Great Gatsby American Dream Essays - The Great Gatsby,

Great Gatsby American Dream The American Dream Since July 4, 1776 Americans have had the opportunity to pursue whatever they can think of. This has given the people the opportunity to become whatever they want. A person who works hard can become successful; this is what the American Dream is centered around. A person who is a hard worker and persistent can reach any goal he strives for. The American Dream changed as America did. People became more and more infatuated with possessions. The characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby each work for their own American Dream. Jay Gatsby, the central character of the novel, has worked from nothing to become a very successful man. Jay is successful in the meaning that he is very rich and has everything most of the people in the novel would want. This is not what Jay is striving for though. Jay doesn't care about the money, cars, and enormous house he has. Love is Jay's goal, he worked for all the wealth and popularity to get to the love of his life, Daisy. Daisy is a woman that Jay had a love affair with when he was younger, but he could never have her because he was not in her social class. Jay then began to do anything to get the money that it would take to get in her class, even illegal activities. Once he reached this level of wealth, he moved close to Daisy to try to get her. ?Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay?(83). The only thing that really mattered to Jay was Daisy. To try to meet Daisy, Jay threw enormous parties. He finally reunites with Daisy and he begins to sho w off how rich he is to try to impress her. Jay is convinced that Daisy is now in love with him, and is willing to do anything for her. Even after she kills a woman with his car, he says he will said he take the blame. In pursuit of his dream, Jay ends up being killed. Jay's American Dream may seem to be one filled with riches and possessions, but it really isn't. He works for all the things for his one true dream, Daisy, a goal that he never could have possessed. Love can't be achieved because of wealth or Jay died striving for his success, but never gave up his integrity or morals for it. Unlike Jay Tom Buchanan is a man that has no dream. Tom Buchanan is Daisy's husband. Tom is a very wealthy man, but has inherited it all and does not work. He sits around, and plays polo and collects cars. The rest of his time he spends having an affair. Tom does not try to keep this affair a big secret; she even calls him at home. It doesn't matter to Tom if anyone knows or not. Because of his money, he has become an arrogant, unkind man. He doesn't worry about anyone else's feeling than his own. He doesn't care about Daisy or he wouldn't have an affair. He doesn't care about the woman he is having an affair with because once he broke her nose for saying something he didn't like. Tom even had a part in Jay being killed. ?They were careless people, Tom and Daisy-they smashed things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made?.? (188). Tom's lack of a dream made his life meaningless. Tom had everything he could every want right from the beginning. He had nothing to work for. This made Tom's life pointless. Life is all about the working toward a dream. His wealth corrupted him and he had no compassion for what he had done. Daisy is a mix between Jay and Tom. Daisy has a dream, her dream is to be truly loved, and she isn't getting that from Tom. She married Tom just for his money. But Daisy also wants all the popularity and wealth that she has with Tom. She knows she can't have both, and is torn between

American Me essays

American Me essays American Me is a movie, made in 1992, directed by and starring Edward James Olmos. This movie based on a true story, about a Mexican-American male spinning over half his life in prison. He grew up in the street of East Los Angeles, were he joined the local neighborhood gang. He and his friends got sent to prison at the age of sixteen for breaking and entering. In prison he did what it took to survive, which got him more years in jail. He started the biggest click in prison, Mexican Mafia, which gave him and all Latinos, away to survive the prison life. Santana is the name of the person the movie revolves around. His parents were Zoot Suitors in their day and not like by society. Sailors, during the Zoot Suit Riots raped Santanas mother and beat up his father. Santana grew up with his father resenting him, because he was not his real son. But Santana did not find this out until much later in his life. Santana stay in the street, during his childhood to get away from his father. Santana killed his first person at the age of sixteen, which gave him respect and power. Santana love his newly find power. From his power and respect, he started the Mexican Mafia, which later expanded in and out of prison. They used the Mexican Mafia the keep Latinos united and to stop people, who were stronger, from taking anything away from his people. Santana used he power to grantee Latino peoples safety by making them pay rent. Santana and his counter parts, JD and Mundo, ran everything in Folsom State Prison. They had control of gambling, drugs, and prostitution. In prison the Mexican Mafia was up against the Black Gorilla Family (BGF) and the Arien Brotherhood. They did deal with everyone but it was a constant battle to keep the power and respect. There was nothing the system could do to keep Santana from running things. The warrant put him in solitaire and sent people in his Mafia to different prisons, but all that di...

Saving Private Ryan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Saving Private Ryan - Essay Example Spielberg shows this through many close-ups on his eyes, within which the audience sees the emotions and turmoil that exist despite his slow physical progress. Soon the film moves to a landing craft approaching the beaches on SD-Day. This is different from traditional war films in a number of ways. First, all the soldiers look terrified. Second, the very physical effects of this fear and the rough seas - a soldier vomiting - is shown. The soldiers around him do not even seem to notice the soldier vomiting because they are so caught up within their own thoughts and fears. Once the landing craft gets to the beach and opens up, German machine guns essentially eviscerate three soldiers before they even have a chance to move. Again, this is the point of view of the soldier. The audience sees the bloody pieces of the soldiers spattered all over the landing craft and their comrades. The scene continues with the point of view of a soldier struggling to make it up on to the beaches, and shows one of them drowning because he is wearing too much equipment. All of this shows the terror of war, and the easy, almost casual manner with which it takes life. As the scene continues the main character, played by Tom Hanks, essentially withdraws into his own world.