby leave in Tom’s blue coupe, while Tom drives Jordan and Nick in Gatsby’s garish yellow car. On the way, Tom stops for gas at George Wilson’s garage in the valley of ashes, and Wilson tells Tom that he is planning to move west with Myrtle as soon as he can raise the money. This news shakes Tom considerably, and he speeds on toward Manhattan, catching up with Daisy and Gatsby.

The whole party ends up in a parlor at the Plaza Hotel, hot and in bad temper . As they are about to drink mint juleps to cool off, Tom confronts Gatsby directly on the subject of his relationship with Daisy. Daisy tries to calm them down, but Gatsby insists that Daisy and he have always been in love and that she has never loved Tom. As the fight escalates and Daisy threatens to leave her husband, Tom reveals what he learned from an investigation into Gatsby’s affairs—that he had earned his money by selling illegal alcohol at drugstores in Chicago with Wolfsheim after Prohibition laws went into effect. Gatsby tries to deny it, but Daisy has lost her resolve, and his cause seems hopeless. As they leave the Plaza, Nick realizes that it is his 30th birthday.

Gatsby and Daisy leave together in Gatsby’s car, with Daisy driving. On the road they hit and kill Myrtle, who, after having a vehement argument with her husband, had run into the street toward Gatsby’s passing car, thinking it was Tom. Terrified, Daisy continues driving, but the car is seen by witnesses. Coming behind them, Tom stops his car when he sees a commotion on the road. He is stunned and devastated when he finds the body of his mistress dead on a table in Wilson’s garage.

Wilson accusingly tells him it was a yellow car that hit her, but Tom insists it was not his and drives on to East Egg in tears. Back at the Buchanans’ house in East Egg, Nick finds Gatsby hiding in the garden and learns that it was Daisy who was driving, though Gatsby insists that he will say it was he if his car is found. He says he will wait outside Daisy’s house in case Tom abuses Daisy.

The next morning Nick goes over to Gatsby’s house, where he has returned, dejected . Nick advises him to go away, afraid that his car will be traced. He refuses, and that night he tells Nick the truth about his past: he had come from a poor farming family and had met Daisy in Louisville while serving in the army, but he was too poor to marry her at the time. He earned his incredible wealth only after the war (by bootlegging , as Tom discovered).

Reluctantly, Nick leaves for work, while Gatsby continues to wait for a call from Daisy. That afternoon, George Wilson arrives in East Egg, where Tom tells him that it was Gatsby who killed his wife. Wilson makes his way to Gatsby’s house, where he finds Gatsby in his pool. Wilson shoots Gatsby and then himself. Afterward the Buchanans leave Long Island. They give no forwarding address. Nick arranges Gatsby’s funeral, although only two people attend , one of whom is Gatsby’s father. Nick moves back to the Midwest, disgusted with life in the East.

Set in the Jazz Age (a term popularized by Fitzgerald), The Great Gatsby vividly captures its historical moment: the economic boom in America after World War I, the new jazz music, the free-flowing illegal liquor. As Fitzgerald later remarked in an essay about the Roaring Twenties , it was “a whole race going hedonistic, deciding on pleasure.”

According to F. Scott Fitzgerald, the 1920s witnessed “a whole race going hedonistic, deciding on pleasure.”

The brazenly lavish culture of West Egg is a reflection of the new prosperity that was possible during Prohibition , when illegal schemes involving the black-market selling of liquor abounded. Such criminal enterprises are the source of Gatsby’s income and finance his incredible parties, which are probably based on parties Fitzgerald himself attended when he lived on Long Island in the early 1920s.

The racial anxieties of the period are also evident in the novel; Tom’s diatribe on The Rise of the Colored Empires —a reference to a real book published in 1920 by the American political scientist Lothrop Stoddard—points to the burgeoning eugenics movement in the United States during the early 20th century.

Fitzgerald finished The Great Gatsby in early 1925 while he was living in France, and Scribner’s published it in April of the same year. Fitzgerald struggled considerably in choosing a title, toying with Trimalchio and Under the Red, White and Blue , among others; he was never satisfied with the title The Great Gatsby , under which it was ultimately published.

