A Broken Dream Deep inside the heart of every human being lives a dream so all consuming that the person would go to almost any length to achieve it. In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby has an ambition that completely consumes every inch of his being. It drives him to such extremes that he becomes a slave to his lust for success. The story begins with Nick Carraway, a Midwesterner now living on Long Island, who finds himself fascinated by the mysterious and extravagent lifestyle of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. As the story unfolds Nick must watch as Gatsby gives up his identity to see that his lifelong dream of success is fulfilled. The key to Gatsby’s success lies buried in the heart of the woman that he loves and absolutely obsesses over, Mrs. Daisy Buchanan. Daisy is a married woman and mother who is extremely shallow and materialistic. Yet, somehow she has managed to capture Gatsby’s devotion. Fitzgerald uses many symbols to show the evolution and weight of Gatsby’s dream, however, the most prominent is a green light stationed on the end of Daisy’s dock that lies directly across a bay from Gatsby’s mansion. This light started as a dream and ended in a failure to let go of the past. Fitzgerald uses the green light to portray the evolution of the hopes and dreams of Jay Gatsby as he trys to do the impossible, relive the past. Jay Gatsby was a man with a lot of things, however, the one thing he didn’t have was the thing he desired most. The heart of Daisy Buchanan, his ex lover. Gatsby was not wealthy enough to marry Daisy when they first met He got into bootlegging to make a quick buck but wasn't fast enough. Daisyhad married another man while he made his millions. So, Gatsby’s unrequited love landed him in West Egg New York, across the bay from the object of his obsession’s beautiful mansion.
The idea of family is a central theme in Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun. Hansberry alludes to the Old Testament book of Ruth in her play to magnify “the value of having a home and family”(Ardolino 181). ... The hardships of the family help develop a sense of unity for the Younger household.
