How Is The American Dream Corrupt In The Great Gatsby

Josie Bernstein

Period 1, Mr. Boskovich

11 May 2015

The Achievement of Corruption: An Analysis of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby

The Great Gastby by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the corruption of the American dream because even the rich seem constantly dissatisfied. First, Gatsby works hard to achieve the American dream and uses his wealth to deal with the issues of his love life and social life. Nick Carraway lacks drive for the American dream due to his lower-class lifestyle, though he finds comfort in it as he discovers the life of the upper class. Many of the characters are so spoiled that they are no longer appreciative of their ideal American lives after coming from poor backgrounds.

Jay Gatsby is a poor man until he meets

Dan Cody, who mentors him into the type of man who can use his money to make more money and to impress people; “The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end” (Fitzgerald 7). This is shown as he tries to impress Daisy with his extravagant parties and wows Nick Carraway with his accomplishments. Dan Cody’s “yacht represented all the beauty and glamor in the world” (Fitzgerald 107), truly representing the goals Gatsby wanted to reach as a teen. In addition to throwing parties in an effort to impress Daisy, Gatsby believes that “[Daisy’s] voice is full of money” (Fitzgerald 128), associating the girl with wealth itself. This is one of the main reasons that his wealth is corrupt, even though his love for Daisy is not corrupt in the slightest. In conclusion, Gatsby’s use of the American dream is incredibly corrupt, though his using it for the purpose of love redeems it.
Throughout the story and his getting to know Gatsby, Nick Carraway becomes more accustomed to the lifestyle of the rich, though he was previously satisfied with his humble life.

Carraway is obviously an intellectual; a Yale graduate and a scholar: “[he] bought a dozen volumes on banking and credit and investment securities and they stood on my shelf in red and gold like new money from the mint, promising to unfold the shining secrets that only Midas and Morgan and Maecenas knew” (Fitzgerald 6), so he clearly holds the ability to strive for the American dream, but chooses not to. Until meeting Gatsby, he is constantly surrounded by wealth, but never encounters it; “so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor’s lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires—all for eighty dollars a month” (Fitzgerald 8). Carraway simply seems to never find the rich life appealing. For example, he says, “Gatsby… represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn” (Fitzgerald 4), reassuring the reader that his simple life is the way he prefers to live. Nick Carraway, could strive to achieve the American dream, but chooses not to due to its

corruption.
Most of the main characters in The Great Gatsby are incredibly rich, and they also were not always of that status.

These characters often look down upon people less wealthy than them, judging them as if they had never been in a similar position. For example, the characters discuss the butler’s past; “‘Well, he wasn’t always a butler; he used to be the silver polisher for some people in New York that had a silver service for two hundred people. He had to polish it from morning till night until finally it began to affect his nose’ ‘Things went from bad to worse until finally he had to give up his position.’…” (Fitzgerald 17). These wealthy people show no empathy for these people, despite sharing a similar past. The only character who seems to sympathize with these people seems to be Carraway who says, “I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others—poor young clerks who loitered in front of windows waiting until it was time for a solitary restaurant dinner—young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life.” (Fitzgerald 62). Carraway feels their pain and loneliness, since he currently lives in their position. The true colors of these wealthy people, specifically Daisy and Jay Gatsby, come out when Gatsby exclaims to Daisy’s husband, “‘She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved any one except me!’” (Fitzgerald 139). These people do so much

simply for the money, ignoring what is truly in their heart, which is incredibly corrupt.
The American dream in The Great Gastby is very corrupt and unethical. Gatsby uses his success in it simply to show off to others, and even though it is for love, he is simply abusing the power of his money. Nick Carraway recognizes this corruption and tries to stay away from it, though he is intrigued by Gatsby’s success. The way that the wealthy characters in this story lack appreciation of their status is the most corrupt thing of all, since so much of their lives revolve around an attempt to each this wealthy status. In conclusion, The Great Gatsby is a perfect example of how corrupt the American dream can be.