The Great Gatsby

"The Great Gatsby" by Scott Fitzgerald embodies many themes; the most salient one relates to the corruption of the American Dream. The American Dream had always been based on the idea that each person no matter who he or she is can become successful in life by his or her own hard work. The dream also embodied the idea of a self-sufficient man, an entrepreneur making it successful for himself. The Great Gatsby is about what happened to the American dream in the 1920s, a time period when the dream had been corrupted by the avaricious pursuit of wealth. The pursuit of the American dream is the sublime motivation for accomplishing ones goals and producing achievements, however when tainted with lies(wealth) the dream becomes devoid and hollow. S. Fitzgerald proves in his novel that the American dream is ruined by corruption and lies. The American dream is one of the most important themes in The Great Gatsby. The American success story is that of hard work allowing a man to become rich. After attaining the material wealth, however, there are no clearly outlined steps to take. Fitzgerald shows how the American dream can fail in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby, despite his hard work, makes his money illegally by selling alcohol during an era of prohibition in America. His purpose is in attaining the love of Daisy, a girl he dated before the war, who comes from an old wealthy American family. In a way, Gatsby’s dream is not actually Daisy, but his past memory of her. His dream also mirrors that of all immigrants to America, who saw the luscious verdant green of the new land as a paradise. In a similar manner, Gatsby watches for the green light at the dock in front of Daisy’s dock. The color green symbolizes the American dream, which is corrupted by the failing morality of the roaring 1920s. Gatsby and his dream ultimately die in the pool among the fallen