Great Gatsby Timed Write

Brendan McMorrow

Mr. Barnes

+ English III

21 December 2012

Great Gatsby Timed Write

“Goal Setting: A Step-by-Step Guide”. Worksheets such as these can be found in almost every elementary schools nationwide, and for good reason: goals are important. Everyone has goals. From the homeless man who wants a dollar to buy a McDouble to the business executive who wants to take over a company, goals are a driving force in all our lives. Yet they are not always a driving force for good. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows how the American Dream pushed Gatsby to become rich and famous, yet ultimately led to his downfall. Through Gatsby, Fitzgerald argues that the American Dream is both a constructive and destructive force in American society.

From rags to riches, the transformation from James Gatz to the Jay Gatsby is a story many guess at but few know. One thing is certain though; it was made possible by a goal. Even as a kid, Gatsby was already dreaming of a future filled with money and mansions. When he would get home from a hard day of clam-digging or salmon-fishing, “a universe of ineffable gaudiness [would spin] itself out in his head” (Fitzgerald 99). His dream, of becoming successful, rich, and powerful is the seductive promise that America extends to all its citizens. Especially in the 1920s, when new millionaires were popping up like wildflowers, this American Dream captured the minds of many aspiring young men and woman. These men and woman [...]grew up as “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” yet believed they could achieve greatness. And some of them did. […] The millionaires that the American Dream inspired shaped the 1920s, just as the American Dream shaped the lives of the millionaires, one of whom was named Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s enormous wealth, his colossal house, “with a tower on one side… and a marble swimming pool, [with] more than 40 acres of lawn” are all the result of Gatsby’s belief in the American Dream (5). Without his “instinct toward his future glory” Gatsby would have wandered aimlessly through life, “as a clam-digger or salmon-fisher or … any other capacity that brought him food and bed” (98). Without goals, what is the point of life? The American Dream provided America with a goal, something to strive for because it promises happiness and success. Although not everyone could achieve it, everyone could try. For this reason, the American Dream was truly an empowering force and responsible for much of the success in the 1920s.

While it was a driving force for America, the American dream was also responsible for a great deal of unhappiness and destruction in the lives of its citizens. Because it is impossible for everyone to be successful, millions of Americans spent their whole lives trying to realize a dream that refused to become reality. The destructive wrath of the American Dream can be seen quite clearly in the dark and […] “impenetrable cloud” that surrounds the valley of ashes (23). “Halfway between West Egg and New York”, the valley of ashes contains the lives of many men and women who’s American Dream have long been crushed. They wake up every day taunted by the success of New York and West Egg, but unable to achieve it themselves. It taunts them; if the American Dream is supposed to be accessible to everyone, those who cannot achieve it must have done something wrong.  They live their lives believing the people next to them with the new car and mansion have everything they could possibly want, that they are truly happy. However, it is not only the poor ash men and women who the American Dream taunts. Even when the American Dream is realized, it does not always deliver the happiness that it promised. Jay Gatsby is the perfect example. Even with his excessively beautiful house and “beautiful shirts” that can bring a woman to tears, […] Gatsby is not happy (92). The American Dream tells people that more money, a bigger house, and a nicer car will bring more happiness. Because of this, it is in the nature of every American Dreamer to always want something more. In Gatsby’s case, his something more is the woman crying on her knees due to the extreme beauty of his shirts. For five years, Gatsby spent countless hours staring at a “green light that burns all night at the end of [Daisy’s] dock (92). His desire for Daisy almost drives him insane, and in the end is ultimately responsible for his death. However, it represents much more than just love for a woman; it represents the greed that the American Dream instills into its dreamers. […] When they finally achieve their dream they don’t realize it. People like Gatsby, whose success most men would kill for, think that what they have isn’t enough. This is the ultimate flaw of the American Dreamer.  […]  Instead of being happy with what they have, they need to have more to be happy.

The 1920s, a time full of lavish parties filled with the countless new millionaires. The American dream was the empowering force of the decade, telling everyone from clam-diggers to taxi drivers that they too can join the rich and famous in their once selective club. But while it was beneficial to America as a country by encouraging hard work, it was destroying the lives of its citizens. By constantly telling people they need more of everything to be happy, they could never have enough. The American Dream was uniquely empowering and destructive, leaving America in a sad state of fortune.