Gatsby American Dream Corruption

America has always been viewed as the “land of opportunity.” Fueling this vision is the American Dream, the belief that someone on a low social or economic level can achieve prosperity or fame through hard work and determination. This dream of success, despite gender, race or class, became extremely prominent in America in the beginning of the twentieth century. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, explores the American Dream and its authenticity. Fitzgerald satirizes the dream and illustrates how the pursuit of wealth could lead to corruption and destruction through characters, symbols and locations in the story. Many characters in The Great Gatsby wished to pursue the American Dream. The way in which they tried to do so however, was
This was best illustrated by the setting of the story. The Valley of Ashes, where the Wilsons lived, was an extremely poor town where the industrial waste from the city was dumped. Everyone in the town worked extremely hard, yet continued to live in misery and destitution. The Valley of Ashes represents the failure of the American Dream and is a place where the lower classes of society were neglected and forgotten. “A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity--except his wife, who moved close to Tom” (Fitzgerald, 17). This quote shows that everyone in the town was covered with darkness and that no one had contact with money or power, except Myrtle. The Valley of Ashes is a depressing place that symbolizes the idea, according to Fitzgerald, that the American Dream is dead. The author further satirizes the dream by showing that the only character who tried to achieve prosperity by working hard and being honest, Wilson, was from the Valley of Ashes and wound up dead. Another geographical reference to the American Dream was the separation of East Egg and West Egg. East Egg was where the people with “old money” lived; a place of high social status and refinement. West Egg, in contrast, was where people with “new money” came to spend their wealth in ridiculous ways. An important
Fitzgerald satirizes the dream in the novel, and shows that its pursuit could lead to terrible things. Characters such as Daisy, Gatsby and Myrtle have their lives destroyed by trying to chase something materialistic. They failed to focus on achieving happiness in their lives and were blinded by the money and fame. Symbols and locations in the story also ridiculed the American Dream, and suggested that it could not be achieved. Many people in the 1920s found Fitzgerald’s strong opinion on the social and economic realities of America quite intriguing. For many lower class men and women, this novel attacked the only hope they had in having a succesful life. However, others agreed with Fitzgerald that the statement, “Ameirca, the land of oppurtunity,” was only partly