The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

“Though the Jazz Age continued it became less and less an affair of youth. The sequel was like a children’s party taken over by the elders,” said F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby. After the World War I, abnormal economical success dominated over Americans, and caused amorality over the society. At that time, people pursued cheap pleasure and full of entertainments: parties, extravagance, and dissipation. The Great Gatsby describes that the Jazz Age through the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, who was in the lower class, struggles with Tom Buchanan and with George Wilson to gain power for achieving his ex-lover, Daisy—who is the reason that he yearns for power and symbolizes the American Dream: Equality. Fitzgerald criticized such
profligate appearances and fakes in the Jazz Age.

As the common people in the Jazz Age, Gatsby desires the great power and spends his time to achieve his own goal without considering ways and means. The story spends many parts to describe those behaviors. Even though Gatsby is not original rich class, he has always mentioned “old sport,” which is the language of a high class. For example, “I thought you knew, old sport. I’m afraid I’m not a very good host,” said Gatsby to the narrator (53). Also, Fitzgerald indicated metaphorically that Gatsby forged his scholarship. According to Wolfsheim who is the partner of Gatsby, he called Gatsby as an “Oxford man.” He said “And, an Oggsford man. Oggsford College in England. You know Oggsford?”, but there is no Oxford “College” in England (46). There is only an Oxford “University,” which means that his education level is fake. Plus, he lives in West Egg(not real rich) and lives in luxury house. The symbols of East and West Egg(Aristocratic versus American Dream) and the location of his house. The narrator describes Gatsby’s house as “...it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden...” (7).

Tangled relationship caused by those fakes results Gatsby in many struggles.
However, the root of his conflicts is the affair with Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby has earned the money to become the rich man who can stand beside Daisy without being impoverished, and has held a lot of parties in his house just to meet Daisy. Finally, Gatsby and Daisy have an affair; and Tom checks the infedility of them, and exposes that Gatsby is a bootlegger which is banned in U.S in twenties —“‘I found out what your ‘drug stores’ were.’ He turned to us and spoke rapidly. ‘He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him and I wasn’t far wrong” (143). To refute his argument Gatsby asks Daisy to say that she loves Gatsby, not Tom, but Daisy says it awkwardly since she is the woman who relys on men much. Then Gatsby recognizes that Daisy does not love him as much as he does. After that, there was the last struggle which provides the motive to George Wilson who is the husband of Tom Buchanan’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson, kills Gatsby. When Gatsby and Daisy drive after Tom’s exposure, Daisy hits Myrtle accidentally. Yet Tom thinks that it is Gatsby who hits his mistress, he says to George that the criminal is Gatsby and gives him a gun. Gatsby who is depressed recognizing Daisy’s mind killed by
George.
The reason that why the author wrote The Great Gatsby as in these ways is to criticize two things: Jazz Age and the American Dream. The whole story was full of fakes and illusions as 1920s. Fitzgerald even called it as “children’s parties.” As his quote, Gatsby hosts so many parties in his house just to find Daisy, and people who attends in parties does not even know who is the host of those parties. It reveals that people in the Jazz Age enjoy pleasure without any thought--which causes Great Depression. To emphasize the nihility of fakes, he described the funeral of Gatsby very lonesome. “At first I was surprised and confused; then, as he lay in his house and didn’t move or breathe or speak hour upon hour it grew upon me that I was responsible, because no one else was interested—interested,” (175). Only Owl Eyes, Mr.Gatz, few of Gatsby’s ex-bulters, and the narrator attend in his funeral even though bunch of people was in his parties. Also, he criticized the extreme aspects of American Dream that just chased the success. He wants to be equal with others since he wants to love with Daisy. So Daisy symbolizes the American Dream, however, his American Dream was also broken the reality of life. Affairs between Gatsby and Daisy, Tom and Myrtle also show readers to infedelity of Jazz Age.