The Changing Role of the American Dream in Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby'

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2.0, University of Duisburg-Essen (Anglophone Studies), course: A Survey of American Literature, language: English, abstract: This paper aims at providing an analysis of the American Dream with regard to F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel 'The Great Gatsby' from 1925. It will present an examination of whether the pursuit of happiness and freedom or the pursuit of success and wealth has a higher importance in the novel. By taking this issue into account, the change of the American Dream will be examined. Hence, each section will concentrate on the question whether the pursuit of happiness and freedom or the pursuit of success and wealth lead to a change in American society. First of all, the general meaning as well as the idea and the values of the American Dream will be depicted; particularly, the American Dream as key concept for the understanding of American society will be discussed. Therefore, Fitzgerald's most famous novel from 1925, is important to establish a connection between the values and the changing role of the American Dream in the literature of the United States of America. It will be examined whether the values of the American Dream changed and which aspects are to be considered when regarding these values. It might be significant to see how the American Dream is changing over the course of time. Afterwards, by presenting the dark side of the American Dream, this paper takes a specific look at the deconstruction of the American Dream in 'The Great Gatsby'. Due to this fact, the American Dream is turning into an American nightmare, which will also be investigated. What is also presented in this section is a criticism of the American Dream. Finally, the question whether the pursuit of happiness and freedom or the pursuit of success and wealth plays a more important role will be answered. The changing role of the American Dream will also be clarified and briefly summarized.