The American Dream in F. Scott Fitzgerald´s The Great Gatsby

When reading The Great Gatsby, the audience must wonder at F. Scott Fitzgerald’s purpose for writing one of America’s most influential novels. Fitzgerald’s life drew remarkable similarities to that of Jay Gatsby. They both sacrificed and succeeded in the name of love, but were ultimately disappointed.
Fitzgerald drew on his personal experience to artfully weave a tale of love, lust, and fortune, all centered around the ever elusive green light. That dream that cannot be reached. That hope that can never die. And unless the reader looks closely, he or she will miss the purpose of The Great Gatsby: to highlight the foolishness of this clichéd American dream.
This novel was set in the 1920s, when everything was easy. Money was easy, love was easy, and life seemed easy. The American dream was alive and kicking in every American heart. The primary character in the novel, the mysterious Jay Gatsby, is the embodiment of this time. He is a classically handsome, self-made man who is envied by all, but known by none. He and his wealth appear out of thin air and he flies up the social ladder by throwing lavish parties in his extravagant house. Nick Carraway, the narrator of this novel, reveres Gatsby before they are even introduced. The first time Nick sees Gatsby, the mysterious man was all alone on the lawn and he “stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way… I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away” (Fitzgerald 25-26). The reader’s first glimpse of Gatsby reveals a man desperate to procure his dream. As the men grow to be friends, and Gatsby confides in Nick, the narrator discernibly loses respect for Gatsby. Gatsby originally appears to be a worldly, charming man...

... middle of paper ...

...er to parents” (Fitzgerald 182). Eventually, he rises to power, both financially and socially. Despite all of his success, he is still unsatisfied with his life. Now matter how much he tries, now matter how much he triumphs, he is determined to be unhappy until he captures his green light.
Unfortunately, light cannot be caught. It cannot be grasped by a human hand, whether that hand belongs to a successful man or a failure, a rich man or a beggar, an adult or a child. It is a hopeless ambition, but one that enslaves men and women throughout history. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly to the past” (Fitzgerald 189).