dead horse

 I really feel like doing another Gatsby post is like beating a dead horse but here we go! The passage in question is at the end of chapter 7 and I was PLANNING on analyzing it in in-class essay but it was a contrast essay this so sad. Anyways, I thought this passage as interesting because about a chapter or two ago we discussed how Gatsby caught the broken clock and tried to save the disconnected relationship. In that chapter, Gatsby remains at Daisy’s house, keeping watch and making sure that Tom doesn’t do anything to her. However, there’s a little bit of dramatic irony because when Nick is in the house with Daisy and Tom, it’s clear that they were getting along perfectly well. So Gatsby, who represents the American dream, is trying to protect something that he didn’t need to; he is trying to save the unsavable. This mirrors the first time we see Gatsby, when he is striving to reach for the unreachable. Gatsby is a tragic hero, someone who constantly strives to catch his dream (girl!) Here we see that not much has changed since the first chapter, even though it appears that Gatsby has reconciled with Daisy and won over Tom, that is clearly not the case. Gatsby still remains an outsider looking in on their relationship, even though he and Daisy are having an affair. No matter how hard you reach for the American dream, and even if it appears that you have reached it too, it is never enough. No one will ever be able to catch the American dream because it is simply just a dream. It can never come to fruition and though America markets that hard work will lead to success, it’s clear that that’s not true. Gatsby’s success came from criminal activities, and Tom’s wealth came from his family. The rags to riches idea of the 1920s was false advertising and its effects are still felt today. Immigrants from thousands of nations immigrate to America striving to find a better life here. They leave behind families, friends, and coworkers to strike it rich in America. But that doesn’t necessarily always happen and many of them remain in lower-middle-class, never moving up further because of race, language or cultural differences. America is not the promised land that so many immigrants believe that it is. Coming here will not solve all of your problems. It all depends on your luck of the draw.