The American Dream In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald challenges the perception of the American Dream. In “The Great Gatsby”, it explicates both the positive and negatives ideas of the American Dream that has been placed within society. This Dream can be described as a tradition held up by society that includes the opportunity for success and prosperity as well as riches. One of the main characters; Jay Gatsby, is living that dream. Within the story, the reader reads how the American Dream is an idea of failure, "Anything and everything seemed possible in the 1920's, keyword; seemed"(Bruccoli). Matthew J. Bruccoli believes that The American Dream is too much of an ideal image rather than a realistic lifestyle which caused the dream to die.
Daniel Mitchell on the other hand, believes that the American Dream is alive and steadily progressing, “the American Dream is still a reality”(Mitchell). Some praise the American Dream and its attainability and others criticize it to be a living nightmare. Fitzgerald works as a contradictory piece to indirectly criticize it, he not only implies that the American Dream is unrealistic but that striving for the American Dream can end up being destructive to oneself and the society around them.
In the Great Gatsby; Nick Carraway, the protagonist, has recently moved to New York to get his career started. He resides on the island of West Egg which is considered the poorer community. Across from that is the East Egg which is considered the old money or rich; where two other characters Tom and Daisy reside as well as Gatsby. The West Egg is known for their riches, gossiping and the extravagant parties. Jay Gatsby is a man with an excessive amount of money, exquisite taste in fashion and cars. The last two main characters are George and Myrtle Wilson they reside in a small city between the two; the Valley of Ashes (Hopelessness and poverty), “ a place where morals are left out and only superficial, material-driven people can live in peace”(Millett). The different living communities represent the different values of life, “America itself is corrupted, so the characters in The Great Gatsby travel from west to east - in search of wealth and sophistication - leaving the moral values and stability of the west behind”(Millett). Frederick Millett uses the corruption of morals to show how the American Dream is corrupting society instead of building it up. Within society we are more focused on what we have. Fitzgerald on the other hand uses the Valley of Ashes to symbolize the hopelessness and poverty life behind as people travel between the East Egg and West Egg.
The 1920s also known as The Great Depression Era made trying to escape the economy and get rich like Gatsby a lot more difficult, “"Roaring Twenties"; it focuses on the America in which many people, including the Wilsons, struggle to make ends meet and live lives of difficult toil and struggle”(eNotes).
For example in The Great Gatsby Thomas Payne argues that the American Dream is “sham”. Because such a social and financial status in that economy and today’s economy is just statistically unattainable. In reference to such we observe Wilson; His dream was to earn enough money to move away with his wife (Myrtle) and to start a new life, "I've been here too long. I want to get away. My wife and I want to go west"(Fitzgerald). He wanted a fresh start for himself and his wife. Wilson felt that his dream could have come true with Tom’s help, but what he fails realize is that Tom does not want to help him at all, "Very well, then, I won't sell you the car at all"(Fitzgerald). Tom was not interested in selling the car to Wilson because it would stop his affair with Myrtle and end his side piece happiness. Once Wilson's wife is killed his life and dream becomes senseless to him. Wilson wanted to live the American Dream but was stuck in the hopeless Valley of Ashes. Perhaps that Valley of Ashes was a symbol of Hell and what kept him from leaving was the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg watching over them. Wilson believed that Dr. T. J. Eckleburg to be a symbol of God, "Now the eyes are
most explicitly equated with the eyes of God, the omniscient witness to the tragic incident..." (eNotes). And knows God is aware about everything that is going on in the Valley of Ashes. Keli Goff writes about how the American Dream is viewed from different perspectives. She states how the traditional American Dream is living in a beautiful home owning a top of the line vehicle and having all the things you desire. Within Goff’s article she states, “American Dream as we know it is dead, and good riddance”(Goff). They were chasing something that would not was out of reach. The things we want can cause us to lose ourselves and cause self destruction. It is all a dead dream.
Another example of an out of reach dream was Gatsby's love for Daisy.
There was a green light at the end of Daisy's Dock. The light represented the unattainable dream, “his dream must have seemed so close that he could barely fail to grasp it”(Fitzgerald). Daisy was his main desire because he was already living the American Dream. Gatsby just wanted to love again. His desire for Daisy is a reference to the past when he wanted to have her 5 years ago, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us…”(Fitzgerald). This shows how every time that Gatsby reached for that green light across the dock it reminded him of his love with Daisy. Alexandra Petri also argue how the finding of love is not easy. She refers to Gatsby’s green light daydreams as the average american trying to find happiness. Gatsby was able to see the light in plain sight but was unable to get to it. The green light also represents society’s desire for living the American
Dream.
