Unmasking the American Dream in The Great Gatsby

In the novel Fitzgerald portrays the American dream to be that money can buy happiness. The definition of the American Dream is the prosperity or life that is the realization of this ideal ( Merriam-Wesbster Dictionary). Fitzgerald lived a lavish lifestyle that frequently left his wife and him in debt. He then turned to writing profitable short stories to pay bills (Lusted). In the book The Great Gatsby the way Fitzgerald sets up the setting between East Egg and West Egg have “two different opposing roles: one is pure and idealistic and the other is corrupt and materialistic”(Themes and Construction: The Great Gatsby). In The Great Gatsby people try so hard to reach and achieve The American Dream, but once they have achieved the dream it is

In the novel her need for money and the way she pretended to not know what is going on around her, shows exactly why her life was unhappy. Just like in the novel when she is talking to Nick, she tells him “‘I said im glad it is a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool’” (p.21). This quote is significant because daisy is complaisant. Daisy is telling the readers that she knows about Tom’s affair but she pretends she doesn’t know. So she wants her daughter to be just as gullible, because if you’re a married to a man with money like tom it’s good to be a fool. Daisy thinks this makes her “sophisticated” (22). Too pretend to be okay with her husband cheating on her just shows how shallow her thinking is. Just like in the book when Gatsby tells tom that daisy “only married you because I was poor…” (137). which is true her family and she thought she needed someone educated and rich. Once daisy got her money she wanted more she wanted to be with Gatsby but she was do deceitful and shallow that this dream could never become possible due to her

Daisy’s unhappiness will not get better it might get worse. For Daisy to know that she deceived Gatsby, and ended up getting him killed; she will never be able live her life, she might fall into her riches but that will be all she will do. Tom has no hope; he has no shame to his game. He feels as if he always does the right thing, and he will always be happy until he is able to notice his selfishness. And for Gatsby well, he is dead let’s just hope he will be able to forgive everyone for his materialistic things and the barriers in his life caused by his fantasy of his romance of