The illustration for the novel’s original dust jacket was commissioned by Fitzgerald’s editor Maxwell Perkins seven months before he was in possession of the finished manuscript. It was designed by Francis Cugat, a Spanish-born artist who did Hollywood movie posters, and depicts the eyes of a woman hanging over the carnival lights of Coney Island . The design was well-loved by Fitzgerald, and he claimed in a letter to Perkins that he had written it into the book, though whether this refers to the eyes of Doctor Eckleburg or something else is uncertain. Cugat’s painting is now one of the most well-known and celebrated examples of jacket art in American literature .

While Fitzgerald considered The Great Gatsby to be his greatest achievement at the time it was published, the book was neither a critical nor a commercial success upon publication. Reviews were mixed, and the 20,000 copies of its first printing sold slowly. It was printed one more time during Fitzgerald’s life, and there were still copies unsold from this second printing when he died in 1940.

The Great Gatsby was rediscovered a few years later and enjoyed an exponential growth in popularity in the 1950s, soon becoming a standard text of high-school curricula in the United States. It remains one of Scribner’s best sellers, and it is now considered a masterpiece of American fiction. In 2021 it entered the public domain in the United States.

There have been several film adaptations of the novel, most notably a production directed by Jack Clayton in 1974, starring Robert Redford as Gatsby, and one in 2013 directed by Baz Luhrmann , starring Leonardo DiCaprio .

Above all, The Great Gatsby has been read as a pessimistic examination of the American Dream . At its center is a remarkable rags-to-riches story, of a boy from a poor farming background who has built himself up to fabulous wealth. Jay Gatsby is someone who once had nothing but who now entertains rich and celebrated people in his enormous house on Long Island. However, even though Gatsby’s wealth may be commensurate with the likes of Tom Buchanan’s, he is ultimately unable to break into the “distinguished secret society” of those who were born wealthy. His attempt to win Daisy Buchanan, a woman from a well-established family of the American elite, ends in disaster and his death.

This tension between “new money” and “old money” is represented in the book by the contrast between West Egg and East Egg. West Egg is portrayed as a tawdry, brash society that “chafed under the old euphemisms,” full of people who have made their money in an age of unprecedented materialism. East Egg, in contrast, is a refined society populated by America’s “staid nobility,” those who have inherited their wealth and who frown on the rawness of West Egg. In the end, it is East Egg that might be said to triumph: while Gatsby is shot and his garish parties are dispersed, Tom and Daisy are unharmed by the terrible events of the summer.

The Great Gatsby is memorable for the rich symbolism that underpins its story. Throughout the novel, the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is a recurrent image that beckons to Gatsby’s sense of ambition. It is a symbol of “the orgastic future” he believes in so intensely, toward which his arms are outstretched when Nick first sees him. It is this “extraordinary gift for hope” that Nick admires so much in Gatsby, his “heightened sensitivity to the promises of life.” Once Daisy is within Gatsby’s reach, however, the “colossal significance” of the green light disappears. In essence, the green light is an unattainable promise, one that Nick understands in universal terms at the end of the novel: a future we never grasp but for which we are always reaching. Nick compares it to the hope the early settlers had in the promise of the New World. Gatsby’s dream fails, then, when he fixates his hope on a real object, Daisy. His once indefinite ambition is thereafter limited to the real world and becomes prey to all of its corruption.

The valley of ashes—an industrial wasteland located between West Egg and Manhattan—serves as a counterpoint to the brilliant future promised by the green light. As a dumping ground for the refuse of nearby factories, it stands as the consequence of America’s postwar economic boom, the ugly truth behind the consumer culture that props up newly rich people like Gatsby. In this valley live men like George Wilson who are “already crumbling.” They are the underclasses that live without hope, all the while bolstering the greed of a thriving economy. Notably, Gatsby does not in the end escape the ash of this economy that built him: it is George Wilson who comes to kill him, described as an “ashen” figure the moment before he shoots Gatsby.

