How Is The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Unattainable

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Gatsby’s American Dream
In the 1920’s there was always a symbol of the “American Dream,” then the realization there is no such thing Nick said in Ch 9. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”(Fitzgerald 189) Fitzgerald believed the American Dream was unattainable because no matter how much success we have,we’ll always want more. F. Scott Fitzgerald used the concept of “The American Dream” numerous times in The Great Gatsby to prove it is unobtainable. Many characters spend their whole lives trying to be perfect, but Fitzgerald shows that nothing could ever be perfect for them, no matter how hard they try. The novel shows that the American Dream is something that can never be accomplished.
At the beginning of the novel, readers see the life of an imperfect couple. They are first seen as the ideal married couple, but Fitzgerald shows the nice side of their life first. They are happy together, live in a big house, and have a perfect daughter. Sounds like the American Dream, right? Then you are shown the bad side of Daisy and Tom. Daisy is greedy and Tom is careless and both of them are self centered. In Chapter 1, Daisy says to Nick: “I’ve been everywhere and done everything. Sophisticated- God, I’m so sophisticated (Fitzgerald 22)”! When Daisy said that, one can assume Daisy is self-centered. Also in …show more content…

I thought he knew something about breeding but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe (Fitzgerald 39)”. Myrtle married Wilson because she thought he could give her the best life she wanted. She expected to have the luxuries of East Egg. Wilson couldn’t give her everything she wanted, he wasn’t rich enough and being a mechanic wasn’t a good job to pay for her. Then she has an affair with Tom because he has what she wants. Tom is rich, which is exactly what Myrtle wants in a man. Throughout the novel Tom gives Myrtle the idea of “The American Dream” and that makes the affair

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