The American Dream in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay

The term the American Dream was first used by James Trusiow in 1931. He used this term to explain what had attracted millions of people from all over the world to settle in America. The early settlers that arrived in America had hoped for a better life than what they had in Europe. The dream is based on freedom, individualism, mobility, optimism, flexibility, hard work, progress and patriotism. When one pictures the dream family, they typically see that they are happy with a big expensive house surrounded by a white picket fence, with plenty of money, and a perfect wife or husband. The well-known American dream was represented throughout the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The idea of the American dream is shown through the image of Gatsbys mansion, the relationship between characters and human greed. In the novel The Great Gatsby the American Dream was referenced to in many forms. One reference to the American dream is the image of Gatsbys mansion. In the novel, Jay Gatsbys house is depicted as the dream house,with enchanting murmurs Daisy admired () the feudal silhouette against the sky, admired the gardens, the sparklingodor of jonquils and the frothy odor of hawthorn and plum blossoms and the pale gold odor of kiss-me-at-the-gate. It was strange to reach the marble steps (Fitzgerald 77). This quote from the novel is talking about how luxurious Gatsbys mansion is. The house is so big that it is silhouetted against the sky. Gatsby has gardens outside his house which only include the most extravagant of flowers. This shows that Gatsby is worried about what people think about him and he must give off the impression that he does indeed have all this money. As mentioned in these quotes, the only flowers that he puts in his garden are jonquils, hawthorns and plum blossoms. Gatsby even has marvelous, marble steps leading up to his house. The interior of Gatsbys house...