Over the valley of ashes hover the bespectacled eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, which appear on the advertising billboard of an oculist. These eyes almost become a moral conscience in the morally vacuous world of The Great Gatsby ; to George Wilson they are the eyes of God. They are said to “brood” and “[keep] their vigil” over the valley, and they witness some of the most corrupt moments of the novel: Tom and Myrtle’s affair, Myrtle’s death, and the valley itself, full of America’s industrial waste and the toiling poor. However, in the end they are another product of the materialistic culture of the age, set up by Doctor Eckleburg to “fatten his practice.” Behind them is just one more person trying to get rich. Their function as a divine being who watches and judges is thus ultimately null , and the novel is left without a moral anchor.

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Great Gatsby Essay: The Pursuit of the American Dream

• Great Gatsby Essay: The Pursuit…

A major theme in The Great Gatsby is the pursuit of what can be termed the American dream. Do you agree? By choosing a major character or a situation in Fitzgerald’s novel, discuss how or whether Fitzgerald is successful in exposing the underside of the American dream)

This represents the idea of the American Dream, where qualities of hard work and ambition are shown. The novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald embodies many themes; however, the most significant one relates to the corruption of the American dream.

The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes, and a happy family symbolizes the American dream. This dream also represents that people, no matter who he or she is, can become successful in life by his or her own work.

The desire to strive for what one wants can be accomplished if they work hard enough. The dream is represented by the idea of a self-sufficient man or woman, who works hard to achieve a goal to become successful. The Great Gatsby is a novel that shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons.

The American dream not only causes corruption but has caused destruction. Myrtle, Gatsby and Daisy have all been corrupted and destroyed by the dream.

The desire for a luxurious life is what lures Myrtle into having an affair with Tom. This decision harms her marriage with George, which leads to her death and loss of true happiness. Myrtle has the hope and desire for a perfect, wealthy and famous type of life.  She enjoys reading gossip magazines which represent her hope for the life of “the rich and famous”.

This shows how the one reason she wants to be with Tom, is because he represents the life of “the rich and famous”. When Myrtle first got married to George Wilson, she thought that she was crazy about him and thought that they were happy being together. Myrtle says, “The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake.

He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never told me about it, and the man came after it one day when he was out…” (Fitzgerald, 37) This shows how materialistic Myrtle is, and that she didn’t appreciate how George couldn’t afford his own suit to get married in. She looks at Tom in a different way. She looks at him as someone who can afford to buy their own suit for their own wedding. Myrtle is attracted to not only Tom’s appearance but his money as well.

She believes that Tom is the ideal picture-perfect man that represents the advertisement of the American Dream. Myrtle is considered to be lower class, as she doesn’t have a lot of money. Myrtle sleeps with Tom to inch her way to an upper-class status. People who are upper class are the ones that have money, drive fancy cars, and have nice big houses. Myrtle isn’t one of those people but desires to be one of them. This, later on, causes destruction and destroys Myrtle.

It was later found that Daisy was the one that hit Myrtle with her car which resulted in the death of Myrtle. It is ironic that Daisy was the one that killed her, since Myrtle was having an affair with her husband, Tom. This shows how the desire for a luxurious life and having the American dream, only caused destruction in this novel and destroyed someone’s life.

The hope for happiness is something that Daisy hoped to have, but finding out she married the wrong man changed who she is and her outlook on life. Early on in the novel, Daisy finds out a secret that Tom is hiding from her. Jordan says, “She might have the decency not to telephone him a dinner time.

Don’t you think?” (Fitzgerald, 20) Tom got a call from some women at dinner time, and Jordan claims that the woman is Tom’s, suggesting that he is sleeping with someone else. You learn throughout the novel that Tom and Daisy’s relationship is not to most ideal, happy relationship. Tom seems to be abusive towards her and rather does not seem to care much about her. Daisy thinks she has everything, wealth, love, and happiness which all tie into the American dream, but then she discovers that she has nothing and that she has been corrupted by this specific dream.

