The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

In America there exists something that is not tangible but comes in tangible items. Items such as money, cars, jewelry, a big house with a lakeside view. The American dream. It is as present as it is today as it was 100 years ago. For some it is attainable. For others it can never be reached. For some they have come so close but yet it is still far away. Although many people in The Great Gatsby strive to reach the American Dream nobody truly reaches it. Jay Gatsby is a perfect example in The Great Gatsby of the American dream. He grew up in a penniless family and always dreamed of becoming more. He attended St. Olaf college for a few weeks before dropping out and becoming a fisherman. Then he met Dan Cody and decided to change his name from
Nick grows up in a very prestigious family. For three generations his Family graduated from New Haven and later went on to graduate from famous colleges. Nick graduated Yale and moved from the midwest to the city life. He came to New York to hopefully find a career in the bond business. He is wealthy enough to afford a cottage in West Egg next to Jay Gatsby. Nick has really great friends like Jay Gatsby, Tom and his cousin Daisy that live just across the bay. Nick even finds himself a girlfriend, Jordan Baker. For the most part of the novel Nick truly lives the American Dream. However Nick really isn’t satisfied with his life at the end of The Great Gatsby. After Gatsby’s death the magic seems to fade away into the darkness. “After Gatsby’s death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes power of correction.” (Fitzgerald, 185) Nick loses his girlfriend as she gets engaged to somebody else and with everything that Nick found in New York he left to live a simpler life in the Midwest. Nick loved living in West Egg and having the American dream for those few months. Daisy also strived to reach the American dream in The Great
Daisy grew up in North Dakota and lived in a family of the upper class. She was a pretty, young girl looking for love. Then she met Gatsby. Gatsby and her fell in love instantly at a party she was hosting. She loved Gatsby for how he looked, for Gatsby was penniless and dirt poor and she never knew that about him until she read a letter Gatsby sent to her. Gatsby then had to go away to fight in the war and after 5 years Daisy gave up hope and thought he was dead. She then went on to marry Tom Buchanan and still had feelings for Gatsby. Daisy now had money and a husband and a daughter and a perfect life. However she was missing her true love which was Gatsby. “"[Daisy's] voice is full of money," [Gatsby] said