The dream of living a perfect life with the best things in the world is definitely the desire of all mankind. The human being's constant quest, struggle, and obtaining their own benefits exist as the ultimate goal, and it is portrayed realistically in literary works. One of them is the masterpiece 'The Great Gatsby' with the narrative voice of Nick Carraway, giving us a sharper view of American society in the 1920s with frivolity and delusion, a period called the Roaring Twenties.
It can be said that 'The Great Gatsby' is a colorful picture about various aspects of American society including the American Dream, representing the strong belief that every citizen in the U.S can enjoy freedom and live an independent life, be financially successful without any forbiddence attacked. It becomes an obsession of many people, making them crazy and ready to do everything to grow rich, to enter the world of affluent class and have the highest social status. The central character in the novel is Gatsby, who went through a stormy childhood in poor North Dakota farm. He always insisted that he was the son of God, gifted and perfectly brilliant. Gatsby's success story from being poor to being rich makes him the embodiment of the American dream. Gatsby changed his name from Jimmy Gatz to Jay Gatsby, creating an opportunity to reinvent himself. Thus, his life has turned into a totally different page. Gatsby began to do what he wanted in the past: to get rich. Money is important and Gatsby's persistence in achieving his goals and achieving his goals is commendable. He is an independent man in all respects, which is admirable. Gatsby carries a typical American trait in optimism, a boundless energy and keeping principle of personal enhancement in mind.
Through 'The Great Gatsby', readers recognize that America in the twentieth century is the century of prosperity and that materialistic way of life has caused people a deep obsession. Right at the beginning of the novel, we came across images of cars, villas, and high-class elites flocking in and out luxurious parties. The wealth shown in Nick's description of Gatsby's castle architecture: 'The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard- it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy”. Wealth also manifests in the way people spend money in society: “New York City creates a sense of urgency at night and satisfaction of seeing the flickering features of men, women and cars in front of them”. It can be said that American society at the time was dominated by money and people in that society are material slaves. It was beautiful and luxurious, and if Gatsby wanted to be near his love Daisy, he had to be in that setting, becoming one piece of the upper class.
An overly liberal lifestyle makes the relationship among people become more complicated. Love is no longer simply a love in cottage. In the end, people find each other with a view to realizing their dream of success. Despite the fact that there are secrets everyone knows, there's nothing they can do, like Tom Buchanan's relationship with his mistress Myrtle Wilson. Even Daisy, the final goal in Gatsby's dream was such a person who was selfish and heartless when she refused to meet Gatsby one last time and followed Tom. The truth is that between Daisy and Tom , there was not really a love, eventhough Daisy said she used to love him once. Readers can see the image of these two talking after the accident happened as a compromise, in other words, they are just conspiring together for a endless beneficial target. We can see, Gatsby could not escape from the past. He merely made the image of Daisy perfect, drawing things that Daisy did not have. One thing that is precious about this character is that besides the great material dream, he also had a great and persistent love, wanting the woman he loved to enjoy the most beautiful things, but disillusioned when all of that became nothingness. Gatsby was one of the opening characters for the 'lost generation' in American and European literature after World War I. No matter how hard they work, they cannot reintegrate into normal life. They seek for pleasure in fornication, wine and excursions. In the end, the more they tried to overcome loneliness, the deeper they fell into loneliness. They are always on the sidelines of life, strange to all selfish secret intention of people, and after all, they will end up being victims of those intentions.
Through the sharp details of the story, Fitzgerald authored the readers to explore the image of American society in the Jazz Age but also full of tragic contrast. The character of Gatsby, in essence, is the pessimistic prediction that is accurate for the seriously economic disater and the depravity of American society at the time. Gatsby's life can be compared to the entire 1920s of the previous century with the fashionable yellow Rolls Royce that Gatsby owns - frantically accelerating forward, losing control and eventually leading. to tragedy.
