How Does The American Dream Affect The Great Gatsby

U.S. literature is defined by having uniquely American themes and style that relate to the culture and history of America. These ideas are part of the diverse culture and history that make up the people of the U.S. One of these ideas that continues to affect the U.S. today is the American Dream, which is a concept that has changed with time but, continues to apply to the American lifestyle through many time periods. Various famous works of literature have used this concept including The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this novel, the author uses the characters and their struggle with the American Dream to illustrate his own viewpoint on the American Dream. The American Dream can be seen in a positive light or a negative light, which

From the start, the American Dream captivates Gatsby and he dedicates himself to reaching and pursuing his dreams. Gatsby lives a modest farming life in the Midwest, but always dreams of a better lifestyle. Fitzgerald illustrates the moment when Gatsby becomes captivated by the American Dream:

James Gatz—that was really, or at least legally, his name. He had changed it at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career...It was James Gatz who had been loafing along the beach that afternoon in a torn green jersey and a pair of canvas pants, but it was already Jay Gatsby who borrowed a rowboat, pulled out to the Tuolomee, and informed Cody that a wind might catch him and break him up in half an hour. (Fitzgerald 98)

This is the moment when Gatsby becomes completely enamored with the idea that he can achieve dignity, class, and extravagance through attaining wealth. Dan Cody is the role model that firmly plants this idea into Gatsby’s mind. Gatsby is able to finally see an example of someone who has all of this incredible wealth and learns about living this type of lifestyle while he sails around the continent with him for five years. At this point, Gatsby represents the true American Dream because he believes that he can achieve anything he wants to as long as he works hard

He becomes disillusioned by his accumulating wealth and underground dealings, which only leave him seeking more and more. The illegal ways of obtaining his fortune take away from the wholesome idea of the American Dream, where a person can accumulate wealth and create a better life using only their abilities and hard work. Gatsby tries to validate his prosperity and success with status symbols of, “conspicuous consumption, his accumulation of meaningless materialistic topics, such as piles of silk shirts, ostentatious car, extravagant mansions, and library full of unread books” which to him, are the American Dream (Tunc n.p.). This continues to support the idea that the materialism and excess wealth have corrupted both Gatsby’s goals and the American Dream. He has lost sight of the original goal of creating this better life for himself and becomes obsessed with material items that he associates with the wealthy. He only shows off his wealth because he hopes that society will accept him. The society and its corruption have pervaded his innocent goals and turned them into a crude and lavish reflection of society. Gatsby’s American Dream is corrupted by the desire for pleasure and greediness of society that idolizes the