To go in depth on the scandals inside The Great Gatsby, Underneath what may seem like the perfect lifestyle Tom is having an affair with a lady named Myrtle Wilson. Everyone in the community is aware except for Mr.Wilson and Daisy. Nick lives next to the mysterious Jay Gatsby, the host of these legendary parties, but no one knows anything about him except for his name. They become friends and he learns that Gatsby is in love with Daisy, The two almost married in their younger days, but he was too poor and decided to wait. “She never loved you, do you hear? he cried. She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved any one except me!”(Fitzgerald). Later in life they meet again but she is married but her relationship does not stop their affair. Tom becomes suspicious, and tries to prove that Gatsby is not the man he seems. Daisy becomes infuriated at Tom's ignorant accusations, and says that she will leave him for Gatsby. Already aware of Tom’s affair with Myrtle she acts as if it is not happening, “I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool-that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”(Fitzgerald). She's talking about keeping her daughter safe from the reality of marriages and that husbands sometimes cheat. Daisy is aware that he is cheating on her but feels the pain of knowing will hurt her heart and does not want her daughter to go through what she is experiencing. Myrtle (Tom’s mistress) is a part of lower class is a character and dies trying to escape the Valley of Ashes. "I told that boy about the ice."Myrtle raised her ... eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. "These people! You have to keep after them all the time"(Fitzgerald). Her desire to be apart of the upper class causes her to act like what she stereotypes them to be, it is ironic because she is apart of the lower class. She wants to have the riches like Gatsby but cannot obtain such financial status. This illustrates how unachievable the American Dream is and how we die trying to be something we’re not fit to become. However, Daisy finds out that Gatsby is not the righteous man he claims to be. He gets his money from illegal bootlegging, "He‘s a bootlegger...One time he killed a man who had found out..."(Fitzgerald). She then refuses to leave Tom for him, and makes him drive her home. While behind the wheel of the dusty yellow car she hits Myrtle Wilson, which is Tom's other woman. Mr. Wilson knowing of his wife's affair, and asks around about the car that hit her. He finds out that it was a bright yellow car and goes to confront Tom; who he assumed the car belonged to, “Tom, who doesn't know that Daisy was driving the car at the time it hit Myrtle, tells George that the yellow car's owner and driver was Gatsby”(eNotes). Not saying that her death was any form of karma, but she was hit by a car that belonged to Gatsby (a symbol of the American Dream), "The dust covering the car is a reminder that the valley of ashes affects everything which resides there"(Ref). Instead of the American Dream molding and building society it caused destruction. Thinking that it was Gatsby who murdered his wife, Mr. Wilson goes to his house and kills him, and then shoots himself. Gatsby dies alone, because no one shows up to his funeral except for his father and Nick. Nick stays in New York while Daisy and Tom move to Chicago. “Due to the destruction caused by Gatsby and Daisy the dream is revealed as a myth not only to the reader but to Nick Carraway as well”(Hearne). Kimberly Hearn argues that The Great Gatsby offered a harsh critique of the American Dream. She believed that Fitzgerald was trying to purposely show up how the American can end in disaster. Throughout her article she goes into detail about the The Great Gatsby by saying, “The dream itself is ambiguous, contradictory, romantic in nature, and undeniably beautiful while at the same time grotesquely flawed”(Hearne). She agrees that the American Dream is dead and is just a nightmare on society. That Dream is really a destruction.
The American Dream was depicted as the “it” lifestyle. While observing Gatsby lifestyle we see that was not true statement. No one in the society stayed true to their values and morals; they all get caught up with their lies and cheating because of money. At the end of the story every character dies either physically or mentally. They let money take over their lives to a point where nothing else mattered because they failed to realize that money could not buy happiness. Having too much money can bring abusive power and have someone feel superior and lose the true meaning of life. Sadly this generation has the Gatsbys, the Daisies, the Myrtles, the Toms and those are the ones who get caught up in the “foul dust" of greed and materialism. Today in society it is easy to see a person being corrupted by money. Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby portrays the real meaning behind the American Dream.