American Idealism in F. Scoot Fitzgerald´s The Great Gatsby

â€Å"Gatsby is in modern times the central artistic expression of the American experience.† According to Ross MacDonald, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, was about â€Å"American idealism destroyed by American greed†. (Thompson p.152) This theme of a misinterpreted American Dream was portrayed throughout what is said to be one of Fitzgerald’s most influential works, The Great Gatsby. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in the great capital of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Born into an upper middle class family on September 24, 1896, Fitzgerald spent the first few years of his childhood life in Buffalo, New York due to his fathers job. While there, he Attended two schools, both Catholic, and was noted for his intense interest in literature and writing. Very soon after, in 1908, Fitzgerald’s father was fired from the company Proctor Gamble, his New York job, and the family was forced to move back to their home town of Saint Paul. From the ti me of 1908 to 1911, F. Scott Fitzgerald attended a local school, Saint Paul Academy in which his love for literature and writing prospered. By the time Fitzgerald was only 13 his first work was published in his schools newspaper in which his parents realized his talent. Fitzgerald’s parents took the next steep to ensure their son would have the best, brightest future by sending him to a Catholic prep school in New Jersey. With more and more people recognizing his talents as a writer, a Priest at his prep school encouraged him to pursue