Great Gatsby Fitzgeralds Criticism of The - Great Gatsby...

Great Gatsby: Fitzgerald's Criticism of The American Dream
The American Dream, as it arose in the Colonial period and
developed in the
nineteenth century, was based on the assumption that each person, no
matter what
his origins, could succeed in life on the sole basis of his or her own
skill and
effort. The dream was embodied in the ideal of the self-made man, just
as it was
embodied in Fitzgerald's own family by his grandfather, P. F. McQuillan.
Fitzgerald's novel takes its place among other novels whose insights
into the
nature of the American dream have not affected the artistic form of the
novel
itself. The Great Gatsby serves as Fitzgerald's critique of the
American dream.
The Great Gatsby embodies a criticism of America and the
American
experience, more radical than any other author has attempted. The
theme of the
novel is the destruction of the American dream during the 1920s, a
period when
the vulgar pursuit of material happiness has corrupted the old values
that gave
substance to the dream.