Where’s the American Dream

Where’s the American Dream

The novel The Great Gatsby, written by Scott Fitzgerald, is home to and is printed with many different themes; however, the best one and most significant is about The American Dream. Fitzgerald’s definition of this Dream is anybody who is economically and or socially challenged and who has or is working hard in the direction of success and satisfaction to fit in with the higher class. By having this success of the life most desired paints the overall concept of the American dream as everyone wants to be there at that level. This Dream to the people affected most understand that they can grow to be successful in lifestyles by way of their work in whatever situation they are in or however old they are. The drive for what one desires can be achieved as long as they put full force into their work and never give up. The Great Gatsby is a perfect novel that suggests what to the American Dream in the 1920’s became, which was a problem when the dreams corrupted. The American dream no longer allowed people to thrive but however has caused destruction. Myrtle, Gatsby, and Daisy have all been a victim of this problem as they all were corrupted and destroyed in the end due to this so-called Dream.

The desire for a successful life is what forces Myrtle into having an affair with Tom. This decision causes content with her marriage, George being her husband, which prolongs her death and loss of the life she wanted. Myrtle has the desire for a perfect and wealthy life.  She enjoys reading gossip in magazines and newspapers, which represents her hope for her possible future of “the rich and famous.” She demonstrates why she wants to be with Tom; this being that he represents the life of “the rich and famous.” When Myrtle first married George Wilson, she thought that she was in love and felt that they were going to live a happy life together. Myrtle says, “The only crazy I 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 says when he was out…” (Fitzgerald, 37) Myrtle shows how greedy she is, and that she didn’t have gratefulness of George not being able to afford his suit to be his wedding suit. She looks at Tom with a different perspective. He is someone who can afford to purchase an outfit for their wedding. Myrtle is attracted to not only Tom’s physical appearance but to his money as well, something she didn’t have with George. She thinks that Tom is the picture-perfect man for the advertisement of the American Dream. Myrtle is in the lower class, as she doesn’t have the most money. Myrtle hangs out with Tom to slowly get her way to a higher-class status. Those that are in the upper class are the ones that have money, have fancy cars, and have big houses. Myrtle is not one of those people, but she does desire and has the drive to be one of them. This drive in the future is what causes the destruction, and untimely is what gets Myrtle killed. It found that It was not Gatsby but Daisy, who was the one that hit Myrtle with her car, which resulted in Myrtle’s death. Ironically, Daisy was the one to kill her since Myrtle was the one having an affair with Daisy’s husband, Tom. Daisy was innocent when Myrtle was in the wrong. This situation shows how the desire for a successful life and having the American dream only caused destruction in this novel and destroyed someone’s life.

The goal for happiness is something that Daisy always dreamt of accomplishing, but by learning, she married the wrong man, really changed who she was, and her overall look on how to live her life. At the beginning of the novel, Daisy finds out a secret that Tom is hiding from her. Jordan says, “She might have the decency not to telephone him a dinner time. Don’t you think?” (Fitzgerald, 20) Tom received a call from a couple of women around dinner time, and Jordan claimed that the women is Tom’s, implying that he is cheating with the women on the phone. You learn throughout the novel that Tom and Daisy’s relationship is not to most ideal, happy relationship. Tom seems to be abusive towards her and instead does not seem to care much about her. Daisy thinks she has everything, wealth, love, and happiness, which all tie into the American dream, but then she discovers that she has nothing and that this specific dream has corrupted her. Daisy thought she has all desired for but truly realized she had nothing. She has a child who does not seem important to her at all. The child is never around, which shows a lot about Daisy. When her child was born, Daisy said, “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful fool.” (Fitzgerald, 22) Daisy explained that there are limited possibilities for women, and she would have instead had a boy. The baby must be a beautiful fool to be happy and prosperous. Woman back in the 1920’s all married for money, and not necessarily love.

Daisy thought she had loved it when she married Tom, but indeed, in the long run, only came out with money. With Gatsby, Daisy realized something that broke her heart. When reunited with Gatsby, who she has not seen in about five years, Daisy breaks down and starts to cry. “They’re such beautiful shirts, and it makes me sad because I’ve never seen such – such beautiful shirts before.” (Fitzgerald, 89) At this time, Daisy realizes that she did marry for money and not for love. She figures out that she could have married for money with Gatsby but would have had passion too. The chase for the American dream and the ideal man to be with destroyed Daisy’s happiness.

The ambition for his wants has pushed Gatsby over the edge. His desire to chase Daisy has taken over Gatsby’s entire life. He feels that he must live up to the American Dream to successfully become what he indeed dreams for, one of Daisy’s dreams. While Gatsby was away in the war, Daisy met Tom and ended up marrying him. Daisy had always been rich in a sense, and Gatsby thought that in order win back Daisy, he needed to work to have money so that he could be able to give Daisy anything she ever wanted in the world. There was a green light on the other side of the river where Daisy lived that Gatsby would always look out for inspiration.

The green light brings a lot of essential details in this book. It becomes supporting that this green light is not Daisy herself, but more of a hidden symbol of the idea that represents Gatsby’s dream of being able to spend his life with Daisy forever till the end. The fact that she is not what Gatsby remembered her to be and is not up with Gatsby’s expectations is understandable. With this, people can see that no matter the circumstance or how hard Gatsby tries to live his so-called American Dream, he will never be able to be satisfied to achieve it truly. Through close inspection and long though on the green light, one can learn that the essence that inspires Gatsby to follow his goals and ideal future is that of the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses the green light as a symbol of hope and jealousy.  Gatsby looks up to his desirable future and follows it so he can become the picture-perfect man that every girl and Daisy, most essential desires. Gatsby cares a lot about his picture to others and cares about what he looks like to them. He wants everything to look perfect for Daisy, as he drives to make Daisy view him as an ideal man for her. “We both looked down at the grass – there was a sharp line where my ragged lawn ended, and the darker, well-kept expanse of his began. I suspected he meant my grass.” (Fitzgerald, 80) Fitzgerald reveals the theme of appearance vs. reality and how Gatsby wants everything to look professional and clean for when he finally gets the chance with Daisy for the first time since the five years past after they had to split. Gatsby becomes corrupted in a way to desperately find money because his main goal is to have Daisy. He needed money as he couldn’t marry her since he was poor. He needs to have an enormous mansion so he could feel enough for Daisy because he feels out of her league. The American dream blinded Gatsby and, because of this, caused a breakdown for Gatsby himself. He didn’t end up getting what he wanted because the American dream took over who he was truly.

The American Dream proved to be significant in the novel. It was concrete that this Dream only was the cause of all things corrupt. The drive for something almost always changes people to be someone they are not. Very rarely does this situation come out positive. The American Dream is where you are as someone that is less economically fortunate with a low social level, who is working hard towards success and constantly searching for ways to be wealthy and famous. Basically, all the characters in the novel The Great Gatsby all lived around their money and wealth making them do anything in their power to receive more. The Great Gatsby is a perfect example of what happened to the Dream in the 20’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted. The American dream not only caused corruption but has caused turmoil. Myrtle, Gatsby, and Daisy have corrupted and been affected negatively by the Dream, and it is clear to see that this statement is true. Money cannot buy you happiness, which is something in the novel the characters truly did not realize.