She thought she has all she desired but truly realized she had nothing. She has a child, who does not seem important to her at all. The child is never around, which shows a lot about Daisy. When her child was born, Daisy said “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful fool.” (Fitzgerald, 22)

Daisy basically explained that there are limited possibilities for women, and she would have rather had a boy. The baby has to be a beautiful fool in order to be happy and successful. Woman back in the 1920’s all married for money, and not necessarily love. Daisy thought she had loved when she married Tom, but truly in the long run, only came out with money.

With Gatsby, Daisy realized something that broke her heart. When reunited with Gatsby, who she has not seen in about five years Daisy breaks down and starts to cry. “They’re such beautiful shirts, it makes me sad because I’ve never seen such – such beautiful shirts before.” (Fitzgerald, 89) At this time Daisy realizes that she did marry for money and not for love.

She figures out that she could have married for money with Gatsby but would have had love too. The chase for the American dream and the ideal man to be with destroyed Daisy’s happiness.

The ambition for something has thrown Gatsby over the edge. His love and chase for Daisy have taken over his whole life. He feels that he has to live up to the American dream to accomplish what he truly dreams for, which is Daisy. While Gatsby was away fighting in the war, Daisy met Tom and married him.

Daisy had always been rich and Gatsby thought that in order to get Daisy back, he needs to have money so that he would be able to give Daisy anything she wanted. There was a green light where Daisy lived that Gatsby would always look out for.

The green light is of great significance in this novel. It becomes evident that this green light is not Daisy, but a symbol representing Gatsby’s dream of having Daisy. The fact that Daisy falls short of Gatsby’s expectations is obvious. Knowing this, one can see that no matter how hard Gatsby tries to live his fantasy, he will never be able to achieve it.

Through close examination of the green light, one may learn that the force that empowers Gatsby to follow his lifelong aspiration is that of the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses the green light as a symbol of hope, money, and jealousy.  Gatsby looks up to the American dream and follows it so he can be the picture-perfect man that every girl desires.

Gatsby cares a lot about how people see him, and his appearance towards others. He wants everything to look perfect for Daisy, as he wants Daisy to view him as a perfect man. “We both looked down at the grass – there was a sharp line where my ragged lawn ended and the darker, well-kept expanse of his began. I suspected he meant my grass.” (Fitzgerald, 80)

This presents the theme of appearance vs. reality and how Gatsby wants everything to look nice and presentable when he meets up with Daisy for the first time in five years. Gatsby becomes corrupted because his main goal is to have Daisy. He needs to have an enormous mansion so he could feel confident enough to try and get Daisy. Gatsby was blinded by the American dream and as a result of this, cause the destruction of Gatsby himself. He didn’t end up getting what he wanted because the American dream took over who he truly was.

The American dream is a powerful dream that was significant in the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald. It was evident that this dream only truly caused corruption and destruction. The desire for something sometimes causes people to be someone they are not and this usually does not result in a positive outcome.

The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. Most characters in the novel The Great Gatsby all wanted money, wealth, and happiness and would do anything in their power to get this.

The Great Gatsby is a novel that shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted. The American dream not only causes corruption but has caused destruction.

Myrtle, Gatsby, and Daisy have all been corrupted and destroyed by the dream and it was clear to be true. Money cannot buy you happiness which is something that the three characters in the novel The Great Gatsby truly did not realize.

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16 Comments

THANK YOU SO MUCH SAVED MY LIFE

you are a life saver

could you please give information for an MLA citation?

Hi. Please see the Author box.

thank you for leaving how to cite this

Your parenthetical references are incorrect and but the key points were helpful

WOW it really helped me on my essay. Thanks!!!

Hello Can I please get the authors name who wrote this and the date of when they wrote it,

REALLY HELPFUL!!!

@bill simpson

can teachers find this with there plagiarising finder websites?

I just saw your comment…5 years after you wrote it

2 years after…yeah turnitin prob will catch that

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Great explaination (:

WOW, this is amazing. Thank you so much. You saved my life, and a lot of work and time for me. Thanks.

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