Great Gatsby the Elusive American Term Paper

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In this context, Tom is actually the one who lives his life in idleness, without giving it any meaning. Moreover, Daisy's superficiality makes of her an exponent of the consumerist world as well. Daisy makes a choice between the ideal, represented by Gatsby and the conventional stability offered by Tom, symbolizing materialism in general: "She wanted her life shaped now, immediately -- and the decision must be made by some force -- of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality -- that was close at hand."(Fitzgerald, 89) the woman is indeed charming, but at the same time she seems artificial at some point, suggesting the shift from true idealism to mere superficiality and ornament: "For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes."(Fitzgerald, 78) Her wantonness and her lack of vividness perfectly express the slow and dead rhythm of her life. The fact that the Buchanan couple has spent a lot of time merely traveling pointlessly is also significant: they are aimless, compared to Gatsby who is a professed idealist and who tries to give shape and meaning to his life. As Fitzgerald emphasizes, the Buchanan family travels around randomly, even staying in Paris for an entire year without any particular reason. They simply go "wherever people played polo and were rich together"(Fitzgerald, 15). Also, Daisy's artificial manner is significant. Her particular statement at one point that she is "p-paralyzed with happiness" is also symbolic: the couple actually lives in a sort of state spiritual paralysis, in which they are literally trapped.

Gatsby is thus the one that is the true believer in the American Dream. As the comic episode in Gatsby's library suggests, the host is actually inclined to "realism," that is to a search of the truth that is more real than the artificiality in Tom and Daisy's life. The gentleman in the library hilariously notes that the books that Gatsby hold are indeed real and not painted: "See!' he cried triumphantly.

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'It's a bona fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella's a regular Belasco. it's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop too -- didn't cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?'"(Fitzgerald, 28) in this comic episode, as in the other descriptions of Gatsby's parties, Fitzgerald suggests that the guests are actually the ones who are superficial and do not understand the greatness of their host. The smile of Gatsby that provided absolute understanding, confidence and belief is also a perfect representation of the American Dream: "It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced -- or seemed to face -- the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on YOU with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself[...]"(Fitzgerald, 36) the optimism reflected in this smile betrays Gatsby's endless Romantic aspiration.

Thus, Fitzgerald follows a biographical but only partially objective account of Gatsby's life. In the exposition, Nick introduces both himself and Gatsby, although Gatsby is from the beginning enveloped in an aura of mystery. As the action progresses, the contrast between the two opposed worlds of West and East Egg is more and more poignant. Gatsby's attempts to draw Daisy into his world are all fruitless. Events precipitate when Daisy mortally wounds Myrtle in an accident, and Gatsby is shot by the latter's husband. Gatsby's decline represents the symbolic decline of the American Dream, shattered by the surging materialism of the age.

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