The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

The American dream can be seen as what others not from America see commercialized as being great and everyone has money and no matter what they will be successful in the U.S. In the Great Gatsby we see a prime example of what this is in real life and what it really takes to become successful and gain money in the corrupt world. We see this in such situations of when Gatsby himself has become so successful and later in the book dies. This brings the idea of that Gatsby was able to achieve everything he wanted but in the end he ended up dying and giving it all up. This only proves that in the end money and success can only be achieved by doing what is necessary and that even in the end only a few people actually understand and see what it is
The desire for a luxurious life is what lures Myrtle into having an affair with Tom. This decision harms her marriage with George, which leads to her death and loss of true happiness. Myrtle has the hope and desire for a perfect, wealthy and famous type life. Myrtle wants to seek that money that she doesn’t deserve and is willing to get it from a man who has earned it but she is merely taking it from him. She is seeking the life of “the rich and famous" from Tom and who knows if she even loved him in the first place. She is a fine example of what the American dream is really in the U.S she is willing to do horrible things in order to get what she has wanted her entire life. “The only crazy I was, was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never told me about it, and the man came after it one say when he was out…" Myrtle confesses that she shouldn’t have married him and that she feels that she made the wrong decision. This furthers that she want to live life rich and famous and not be stuck at the level that she was. People are willing to seek those who are richer than them and achieve the American Dream through