The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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Vu 1
Kristy Vu
Ms. Classen
The Great Gatsby Essay
16 January 2017

What is the “ideal” American Dream? Is it working hard and persevering to be successful in the future? Is it finding the right person to build a life with? Is it improving one’s self to become a better human? According to the author, Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is defined as someone who starts low on the social or economic scale and strives towards wealth, fame, and prosperity. No matter what race, gender, or background he/she comes from, this dream is achievable. The vision of having nice clothes, money, expensive cars, and a big house represents that it is doable. In the novel, which was set in the 1920’s, The Great Gatsby discusses the decaying of the American Dream …show more content…

Gatsby is head over heels for Daisy and his obsessive ambition to get her back has definitely taken over his life. That’s all he ever thinks of. That’s his ultimate goal. Daisy has always been a rich lady, so when Gatsby was away fighting in the war, she met Tom and married him. She believed that living the extravagant life was her thing. Knowing that, Gatsby just feels like in order to get her back, he needs to have money to get whatever Daisy wants and make her feel special and spoiled. He needs to have a public persona that’s prominent and has an affluent reputation so he could feel confident enough to get her attention. Therefore, owning an enormous mansion will do just that. He needs to be on the same level as Tom, or even greater. He reminisces about the past numerous times because he wishes that everything could be the way that it was back then, but it can’t. Nick explains to him that what’s done is done and that it’s too late. There’s no repeating the past. "Can't repeat the past?... Why of course you can!" (Fitzgerald, 107). Frankly, Gatsby just doesn’t get it. He simply thinks that everything can be fixed by him getting richer, being famous for throwing parties, …show more content…

She wants to live that luxurious life, so who does she go to? Tom. Tom basically represents the rich and famous. When Myrtle first got married to George Wilson, she thought that she was actually was in love with him, but then realized she was immediately unattracted. Myrtle says, “The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never told me about it, and the man came after it one say when he was out…" (37). Because George couldn’t afford his own suit to get married in, that instantly was unappealing to her. She viewed George as a man who couldn’t buy proper attire for their special day, which was embarrassing and shameful. On the other hand, Tom was her dream guy, or known as the perfect man in her eyes, which is part of the American Dream. She’s not only attracted to his masculinity, but his money as well. Myrtle doesn’t have a lot of money, so she tries to inch her way up into the higher class by sleeping with Tom. He has the money, fancy cars, and a nice, big house. This seriously shows how materialistic Myrtle is. Unfortunately, Myrtle dies because Daisy accidently runs her over with her car. This just shows that chasing the American Dream to live as sumptuously as she wanted didn’t really get her anywhere, but resulted in her

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