Why Is Family Important In The Great Gatsby

Charles Kuralt once said that “The love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege.” Charles exemplifies how wealth is insignificant in comparison to the bonds created by families and friends. Families are formed by an unbreakable bond of love, and in modern times, the need of a strong family bond seems more and more prevalent because of the world that we live in, and the constant threat of danger looming above our heads. This has brought families even closer together. People value their family more than anything else. Although people may dream about money, the American Dream is about family and love and making sacrifices for your family.
Finding love and a family can be difficult, but keeping

those relations consists of many hardships and sacrifices. In Chapter 7 of the Great Gatsby, Jay, Tom, Daisy, Nick, and Jordan all go to town for the day. While downtown, Jay and Tom get into a fight and it eventually is about Daisy. “Your wife doesn’t love you,’ said Gatsby. ‘She never loved you. She loves me.” (Chapter 7, Page 130).

Gatsby shouts this at Tom, while they argue over Daisy. Gatsby takes a big risk and tries to win over Daisy from Tom. It is a risk Gatsby must take because Daisy is the only thing that truly makes him happy despite his riches. While leaving town, Gatsby lets Daisy drive home, along the way Tom’s mistress, Myrtle, runs out into the road and gets hit and killed by Gatsby’s car. “Was Daisy driving?’ ‘Yes,’ he said after a moment. ‘But of course i'll say I was.” (Chapter 7, Page 143). Gatsby is very loved in New York and takes a huge risk by saying that he was responsible for the accident , but this is another example of Gatsby trying to win over Daisy. In the end that ultimately leads to Gatsby’s failure and his death. Towards the beginning of the book, Nick explains why Gatsby moves to West Egg. “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.” (Chapter 4, Page 78). From early on, the reader knows Gatsby’s intentions of finding love with Daisy. Gatsby yet again takes another risk by buying an expensive lavish mansion just to throw parties to get Daisy over to his house. In the article Nickels and Dimes by Barbara Ehrenreich,

consequently the writer explains how life without money and working minimum wage jobs is not apart of the American Dream. “After two days of minor irritation, a full scale epidermal break down is under way. I cover myself with anti itch cream from Rite Aid, but can only manage to sleep for an hour and a half at a time before the torment resumes.” (Page 2, Paragraph 7). As shown in the Great Gatsby, it is never really about money. “My family all died and I came into a good deal of money.’ His voice was solemn as if the memory of that sudden extinction of a clan still haunted him.” (Chapter 4, Page 65). The American Dream isn’t about money or having a good job or lots of money, it’s about family.
The world we live in doesn't accept failure, to the contrary along the way to the American Dream you will end up failing at one point. In the article, The Right to Fail, the main focus is that failing is acceptable and you do not always have to be perfect. Always set your goals high but be accepting of something that is less. “But what if we fail?’... what they should say is don't be afraid to fail!’ failure isn't fatal.” (Page 1, Paragraph 3-4). According to the author, most people are so afraid to fail in life because of their peers and what people will think of them. Furthermore, the author says that you shouldn't be afraid to fail because that means you're taking risks and trying new things. Moreover, people make who they are as a person and if you fail occasionally that only makes you better as a person. “History is strewn with eminent dropouts, ‘loners’ who followed their own trail, not worried about its twists and turns, because they had faith in their own sense of direction.” (Page 1, Paragraph 4). People who have failed at one point in life are determined and hard workers, they know what they have to do to get back on the road to success. Success is not always the best thing, so much success and not enough failures can lead to your downfall. “Success can be dangerous - you feel you know it all. I've learned a great deal from my failures.” (Page 2, Paragraph 8). When you are so successful you feel invincible. Invincibility eventually leads to an ultimate defeat, failure is needed to be able to grow. To the contrary, Raisin in the Sun has a valid point. “You got a nice wife a fine boy and - a job, Mama, a job? I open and close car doors all day long. I drive a man around in his limousine and say yes sir, no sir, very good sir, should I take the drive, sir? Mama that ain't no job that ain't nothing at all.”(Page 1, Paragraph 4-5). Yet again, the right to fail yet again disprove that. “Writers, play writers, painters, composers work in the expectation of periodic defeat but they wouldn't keep going back into the arena if they thought it was the end of the world. It isn't the end of the world. For an artist and perhaps for anybody it is the only way to grow.” (Page 2, Paragraph 9). Failure helps you grow as a person as long as you don't make it a bad habit, and get yourself back up onto your feet.
In the Rig, Drake is determined to do whatever it takes to help his family.

Drake gets sent to the Rig because he has escaped many other Alliance prisons, his reason for escape is to go see his mom. “I don't want to see my mom die alone and afraid.’ he said. ‘The Alliance has taken a lot from me, from the whole world, but it does not have to be like that.” (Chapter 17, Page 128). Drake hates life on the Rig as well as who put him onto it, he is determined to escape and make his way back to his sick mother. The Rig is said to be inescapable but Drake doesn't shy away from any challenges. His sole purpose for escaping is to see his only family, his mom. “My mother is sick, very sick.” (Chapter 17, Page 126). Drake has no contact with anyone from the outside world. Before he got locked up, he knew his mom was very sick. He originally got in trouble because he had stolen vital medicine for saving his mom's life. As soon as he got on to the Rig, Drake was briefed on how the Rig was said to be inescapable. “ There Is No Escape… because there wasn't a prison built on God's green earth otherwise that could hold Will Drake.”(Chapter 1, Page 6). After a few months of planning, Drake made his move, with two other friends, they all made it off the “inescapable” prison. Drake is always saying how it is never about money, it is about family, but in the poem Money the author does make a relevant point. “It greases the palm, feathers a nest, holds heads above water, make both ends meet,

money breeds money.”(Stanza 1, Lines 10-14). To the contrary, Will Drake disproves this, “ So you see, mate, the Alliance can be beat if you're willing to take a few risks’ said Drake…. I didn't just torch a few buildings, I also put a policeman in the hospital.” (Chapter 7, Page 127). In the end it was never about money for Drake, it was all about family and he wanted to get back to them.

The American Dream is constantly perceived as having money, but it truly is about family. Family is so important in today’s America. You will often here about celebrities stories of success and fortunes, but in reality how many of these people do you know? That isn’t the American Dream, within society as a whole, the odds are not stacked right to be able to strike it rich. Family is what makes America so great. Family is a supporting cast that loves you unconditionally and wants the very best for you. The bonds built by being a family are unbreakable and being a part of a family is truly living the American Dream.