The Illusion of the American Dream in “The Great Gatsby”

Unveiling Gatsby’s Pursuit of the American Dream

In the story, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the narrator Nick Carraway tells the long-awaited story of the mysterious Jay Gatsby, originally known as James Gatz. People heard many stories about this man, but none of them seemed to be upright because there were many different ones that he used to cover up the truth. People just thought of him as the wealthy guy who inherited all of his wealthy family’s money when they all passed. But the real truth is Gatsby was actually born into a poor family and didn’t become wealthy until he started working with Dan Cody, who was a millionaire. But, behind everything people do in life, there is always a hidden reason for the person’s determination to accomplish a goal, and in Gatsby’s case, it was his love for Daisy Buchanan after many years.

This shows the American Dream in the story, which is the ultimate life goal that can be achieved through a good work ethic and determination. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby shows the American Dream when he completely changes his life and his goals for the better just so he can have a chance to get with her after many years. In the end, he was able to accomplish the wealth he desired, but unfortunately, he was never able to fully win over Daisy. When in reality, his love for Daisy was what caused the destruction and conflict in his life. In the novel, Gatsby is constantly trying to achieve something that is better than himself, which gets to be dangerous for him because he starts to burn bridges with people who mean a lot to him.

Gatsby’s Evolution: From Humble Beginnings to Lavish Pursuits

The character Gatsby and the way he acts is a very good example of the American Dream, like how he was born poor and worked very hard to be where he is now. Nick explains how “[Gatsby’s] parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people… For over a year, he had been beating his way along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam digger and a salmon fisher or in any other capacity that brought him food and a bed.” (Fitzgerald, 98) This shows that in life, there are always opportunities for people to improve themselves. Although Gatsby didn’t have his ideal life when he first started, with a little hard work and determination, he was able to turn his life around completely. To be successful, Gatsby worked with the millionaire Dan Cody in hopes of winning over Daisy with his wealth and charm.

To Gatsby, it seemed like nothing else mattered in the world. If he had Daisy all to himself, she was his world. To contrast, the way his life was when he was poor to how he lives in his mansion now is shown when Nick talks about his well-known mansion. “It was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden.” (5) To any normal person, what Gatsby has seems like more than enough, but to Gatsby, nothing in this world is enough if he doesn’t have Daisy, and he won’t stop until he wins her over.

Even though Gatsby achieved the wealth he desired, he still wasn’t completely satisfied because he was still missing one thing, Daisy. One thing that could be shown about the American Dream is that it doesn’t always guarantee happiness, and what you accomplish may not be how it was when you expected it. Very frequently, Gatsby would host these extravagant parties for hundreds of people to get together and have a good time. Nick explains that “At least once a fortnight of corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden.

Gatsby’s Elaborate Parties: A Facade to Win Daisy’s Affection

On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys.” (40) Only a certain amount of people were invited to these parties, and one thing odd about them is that no one has ever seen Gatsby or has gotten a handwritten letter for him. Even though this didn’t stop people who weren’t invited from coming, they would still show up at the door, walk in, and help themselves to the huge variety of foods and drinks. As Nick is trying to find Gatsby, he goes around asking people where they could be, and they aren’t giving him much hope because no one has officially seen Gatsby before. Nick starts to hear rumors about Gatsby among the drunken guests at the party.

People would say, “He is a bootlegger… One time he killed a man who had found out that he was a nephew to Von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil.” (61) This gossip shows that there was no connection between Gatsby and the party guest, it seemed that he would only throw these parties to catch Daisy’s eye and for her to think highly of him. It seemed that he was putting on a show for her to fall in love with him, even though she is married, which Gatsby does not care about. But, the American Dream could distract people from what’s actually important in life, like the relationships you have with the people around you. Gatsby claims to be happier once he becomes friends with Nick and Daisy, and it isn’t because of his wealth.

The Ephemeral Nature of Gatsby’s Connections and the Elusive American Dream

Even though hundreds of people came to his parties, not one of them showed up to his funeral, which could be due to the fact that he never built connections with them. Nick explained at the funeral, “At first I was surprised and confused; then as [Gatsby] lay in his house and didn’t move or breathe or speak hour upon hour it grew upon me that I was responsible [for the funeral] because no one else was interested” (172) After Gatsby’s death, it seemed that his generosity from hosting all those parties was quickly forgotten because people started to value what was more important in life. The American Dream has illustrated a more self-centered and inconsiderate type of society because people start to be more focused on themselves and their dream than the people around them.

Which I feel has happened to Gatsby because when he died, it seemed that no one really truly cared about him; they just pretended to so they could go to his house and have a good time. This shows how society has changed because of Gatsby and the American Dream, and it would be hard to change people’s lifestyles and get things back to the way they used to be. Even though this happened, Fitzgerald still tries to convey to the readers that in the American Dream, it’s the constant striving to do better but to fully achieve your goal could be impossible. Even after Daisy expresses her love for Gatsby, he demands that she take a big step and tell Tom that she never loved him, which doesn’t end well in the least bit. Gatsby says, “Just tell him the truth that you never loved him.” (132). This shows how nothing is ever enough for Gatsby, and he always has the desire to do better. Once he accomplished his dream of winning over Daisy, it seemed like he already moved on to something more that he was trying to achieve.

The Illusion of the American Dream and the Tragic Unraveling of Gatsby’s Pursuit

Throughout The Great Gatsby, it was foreshadowed that the people living in the town weren’t living in the best society because people were living carelessly and didn’t really seem to care about anything except wealth and their dreams. This quickly led to disaster because nothing was really in control; people just did whatever they wanted without thinking about any of the consequences. At the end of the story, Nick looks back on Gatsby’s attempt to achieve his dream and how he failed. Nick says, “I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.” (180) The green light symbolizes the dream everyone hopes to achieve at some time in their life. The destruction of Gatsby’s dream for Daisy showed that sometimes dreams can be too big and impossible to achieve completely.

The American Dream is still demonstrated in the world we live in today, and people will still continue to make mistakes like Gatsby did if people aren’t educated about it. Gatsby sacrificed everything in his life just for a possible chance to be with Daisy, and he never gave up even when things got hard. The way he went about it could be considered a little bit extreme for ordinary people because not everyone would do anything in the world just for a girl. Unfortunately for Gatsby, nothing he expected became his reality at the end. He expected that his plan would work and he would live a happy and healthy life with Daisy.

One thing he realized is that in life, nothing goes exactly to plan, and unfortunately for him, his life ended with him having no friends to support him because he was only focused on Daisy. He forgot about some of the most important things in life and sacrificed them all for Daisy just for her not to want to be with him. At the end of the day, the American Dream is just a goal people like to accomplish sometime in their life, and just because you have a dream doesn’t mean you have to give up your whole life for it. This could be why everything went wrong for Gatsby, and now he’s dead, and no one showed their love and appreciation to him because he didn’t give it to anyone else except for Daisy in the first place.

References:

1. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner, 1925. This is the primary source, the novel itself, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
2. APA Style, Fitzgerald, F. S. (1925). The Great Gatsby. Scribner.