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Fitzgerald, The American Dream
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The Failure and Irony of the American Dream F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of irony in his writing can be seen in much of his work. One specific use of this technique was in his most popular novel, The Great Gatsby. In this novel, Fitzgerald used the American dream as his target for irony and show of failure. He also employed his own personal life as a basis for his work. He mocked the American dream and what it stands for. Fitzgerald utilized the character of Jay Gatsby to achieve his effectiveness in the novel. I believe Fitzgerald’s use of irony in The Great Gatsby was very successful in getting the point across to the reader. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s character as a starting point to develop the irony readers can pick up about he and the American dream. Gatsby at the start is thought to be a wealthy and respected man. This is followed by the truth about him and the succeeding events that make the reader realize that Gatsby is wealthy but not actually happy. The foundation of the American dream is known to be wealth, happiness and freedom. By the American constitution every citizen is unrestricted to this. An irony of this is that Gatsby has always had two of these principles but never the third one to make him truly complete and happy. Gatsby believes Daisy is his third principle. Yet he has no idea how much trouble she brings him. (Freeman p. 200) Many critics view Gatsby as the personification of the American dream. He is noble, courageous, and a self made man. However he is naďve in believing that hard work and perseverance is all you need to accomplish what you want. No matter how hard Gatsby tries he can never truthfully enter the world of upper class. This connects to one of Plato’s analysis. Plato believed the working class had a soul of bronze and that nobility had a soul of gold.
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