The Roaring Twenties were a time of happiness and celebration, but the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, shows a different side of this dynamic decade. Fitzgerald uses a poignant yet hopeful tone to show the darker side of the twenties that most refuse to look at, while drawing in the brighter side. In The Great Gatsby, the reader is drawn into a story of corruption and empowerment of the rich hidden by extravagant parties and bright colors. Jay Gatsby, who only dreamed of wealth and love, had an ideal dream life, this ideal life could be defined as his “American dream”. His dreams were then shattered by very powerful people, careless people, people who used and abused others to achieve their ends, regardless of the consequences. These people were Tom and Daisy Buchanan, they were self-made rich people. They crushed Gatsby's American dream by being careless. Gatsby created this extravagant life for one reason only: to impress the girl he fell in love with years ago. The girl he gave his heart forever for, but after Gatsby left for the war, she married someone else, someone who came from old money, like her. She married Tom Buchanan. Even though Daisy was married, Gatsby held out hope that they would find a way to be together again and forever. Towards the end, the reader wonders whether things will turn out in Gatsby's favor or not, but after the tragic accident that ended three dreams, the reader ignores Gatsby's hope and just hopes for a happier ending, so that in reality, nothing. ends the way everyone wants it to. Gatsby is a man full of hope. Whatever happens, he maintains hope for what could be, for what he has always dreamed of, for his “American dream”. A dream in which he achieved everything he ever dreamed of, only to die tragically, with no one by his side. Good things only last so long. The Great Gatsby showed the darker side of the 1920s, hidden behind a fake identity and fake smiles. The corruption, the business, the abuse that most got away with, provided they could pay their dues with their wealth. The poignant yet hopeful tone speaks about life and how it almost always ends in heartbreak or death. Life, regardless of your achievements, ends in depression, it sucks you in and you either fight it or it kills you. The world is a dog eat dog world. You fight to stay alive, to make something of yourself, to survive, and in the end you always end up dead in a ditch somewhere, because the world took everything you had and more again, and you have been drained of your abilities. fight.