In the character of Gatsby, Fitzgerald holds the idea of the American Essay

In the character of Gatsby, Fitzgerald holds the idea of the American Dream up to ridicule. With reference to appropriately sele - experiment ExampleBut when Gatsby returned from the war to New York with riches and a newfound power, he was able to snap fastener hold of the American ambitiousness. This dream that became a reality, however, seemed to sell Gatsby short, as he tragically found that his newly acquired wealth and social status - as well as the girl of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan - could not purchase his rejoicing. In fact, this dream came at the price of his good character, and ultimately, his life. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby in this novel to represent what went wrong with America - a society in the Roaring Twenties that turned its back on morals and integrity to rack wealth, prestige, parties, immorality and alcohol - ingredients not for happiness and fulfillment, but for loneliness and despair. Fitzgerald begins dismantling the heightened image of the American dream thr ough the character and narrator, knap Caraway, who often describes and characterizes Gatsby during his quest for Daisy, respect, and acceptance. Unlike most of the other characters in the novel, however, Nick sees through Gatsbys supposed fulfillment and satisfaction, and does not envy the great Gatsby, who is praised and idolized by the balmy materialistic crowds that gather at his mansion to party and drink. This lifestyle that society was told to buy into did not pull to Nick, Gatsby turned out all right in the end it was what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the aborted sorrows and short-winded elations of men, (Fitzgerald 6). Instead of seeing Gatsby as a high-paying consumer, Nick sees Gatsby as the one who was world consumed by the price of having to pay dearly to dispatch his costly dreams, which will ultimately cost him his life. Nick saw through the false promises of happiness to be attained by pursuing and reaching the American dream, and he notes that any satisfaction or happiness gleaned as a result is shallow and short-lived. Early on, the reader witnesses that the ideals of glitz, glamour, prestige, promiscuity, and all the trappings of what became known as the high society in the Roaring Twenties is not what it is cut out to be. Even though Gatsby and the high-brow company he keeps are characterized as living the American dream, the author uses Nick to show the true up depravity of those who jump on board to live for this flawed concept. Nick actually calls Gatsby out, telling him simply what he thinks about those who believe that they have reached the top of the ladder in life, Theyre a foetid crowd . . . Youre worth the whole damn bunch put together, (Fitzgerald 162). Through Nick, Fitzgerald shows that Gatsby and all the partying elect with which he surrounds himself are morally depraved - even though they hold themselves up as being above the rest of socie ty (that has not achieved the American dream). Nick even sets himself apart from Gatsby and his wealthy revelers, noting that clean behavior is far from what those chasing after the American dream possess, Everyone suspects themselves of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is exploit I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known, (Fitzgerald 64). This narrative goes to show that moral behavior in the upper class society on Long