The Great Gatsby - The American Dream The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream, and the downfall of those who attempt to capture its illusionary goals. This dream has varying significances for different people but in The Great Gatsby, for Jay, the dream is that through wealth and power, one can acquire happiness. To get this happiness Jay must reach into the past and relive an old dream …showed first 75 words of 1363 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1363 total…things World War I, they thought it was okay to become carefree when indeed it was not. Through Fitzgeralds use of symbolism to describe the costumed characters of the 20s the reader can learn to constantly and conscientiously examine the people that they surround themselves with. The novel also teaches the lesson of being true to ones self and following ones own personal dream, not the one Americans are programmed to have.