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Essay / Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: America's Awakening...
THE GREAT GATSBY, THE AWAKENING OF THE AMERICAN DREAMTHE IDEA OF EAST AND WEST AND CLASS DISTINCTIONThe first point by which opens Fitzgerald's masterpiece, "The Great Gatsby", is the definition of the two islands mentioned by Nick Carraway. West Egg, where Nick lives, is home to the nouveau riche, people who have worked hard and earned their money in a short time. But the fact is that they are rich only from the materialistic point of view. They do not have the traditions and culture of the East Eggers, but this does not worry them because they believe that spiritual satisfaction would automatically accompany material success. This belief is the cause of Gatsby's reaction to Daisy when she first comes to his house. Gatsby tries to impress Daisy by showing off his shirts, but he does not understand the traditions of East Egg society and therefore does not realize that he cannot impress her with his shirts. On the other side are East Eggers such as Daisy and Tom. Buchanan. They inherited their money and didn't work for it, so they don't appreciate it like the West Eggers do. Moreover, they come from high-class families and they do not need to try to be accepted into aristocratic societies. The best example is Tom Buchanan. He's a rich man with a beautiful wife, and from the outside it seems like he has the perfect life. The fact is that even if he didn't do it, he doesn't want to and wouldn't dare do anything that shatters this idea of a perfect life in other people's minds. The love story that Tom has with Myrtle clearly shows this philosophy that he has in his life. Myrtle is a money chaser, and because her husband doesn't have as much money as Tom, she doesn't want him even though George loves her... middle of paper..... . year. THE IDEA OF MONEY Another sign of the fall of the American dream in The Great Gatsby is how Gatsby makes his money. Gatsby made his fortune from the illegal sale of alcohol. The sale of alcohol was banned in the United States in the 1920s. Gatsby came from the Western United States where there was "old money." There he met a person named Dan Cody, who taught him how to make bootlegs. So he became incredibly rich in a short time because he absolved himself of any moral responsibility. But this wealth arouses distrust. His big parties only bring together insincere people and relationships are not based on trust or affection but on personal interest. Nick notices this towards the end of the novel when he sees that only three people are coming to Gatsby's funeral. Gatsby is left alone, no one shares his sentimentality and no one even comes to his funeral.