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American Dream of the 1920's

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"The Great Gatsby," written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a highly praised American book and has been read by millions of people around the world. Fitzgerald's insightful societal views and discerning commentary regarding the class structure of the 1920's. During the 20's, the Harlem Renaissance was taking place, and this was the term given to the cultural, social, and artistic explosions that were taking place in Harlem, NYC, between the end of World War I and the mid 1930's. In the "The Great Gatsby," the motif of the American Dream is displayed through multiple characters (such as Myrtle Wilson and Jay Gatsby) by focusing on those in high-society. And in light of the many societal changes occurring during the Harlem Renaissance, the quest to find and live the "American Dream" during the 1920's is viewed through two widely different classes; those in the upper class and struggling African Americans. The character Nick Carraway is the narrator and voice of F.Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. Nick is particularly different from other characters involved in the book. He is fortunate enough to be above middle class, but his life was not fame and fortune to begin with. "The Carraways are something of a clan...my father carries on today" (Fitzgerald 3). Carraway punctures the illusion that his family comes from nobility-but instead, he makes himself into another form of nobility: a family that has achieved the American Dream of wealth and respectability through hard work. Nick is attracted to the fast-paced, fun-driven lifestyle of New York while on the other hand, he finds that lifestyle grotesque and damaging which he sees through the life of Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a man who lived an impoverished childhood. Gatsby was willing to do whatever it took for him to escape his old life, start a new, and become a wealthy man everyone wanted to be. "I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties some night.  Went on Jordan

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