The Great Gatsby: A Gold Plated Picket Fence

Sarah Bain
Mrs. King
AP English III
The Great Gatsby Assignment
A Gold Plated Picket Fence
What is the American dream? Is it white picket fences with beautiful green lawns and comfortably large brick houses? According to Dictionary.com the American dream is “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative”. The American dream is a theme that is often used in
American literature just like F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. This novel presents the
American dream as an illusion that can never be achieved. Daisy,’s personification of the
American dream, Daisy’s choice of Tom over Gatsby, Myrtle’s death, and the green light are all
representative of the unreliability of the American dream.
Daisy is a crucial character who represents the unattainable American dream.
When
Gatsby unsuccessfully attempts to get Daisy back after five years, this shows how the American dream is unreachable. Gatsby in love with Daisy five years ago, got the disapproval stamp from
Daisy’s parents since he didn’t have “pomp and circumstance”, unlike Tom Buchanan, who did
(Fitzgerald 75). As a result, Gatsby tries to fix himself by becoming a financially successful man in a bootlegging business.. Gatsby states that Daisy’s “voice is full of money”, because it reveals that Gatsby has hope to win back Daisy since her and Tom had married (120). The irony in this attribute of Daisy is that Gatsby can become successful and wealthy for her, but cannot have
Daisy, his one love and desire. Daisy represents the American dream because there is an

excitement in her voice that makes men come running. This makes her desirable, much like the
American dream. Also, when Jordan elaborates that Daisy never desired to attain love “yet there’s something in that voice of hers”, she shows how deceiving Daisy’s voice is, like when
Jordan is suddenly distracted by Daisy’s voice (77). This excitement and distraction, which
is what Daisy provokes on Gatsby, is his clueless nature caused by the illusion of attaining Daisy, and thus fulfilling his American dream.
When Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby the American dream’s unattainability is shown.
When Daisy confesses to Gatsby that she can’t say that she “never loved Tom”, it reveals how
Gatsby is unable to truly understand how Daisy actually feels at all (133). Daisy is one way with
Gatsby and another with Tom. She wants the best of both worlds, but is unable to achieve this due to her desires of prestige social status. Gatsby plans for such a long period of time by buying a house in West Egg right across the bay from her, arranging their secret meeting at Nick’s house, and reinventing himself from James Gatz into the persona of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby nonetheless must give in to failure in his attempt to claim Daisy once again. Likewise, It is physically impossible for all of us to achieve the American dream. This is what Fitzgerald, is trying to relay when Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby. Tom and Gatsby can’t both have Daisy.
Only one of them can claim Daisy and truly achieve the American dream she has to offer them both, and that person is Tom.
Myrtle’s death symbolizes how the upper class keeps the middle class from being able to attain the American dream. Myrtle Wilson is one of Tom Buchanan’s mistresses, a woman that is not an elite and is trying to become more than just Tom’s mistress. She desires to become Tom’s love, possibly even his wife. When Daisy runs her over with Gatsby’s car because Myrtle

“rushed out at us just as [Daisy was] passing a car coming the other way”, this incident symbolizes how the upper class usually crushes the hopes and dreams of the aspiring middle class (143). When Daisy runs over Myrtle, the first thing she thinks of is herself and whether or not she will be able to avoid the repercussions. She does not care at all about the girl’s well­being. Also, Myrtle clearly desires Tom. He buys her very nice things, he makes her feel like a part of something she has never before been a part of: the elite class. However, she cannot have him because Tom and Daisy are married and Tom is set on staying with his wife. She’ll always be Tom’s mistress, and never anything more.. After this incident, George Wilson goes out to kill Gatsby, with Gatsby’s pool tainted with the “red circle” of Myrtle’s death, and he is successful in his mission, even though he kills himself in the process. When Daisy runs over
Myrtle, she inevitably caused the deaths of Myrtle Wilson, Gatsby, and George Wilson, which resembles the manner in which the upper class leads to the death of the American dreams of the middle class.
Not only does Daisy symbolize the American dream, but the green light across the bay from Gatsby’s house on Daisy’s dock also reflects the illusion of the American dream. When
Gatsby says to Daisy that “[she] always [has] a green light that burns all night at the end of her dock”, he unveils his false hope in claiming Daisy as his own (92). He accepts this crazy idea and assumes that he has fulfilled the American dream, and since he has “regained” Daisy, the
“colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever,” so“his count of enchanted objects had diminished by one”(93). Gatsby is unsuccessful in his goal to claim Daisy. The way the green light is presented in this novel resembles the lie of the American dream.

In conclusion, the theme of the American dream is prevalent throughout F. Scott
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. This is presented through Daisy’s personification of the
American dream, her choice of Tom over Gatsby, Myrtle’s death, and the green light. So, next time you fret about being unable to achieve your American dream, do not worry. You are not alone. Gatsby is there to keep you
company.

Works Cited Fitzgerald, Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 1925
“The Great Gatsby: The American Dream.”
<http://www.ovtg.de/3_arbeit/englisch/gatsby/dream.html>
“The Great Gatsby; Symbols and Motifs.”
<http://thegreatgatsbysandm.blogspot.com/>