1974 film The Great Gatsby

The American Dream is based on the image Americans have of themselves as a people achieving much because they live in a country that is egalitarian so that self-improvement is the way to achieve success. While this might seem a very practical vision of the American Dream, there is also a mystic quality to it, as if Americans are more directly connected to some broader moral and empowering universe which gives them a stronger sense of self and the will to succeed. Achieving the American Dream then becomes a matter of connecting to this near-mystic national power. The American Dream is the promise Americans make to themselves based on their history, their optimism, and their social and governmental structure that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law, everyone has equal opportunity, an everyone can, through hard work, achieve material success. Some see the American Dream as a limited promise because it emphasizes material success, but there is mo

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the one character who has retained a certain idealism, though it falters in the face of the cynicism surrounding it. It is because of his inherent idealism that Nick is so attracted to Gatsby, for he pins great hopes that Gatsby may really be the idealistic figure Nick would admire. Of course, he is not, but he clearly seems to be when compared with the more vacuous West Eggers and their petty and self-centered concerns. The 1920s is remembered as a decade of prosperity: "Prosperity was a basic fact of the 1920s, one that shaped and conditioned many aspects of life outside the economic realm. A generally expanding economy underlay a generally expansive view about life" (Shannon 95). Both the West Eggers and Gatsby show this sense of expansion, and Gatsby in particular is dreaming of the possibilities open to him, though his hopes are more illusion than reality. The West Eggers do little to earn their money, while Gatsby has fought his way to prosperity. In the end, Gatsby is destroyed by his past and by the indifference of the West Eggers. As we now know because of how the decade ended, the prosperity of the 1920s was also more illusion than reality, but still the society of the time was relatively affluent, which "made
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Some common words found in the essay are:
West Eggers, American Dream, World War, Gatsby Carter, Eggers Gatsby, American Dream--not, Jay Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald, Carter None, west eggers, american dream, Jack Clayton, material success, west eggers gatsby, americans themselves, view life, illusion reality, economic realm, baritz 271, decade prosperity, mistakes intelligently,
Approximate Word count = 1262
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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