The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby Essay

The American dream has a different meaning to every United States citizen. For some it is the dream of equality and freedom, for others it is a dream of a fulfilled life or even a dream of fame and wealth. In general, the American dream can be defined as being the opportunity and freedom for all citizens to achieve their goals and become rich and famous only if they work hard enough. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald proves, through the characters Myrtle, Daisy and Gatsby, that the American Dream cannot be achieved because the characters are focusing on gaining wealth, creating a false identity, and attempting to escape reality; therefore, their lives are destroyed by their failures and dissatisfaction.
Myrtle has the hope and desire for a perfect and wealthy lifestyle, which directs her into a path of lying and cheating on her husband and causes her tragic death. The desire for a luxurious life lures Myrtle into having an affair with Tom. She is not only attracted to Tom’s appearance but his wealth as well. Tom represents the lifestyle Myrtle has been longing to live rather than the lifestyle she has been living with her husband, Wilson. Myrtle and Wilson’s relationship waned from the beginning. Myrtle is unsatisfied with her husband’s small repair shop and doesn’t like the title of being the wife of the mechanic. She thought Wilson was wealthier than he appeared to be. “The only crazy I 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 day and he was out.”(p35) This quotation provides an example of Myrtle being materialistic and blinded by the money that is non-existent in her own life. Myrtle becomes so infatuated by the alleged glorious lifestyle of money and loses sight of why she initially married her husband, the only person who truly cared for her.
Unlike Myrtle, Daisy wants to believe she has wealth, love, and happiness, but she knows that she does not and attempts to find it; however she ends up hurting others and falling back into her unsatisfying life with her husband, Tom. Daisy recognizes her husband is having an affair, so she tries to distract herself with social events and a past relationship with Jay Gatsby. Daisy discovers that Gatsby has changed a great deal financially since the last time she saw him. When Daisy cries stormily about Gatsby’s “such beautiful shirts” (p92), it is clear her motives are solely based on money. When with her husband and Gatsby, Daisy is not discreet when showing her admiration towards Gatsby. "Who wants to go to town?" demanded Daisy insistently. Gatsby’s eyes floated toward her. "Ah," she cried, "you look so cool”. Their eyes met, and they stared together at each other, alone in space. With an effort she glanced down at the table. "You always look so cool," she repeated. She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded”(p79). She reveals her dissatisfaction in her marriage by revealing her love for Gatsby. Daisy only starts the affair with Gatsby because she sees in him the qualities that Tom lacks. Her feelings for Gatsby are more about her present marriage than her past love. After realizing the fantasy of her and Gatsby could never exist because of the reality of her daughter, she abandons Gatsby and destroys his hopes and dreams of being with her. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…”(p145). Tom and Daisy’s dissatisfaction with their own lives results in their causing destruction in the lives of others.
Whereas Daisy realizes her life isn’t what she hoped for, Gatsby continues on his search to make his ideal real, which is impossible and results in his lonely tragic end. “He had passed visibly through two states and was entering upon a third. After his embarrassment and his unreasoning joy he was consumed with wonder at her presence. He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity. Now, in the reaction, he was running down like an over-wound clock.” (P 114) While Gatsby may have at one point loved the real Daisy, the love that survived over time is of his dream-like conception of her. “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams – not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.”(P 152) The reality of Daisy in the present is tarnishing the dream of the past.
It is evident that the American dream can destroy lives and lead to dissatisfaction. Myrtle, Daisy and Gatsby desire wealth, happiness and satisfaction in their lives and would do anything in their power to gain it. The desire for greatness causes them to behave like people they are not. Myrtle dreamed of a wealthy and perfect lifestyle, which causes her overall death. Daisy attempts to achieve her American dream but ends up destroying and interfering with other lives. Gatsby tries to make his ideal real and results in his tragic lonely death. It is clear that money cant but ones happiness, which is something these three characters do not realize. The general population of American is still on their search for the American dream to go above and beyond their level of contentment and reach their state of luxury.