Great Gatsby Post #1- The American Dream or Lack there of…

      The Great Gatsby takes place in the 1920’s, a time of war in America and changes in whats considered the “American Dream.” All throughout The Great Gatsby  this has been one of the major themes. At this time many people  were doing well for themselves and making good money, but not all necessarily in right, moral manners. So you begin to see a shift in what that dream actually is.

      There began to be a focus on who could make the most money and have materialistic things, who had the biggest, best, and most . This is shown in the novel with west egg and east egg. West egg is the old money, usually families who have always been rich, and then there is east egg which is where Gatsby’s house is.  These are the people who have made them self rich, a lot of times by corrupt ways. They tend to flaunt their wealth and want it to be known to everyone. Like Gatsby throwing those huge parties, more than half the people didn’t even know who he was but they just wanted to see his house and stuff and be there.  But at the sametime all those people who went to those parties all along and acted as if they were best friends, not one attended his funeral when he did. Sure when Gatsby was alive people would think he was the luckiest guy ever, popular, and yes living the American Dream. But in the end he doesn’t get the love of his life, Daisy, and you realize he really didbn’t have anyone.

        You always hear, “I’m living the American Dream”, that always used to mean being happy and being able to come here and be free and do what you want. Also this generally involved good and strong morals and values as well. At this time that dream began to disappear. People began to get greedy and selfish, alls they wanted was money and they would do anything to get it. That is where peoples morals and values started to take a turn for the worst. The whole idea of love at this time took a lot more than just love. It was about who could make the most money and who could take care of them and provide for them, give them the best and most luxorious things. At this time everything was changing and when it came down to it this American Dream was all about money.

What I think about when I hear “American Literature”

When I hear “American Literature” I think of stories and novels that tell about our history. Stories of what it was like to grow up in America, or coming to America for the first time. Basically to me when I think about it, it’s like a timeline of America, stories dating back to the early America and colonial times, to revolutionary all the way to modern  times. Even though all American literature may not be non-fiction, most stories have some insight to the truth and tell us about what it was like in America. Also typically when you read American literature a lot of stories are about living the American Dream. American literature a lot of times is about the wars we as a country have been through and peoples personal experiences with them. Or about different nationalities coming to America or growing up here. Their hardships and struggles with jobs along with the good times. Some examples of what I believe would be considered American Literature are How to Kill A Mockingbird, A Streetcar Named Desire, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,Moby Dick, Little Women,Ethan Frome etc. A few of these novels I have read in my English classes in highschool. There are so many novels in American Literature that the list could go on and on. Also many of the great novels of American Literature have become movies. Some examples are Wizard of Oz, Secret Garden, Call of The Wind, The Last of the Mohicans, Little Women, etc.

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