The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1427 Words

Teeming with underlying symbolism and an array of thematic ambivalence, The Great Gatsby prevails today as one of America’s most iconic literary works. Set during the boisterous and seductive period known as â€Å"The Roaring 20’s,† F. Scott Fitzgerald vividly depicts an era whose daring youth strived to acquire the unattainable in pursuit of the popular cultural myth known as the American Dream. However, under closer examination, it becomes evident that the characters in Fitzgerald’s novel are chasing a dream that is far from ideal. In the 1920’s setting that Fitzgerald illustrates, the concept of the American Dream, although still alive, is corrupted through the idealization of monetary possessions, improper morals, and a yearning for†¦show more content†¦Even though most of the characters of The Great Gatsby meet the above criterion through the possession of tangible commodities, they lack the full embodiment of the American Dream in ter ms of the egalitarian and moral basis from which it was built. More specifically, this lack of egalitarian and moral soundness first becomes evident within the actions and persona of Daisy’s husband, Tom Buchanan. Embodying an egotistical persona and stark set of morals, Tom Buchanan is, by far, one of the novel’s greatest examples of corruption pertaining to the American Dream. Having inherited a great deal of money from his parents’ dense reserves of wealth, Tom has never worked a day in his life and lacks any perception of what it means to truly earn ones own wages. However, Tom’s true embodiment of a corrupt American Dream is most evident in his sexist perceptions of the women in his life. For example, while hosting a small cocktail party in a New York City apartment, Tom strikes his extramarital mistress, Myrtle, for simply commenting about Tom’s true wife: â€Å"Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face, discussing in impassioned voices whether Mrs. Wilson had any