ARTISTIC REPRESENTATIONS OF THE AMERICAN DREAM IN LITERATURE: A DISCURSIVE ANALYSIS BASED ON THE GREAT GATSBY

ABSTRACT

This scholarly article examines the evolution and artistic representation of the American Dream in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and other related literary works. By applying discourse analysis, the study explores ideological shifts, socio-cultural tensions, and moral dilemmas embedded in narratives that depict the Dream. The research integrates contemporary academic perspectives and evaluates symbolism, characterization, and narrative strategies as central mechanisms of representing the American Dream in modern American literature.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Данная статья исследует эволюцию и художественное воплощение американской мечты в романе Ф.Скотта Фицджеральда Великий Гэтсби и родственных литературных произведениях. С применением дискурсивного анализа рассматриваются идеологические изменения, социально-культурные напряжения и нравственные дилеммы, отражённые в художественных нарративах. Исследование опирается на современные научные подходы и анализирует символику, образы персонажей и особенности повествования как ключевые средства репрезентации американской мечты.

Keywords: American Dream, The Great Gatsby, discourse analysis, modern American literature, ideology and culture, social inequality, moral decay, symbolism, narrative strategies, capitalism and identity

Ключевые слова: Американская мечта, «Великий Гэтсби», дискурсивный анализ, современная американская литература, идеология и культура, социальное неравенство, нравственная деградация, символизм, нарративные стратегии, капитализм и идентичность

INTRODUCTION

The American Dream is one of the fundamental concepts of the cultural identity of the United States. Throughout its historical development, it has been variously interpreted as an ideal centered on success, freedom, equality, and personal advancement. In literary studies, the American Dream is often examined as a complex construct that reflects the interaction between social stratification, economic inequality, moral deterioration, and individual aspiration.

F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is widely recognized as one of the most artistically sophisticated representations of this concept in modern American literature. The novel exposes the tension between the external glamour of American society and its internal moral crisis. This study uses The Great Gatsby as a primary text and situates it within a broader literary context in order to conduct a comparative discourse analysis of how the American Dream is redefined and problematized in twentieth-century American fiction.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This research adopts a qualitative literary approach grounded in discourse analysis. The primary material for analysis is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. In addition, selected works from American literature-Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath-are used as comparative texts.

The study focuses on ideological, socio-cultural, and ethical discourses embedded within narrative structures. Analytical attention is paid to symbolism, characterization, narrative perspective, and key lexical units related to aspiration and failure. The research also draws on contemporary critical scholarship (Kim, 2021; Johnson, 2020; Lopez, 2019; Peterson, 2022; Ahmed, 2023) to contextualize the literary discourse historically and theoretically.

Table 1.

Historical, Methodological, and Ideological Foundations

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Historical and Ideological Transformation of the American Dream

Recent studies (Kim, 2021; Johnson, 2020) indicate that during the early twentieth century the American Dream shifted from a moral and spiritual ideal to a materialistic pursuit. The social mobility, economic expansion, and rise of consumer culture in 1920s America significantly contributed to this transformation. Fitzgerald portrays this historical shift with particular clarity.

Jay Gatsby embodies the ideal of self-reinvention through ambition and perseverance. However, the illegal sources of his wealth reveal the internal contradictions of the American Dream and expose the moral ambiguity underlying material success (Lopez, 2019). Thus, the novel critiques the illusion of upward mobility by demonstrating its ethical costs.

Discursive Representation in The Great Gatsby and Other Works

In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is depicted through themes of instability, material excess, and moral decline. Daisy Buchanan symbolizes the emptiness of social ideals, Gatsby represents the transformation of the Dream into illusion, and Tom Buchanan embodies the persistence of inherited power and privilege.

Comparable patterns appear in other American literary works. In Death of a Salesman, the Dream collapses under the pressure of capitalist expectations. A Raisin in the Sun reinterprets the Dream as a collective struggle against racial inequality. Of Mice and Men presents it as nearly unattainable for the working poor, while The Grapes of Wrath exposes the Dream’s collision with systemic exploitation. Across these texts, the American Dream functions as a site of conflict, class struggle, and social injustice rather than fulfillment.

Symbolism and Narrative Mechanisms

Symbolic imagery plays a crucial role in Fitzgerald’s narrative. The green light represents an unattainable future desire (Peterson, 2022), the Valley of Ashes reflects moral and economic decay, and the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg symbolize spiritual emptiness and the absence of moral authority.

The narrator, Nick Carraway, serves as a detached observer whose internal conflict between honesty and complicity enhances the novel’s ethical dimension. His narrative distance allows a critical reflection on social values and reinforces the discourse of moral ambiguity within the American Dream (Ahmed, 2023).

Discursive Patterns of the American Dream

Discourse analysis reveals that the American Dream is constructed not merely as an individual ambition but as a broader ideological and cultural narrative shaped by capitalism. Lexical items such as hope, self-made, pursuit, dream, and failure expand the semantic scope of the concept. In Fitzgerald’s novel, three dominant discourses emerge: materialism, moral decay, and illusion. Together, they transform the Dream from a symbol of hope into a complex field of social and psychological contradiction.

CONCLUSION

The study demonstrates that in The Great Gatsby and related works of American literature, the American Dream is predominantly represented through broken ideals, futile aspirations, material dominance, moral corruption, and social inequality. While historically the American Dream functioned as a symbol of hope and opportunity, modern American literature increasingly portrays it as a critical, psychological, and sociological construct.

By employing discourse analysis, this research highlights how literary narratives expose the ideological tensions underlying the American Dream and reinterpret it as a reflection of broader cultural and ethical crises.

References:

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