Fitzgerald, Gatsby, and the Fugitive American Dream

• In Event: The Pursuit of Happiness

Abstract

This paper proposes to examine through F. Scott Fitzgerld's The Great Gatsby, how the pursuit of happiness becomes the American Dream. Through Jay Gatsby's single-minded pursuit of the unworthy Daisy, Fitzgerald's criticizes the American Dream as unattainable. Nick Caraway, the narrator, provides an alternative to the careless pursuit of diversion represented by Daisy and Tom Buchanan and Gatsby's illusionary dream.

Author

• Elizabeth Amato, Gardner-Webb University