Illusion of American Dream

People, in one way or another, are continually and invariably trying to improve the quality of their lives. Some believe their happiness lies within materialistic goods and the freedom to buy them; while others believe their happiness lies within the bonds and relationships they have. The American Dream is a combination of both. Stereotypically, the American Dream is to marry the perfect someone, move to a suburban house with a white picketed fence, have kids that attend private school, both parents work and do not have to worry about financial issues. Although in the 1920’s the idea of the American Dream was exaggerated to match the glamour and luxury of the era also known as the Roaring Twenties. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby exposes and emphasizes the American Dream as a failure and an illusion. The failure and illusion of the American Dream is seen through the corruption of morals, purposeless lives of the aristocrats and the out-of-reach dreams fueled by the idea that anything was possible. Arguably sexual attraction is what could have caused Myrtles immoral behavior and made her vulnerable to Tom’s sexual objectification; however Myrtles affair with Tom is an attempt to get a glimpse of the American Dream. Her desperateness results in her corruption of morals which leads her to become an object of desire to Tom. The description of their first encounter made it clear the intentions of the soon-to-be relationship. “He had a dress suit on and patent leather shoes…” (Fitzgerald 40). In Myrtles recollection of the memory it is significant that she mentions his appearance for it is reflective of his wealth and is reason she took interest in Tom. As she continues to retell the story to Nick, Toms actions proves the value he gives to her; “When we came into the station he was next to me and his white shirt front pressed against my arm--- and so I told him I’d have to call a policeman but he knew I lied. I was so excited that when I got into a taxi with