The Significance Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

As portrayed by the last lines in The Great Gatsby, our past holds us back from pursuing anything great, making it difficult to obtain the American Dream. The American Dream is a life of personal happiness and material comfort as traditionally sought by individuals in the U.S. Several characters throughout this novel showed hope in achieving the American Dream, but three particular characters wanted this dream more than anyone; Daisy, Myrtle, and Gatsby. Gatsby was one of the most hopeful people anyone was likely to come across. His yearn for Daisy was the only thing keeping him going; Daisy was Gatsby’s energy source. When Daisy and Gatsby had met, he knew that Daisy would be his niche, she would be the only thing he would focus on. After
He knew that in order to have Daisy, he would have to achieve the American Dream- to be like the wealthy people in East Egg because that’s what Daisy wanted. So, his involvement in the selling of illegal alcohol in order to become rich and the multiple parties he threw were all for Daisy. Gatsby even "… bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay." (Fitzgerald, 83). For many people, Gatsby had achieved the American Dream-he had a house, a “job”, and money. He had stability. But this wasn’t enough for Gatsby because he was held back by his past with Daisy. Although he was growing socially and financially, his ideas never changed; he stayed fixated on winning Daisy. Gatsby’s tragic flaw was that he didn’t let go of the past and even argued with Nick “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” (Fitzgerald, 116). Many years had passed and there had been numerous changes in
Myrtle, too, hoped for a life better than the one she lived in the Valley of Ashes; she wanted the American Dream. Her interest in gossip magazines showed her hope to become rich and famous, like the celebrities in these magazines “Several old copies of ‘Town Tattle’ lay on the table together with a copy of ‘Simon Called Peter’ and some of the small scandal magazines of Broadway” (Fitzgerald, 33). Myrtle paid attention to materialistic things such as when her husband, George, “…. borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in…” (Fitzgerald, 39). But most importantly, Myrtle had an affair with Tom because she was a “social climber”. Even when she first saw Tom, she didn’t fall in love with him because of his manner or his physical appearance. Instead, she fell in love with him because of his “…dress suit and patent leather shoes….” (Fitzgerald, 40). She thought that because Tom was rich, having an affair with him would immediately make her better than her neighbors living in the Valley of Ashes; bringing her closer to the American