How Is The American Dream Unattainable In The Great Gatsby

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Through these quotes, Fitzgerald believes the American dream is unattainable in the Great Gatsby because some people in the novel had advantages unlike others. A major instance of said inequality would be applied to the citizens who are living in the Valley of Ashes; representing the forgotten poor underclass with lost hopes and dreams who have failed to live up to the American dream or even got a chance to start. Therefore, the Valley of Ashes is a blatant symbol of just how “dead” Fitzgerald really believes the American dream to be and as well as how he wants the readers to interpret it. Fitzgerald wrote “...ashes take the forms of..men who move dimly and already crumbling through powdery air..immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden Tell’em all Daisy's change’ her mine!” (129) Which was the moment she leaned towards Gatsby, leaving her opportunity of finally achieving her dream in becoming wealthy; which in the end she chose not to. I think Fitzgerald’s reasoning to include this passage was to convey the fact that this was the day that Daisy finally kicked out Tom from her heart. But aside from that, Daisy in the end did marry Tom and took the unfair opportunity in becoming part of west egg, which is very unfair for the people in the Valley of Ashes. The path to achievement of the American dream consists of hard work, prosperity, and honesty behind all of it, which in Daisy's case, was not followed at all. If one were to compare the work percentage between Daisy and the citizens of the Valley of Ashes, there shouldn’t even be a comparison. Not because Daisy didn’t do anything to achieve wealth, but also because she didn't do anything and didn't even take any chances at all in the beginning. In another part of the novel it indicates that Gatsby bootlegger “I found out what your ‘drug-stores’ were.” He turned to us and spoke

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