Final answer:
In 'The Great Gatsby', Fitzgerald examines Jay Gatsby's pursuit of wealth and status to win Daisy Buchanan's love, emblematic of the 1920s themes of wealth, love, and identity.
Step-by-step explanation:
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's narrative, The Great Gatsby, the author explores the transformative quest of Jay Gatsby from modest beginnings to his ultimate goal of achieving wealth and status. Gatsby's rise is epitomized by his extravagant lifestyle and grandiose parties, designed to garner the admiration of the East Egg elite, and most crucially, to recapture the love of Daisy Buchanan. The novel offers a critical look at the 1920s, reflecting themes of money, unattainable love, and individual identity, and casts a light on the era's ethos through the lens of its complex characters and their pursuit of the American Dream.